My snails forgot to read the handbook

[AnselnEdie]

The last of my Trochus snails just died, having flipped over on the sand and being unable to right itself. Meanwhile my Astrea snails just keep mowing their way around the tank, never a problem. As far as I've been able to find, this is exactly the opposite of how it's supposed to work. I've tried to show them the literature, but they just look at me like I'm stupid. :strange:

Anyone have any experience with Nerite snails? Can they handle sand?

[Realposition]

My Nerites don't go down on the sand much. Mostly they cruise around on the rocks

[supermancrv]

I have nerite snails in my 90 reef they seem to.stay on the glass don't know if.the are doing a lot or not I like nassurius snails and cerith (spelling) seem to do the most in my.tank

[Shorty Harris]

My nerites have no problems on sand, glass, or rocks. (They do like to leave eggs on the glass.)

[kurt_n]

The last of my Trochus snails just died, having flipped over on the sand and being unable to right itself. Meanwhile my Astrea snails just keep mowing their way around the tank, never a problem.

Are you sure you have them ID'd incorrectly? Astreas normally have a white foot, while the Trochus will have a darker foot. In my experience, it was rare for my Trochus to not be able to flip itself back over, even in the sand. Maybe mine could read!

Anyone have any experience with Nerite snails? Can they handle sand?

Don't have them now, but when I did my nerites pretty much just stayed on the glass and rockwork. Rarely found them in the sand. If you're looking for a good sand cleaner, can't beat nassarius snails.

[AnselnEdie]

Are you sure you have them ID'd incorrectly? Astreas normally have a white foot, while the Trochus will have a darker foot.

Yeah, that was the first thing I wondered about, but I'm quite sure. I guess I just got some especially dumb snails.

I have some Ceriths and some Nassarius, both of which seem pretty bullet proof. Maybe I'll try some Nerites next.

I have found the snails to be surprisingly interesting in their own rights and my female Clark's Clown is always picking up the small ones and moving them around. It's hysterical to watch. No idea what she's trying to do.

[AnselnEdie]

My Nassarius snails are constantly climbing up the sides of the tank and then just falling back down to the bottom. I've been kind of curious about whether they were doing it intentionally or not. I can't quite figure why they would just lose their grip suddenly.

[kurt_n]

Gravity? Just talking/thinking out loud... but I'm thinking that when they're higher in the tank the forces on them due to the water column are less than when they're at the bottom, which probably makes that shell hang/move a little different on them causing them to be a bit "clumsier" than when they're at the bottom. Kind of the opposite effect of when you put a human in scuba gear and send them underwater.

[jgraz]

I'm too think you have them ID'd wrong. They look almost the same. When the Trocus falls they will have a large black foot that comes out and wiggles around fast till the right themselves. Nassarius snails do nothing for algae so keep that in mind. They are meat eaters. Merited are good but they are a pain cause they often leave the water. I have them in my 90 and at least once a day I find them outside the tank. Even found them dead on the floor at times. Mostly the big ones though. I have dwarf ceriths also. They are good to, and will get to places most other snails can't. Though they are constantly causing my mp-10 to stop.

[Mavrk]

Nerites can be jumpers. They are from the inner tidal areas where they get exposed to air a lot. So you will often find them hanging around at the top of your tank. Sometimes they go too high and fall over the edge if it is not covered. My canopy is open in the back and I kept finding them behind my tank. Don't get me wrong, they do a great job of cruising the tank and cleaning. Just realize that you might have to keep throwing them back in (they can survive a while out of water). They also leave little sesame seed shaped eggs along the glass and overflow. The one nerite I never had jump is the "virgin" nerite. They are also one of the better looking snails out there IMO.

Just as a side note, nerites can be acclimated to live in fresh water. In fresh water tanks I don't believe they spawn since they need brackish water for this (IIRC). So often freshwater tanks will have these to eat the algae and not have to worry about the crazy spawning behavior of normal freshwater snails.

[dailykos]

I've never been able to keep nerites in my open top tank. They climb all the way out and cruise on the hardwood floors until the lack of water does them in.

I once tried nerites on my freshwater planted tank. They did the same thing there too.