# Nerite snail dead?



## Johnson1905 (Aug 15, 2015)

Hello, so Tuesday I bought 2 nerite snails from Petsmart to add to my 5 gallon tank with my betta Sunkiss. Upon putting them into the tank the larger one climbed past the water line and has remained there. The smaller one moved about an inch from where I placed it and has yet to move. This was 4 days ago. Why are they not active? The one above water line appears to be alive as I've seen a trail of poop. It just won't go into the water. And the smaller one appears to be dead and decaying. Why is this happening?


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## Amberjp (Apr 28, 2016)

Did you acclimate them and drip the tank water into their bags every 5-10 minutes for a hour? Could have shocked them if you didn't, I would take the "dead" snail out and make sure that it's actually dead and if it is, remove it and do a water change

What are the water parameters ? is it heated + have a filter?


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

5 gallons is not big enough for nerites. They eat a lot of one specific type of algae, and not the one people usually have problems with. Most likely it died from starvation, no algae in the tanks in pet stores.


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## TheBlueBetta (Jul 8, 2016)

Johnson1905 said:


> Hello, so Tuesday I bought 2 nerite snails from Petsmart to add to my 5 gallon tank with my betta Sunkiss. Upon putting them into the tank the larger one climbed past the water line and has remained there. The smaller one moved about an inch from where I placed it and has yet to move. This was 4 days ago. Why are they not active? The one above water line appears to be alive as I've seen a trail of poop. It just won't go into the water. And the smaller one appears to be dead and decaying. Why is this happening?


Netiles are a pain in the ass to keep alive. I've tried.. and failed I believe 4 times. They are very shy snail who comes out on their own terms. If the snail is decaying, it's dead. If you pick it up, it should fall out of the shell.


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## Johnson1905 (Aug 15, 2015)

Thanks for the help guys. I didn't do a drip acclamation. I just let the water in their bag adjust to the temp of Aqurium which is heated. I just picked up the presumed dead one and it sucked itself back in. What should I feed them? It was between those and mystery snails. Although the mystery snails tank was full of babies, which I would like to avoid lol. I wonder if Petsmart honors the return policy for dead fish on snails? They were rather expensive at almost $3 each.


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## TheBlueBetta (Jul 8, 2016)

Johnson1905 said:


> Thanks for the help guys. I didn't do a drip acclamation. I just let the water in their bag adjust to the temp of Aqurium which is heated. I just picked up the presumed dead one and it sucked itself back in. What should I feed them? It was between those and mystery snails. Although the mystery snails tank was full of babies, which I would like to avoid lol. I wonder if Petsmart honors the return policy for dead fish on snails? They were rather expensive at almost $3 each.



They do honor the policy. You must bring back the dead body along with a water sample.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> They were rather expensive at almost $3 each.


I paid $160 AUD for 2 rare snails, I use $3 snails as food and treats in my tanks.


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## VillagerSparky (Dec 1, 2015)

kitkat67 said:


> 5 gallons is not big enough for nerites. They eat a lot of one specific type of algae, and not the one people usually have problems with. Most likely it died from starvation, no algae in the tanks in pet stores.



I'm going to have to disagree with the tank size. I believe 5 gallons (28 Litres in my case) can house two Nerites. I do it myself. However, it is more likely you'll need to do some algae growing on some stones for them to make sure they are well fed because of the smaller surfaces for algae to grow in the tank.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

NickAu said:


> I paid $160 AUD for 2 rare snails, I use $3 snails as food and treats in my tanks.


Lmao, hope you got male/female.


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## NiceCrocs (May 14, 2016)

Nerites only eat natural algae. If you want to keep them, you have to cultivate algae for them (by putting some rocks in a bowl of water in a sunny window until algae grows on them.)

Personally, I'd have gone for the mystery snail. They'll eat algae wafers, blanched veggies, fish food, whatever they can find. And they've got cool personalities. My mystery snail cracks me up xD


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

Mystery Snails make a great pet in their own right are easier to keep than some fish and most kids love them.

kitkat67 is breeding some cool ones if anybody in the USA is looking to buy hit her up.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Thank you but I am just about sold out! I am finishing up ebay orders but will have more soon!


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