Yesterday afternoon I bought a Zebra Snail and an Oto to help remove my algae.
Fast forward to today, the snail hasn't moved an inch and I haven't seen him come out of it's shell at all. Does it just need more time to adjust to my tank?
I never saw the store owner pull it out of the tank, I was waiting at the counter to pay.
Edit:
A bit of information on my tank
10gal
1 betta
1 oto
2 mini guppies
1 glass cat
1 small cichlid
Nerites have a long break-in period and take a while to get adjusted, but I would keen him under close observation to ensure that the betta and cichlid are not picking at him.
Will keep on eye on it for sure, the betta and cichlid seemed to have no interest in it at all when I put the snail in but we will see once it decides to come out of the shell.
Nerites have a long break-in period and take a while to get adjusted, but I would keen him under close observation to ensure that the betta and cichlid are not picking at him.
Not to knowledge about cichlids, so not sure what type you have. That a beautiful picture! Love all the purple. Do you have a full tank shot?
How long has the tank been setup? Snails are sensitive to any ammonia or nitrites in the tank, but like kelly said, it may just need more time to adjust.
Nerites are better than most snails, as far as being protected from possible predators, but do keep an eye on them. A scared snail will not venture out.
The plants were just plastic and we took them out to clean them but there was just too much algae build up and brother didn't want them in there any more lol. So the tank looks different now, we set up a small "cave" made of rock in the corner and the glass cat seems to enjoy that. We are going to look into some more plants soon. I'll try to get a full shot of the tank and all the fish though.
The tank has been going for about 5 months with weekly water changes.
Edit; here's a poor cell phone photo, as you can see, i really want the snail to feel welcome so he can go to work haha.
lights should be on MAXIMUM 10-12 hours a day. fish need a rest period just like we do and they need the lights out. with an algea problem, if it were my tank, first i would post a thread asking for help....but in the mean time i would cut my light ON time from the 8 hours they are on currently to only being on a few hours.....some one will be along to elaborate and give you more info....in regards to the snail my guy didnt come out for 2-3 days after i brought him home and now he never goes in his shell, hes always out moving around...as jack middleton said...give him a few more days and if he still hasnt come out pick him up and give him a sniff.....if the smell is horrid....hes dead and his "trap door" will not be there
Thanks for the info, I'm gonna shut the light off while I sleep and when I go to work.
The algea problem wasn't terribly bad, just didn't have any biological ways to clean it up like I wanted, like with snails or fish. I always do my best to clean the rocks and glass with a vacuum/magnet scraper but I want some little friends to help me out now!
absolutly! those little guys have A LOT of personality.....i dont know about zebra snails but my apple snail LOVEs fresh veggies and snail jello....as do the rest of his tank mates
Nerite snails can be picky eaters. It will not hurt to try prepared food, but it can be hit or miss with the nerites.
Some will only eat algae. If you find your algae supply getting low, you might have to start growing some for the snail.
Just did... it doesn't smell the greatest and upon closer inspection it looks like there's a white film hanging off of him from the opening of the shell, it looks like smiley white algae...
Hmm, that does not sound good. If it is not dead, it should not really have any smell.
I don't want to have you throwing out an alive snail though, maybe give it another smell test latter, to be sure.
Dead snails, one of the most nasty things to smell. I have removed dead snails from my tank before, even takes a good scrubbing, to get the smell off your hands.
My new snail doesn't seem so healthy now. Past couple of days it has not been eating, just got home from work now and it looks like it fell off the glass onto it's shell. It's not dead, I nudged it with my net and it went into it's shell but it doesn't look healthy.
I only have two test kits but one I lost the brooklet for and don't remember how to do the test. My PH is at 7.5. Can't afford to get other test kits right now
I have a Phosphate kit, does anyone have a link or picture on how to do the test? It has 3 tubes that you use to put droplets into the test tube.
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