# Tiger Nerite Snail?



## mkayum

I went to Petco today for my leopard gecko, Nemo's food. 

I thought I'd go look to see what they have in fish section and I saw some TNS , I think they're about 3$ each and I decided to buy one. I picked the active one, he was eating ln the moss. 


I put him in my 20 gallon community tank. 

Do you own this kind of snail? I 'm starting to like this guy cause it went crazy eating off of the driftwood. Maybe he was just hungry?

Anyway what were your experiences with this kind of snail?

I might get one for my 4 ways divided betta tank.


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## MSG

*I wouldn't want to spend $3 on a snail till you know your fish won't eat it.*

My betta Senetti that was caught in the plastic decoration, has eaten about 100 snails since July. earlier this week, I noticed a gang of several dozen baby snails gathering around the plants. 

Due to her injuries, I removed everyone else and put Senetti in the tank.

Last night, there's no sign of ANY snails whatsoever. 

Senetti is the only one that is patient enough to wait till they exit the shell enough so she can grasp the entire body, EAT the whole thing & leave the shell behind. 

The others are not as patient. They'll rip off parts of the snail and they'll decay the water.

Back in July I did a little experiment, I put 10 snails with her. Within 2 hours all the shells were emptied out & I have a picture of it too.


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## kfryman

Nerite snails are huge and they barely stick out of their shells. They are protected very well. They are no where near small lol.

I belive you have a zebra nerite, I have never heard of a tiger, then again it was at Petsmart lol. Once they are settled in the tank they go everywhere and clean up really good. Yours probably like the driftwood because some driftwood will have almost like a fungus growth or other growth that inverts and snails love.

My snails only cost $2 each no tax at my LFS. I have a picture of one of my snails on the thread linked, I believe 4th page) if yours looks the same it is indeed a zebra.


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## mkayum

kfryman said:


> Nerite snails are huge and they barely stick out of their shells. They are protected very well. They are no where near small lol.
> 
> I belive you have a zebra nerite, I have never heard of a tiger, then again it was at Petsmart lol. Once they are settled in the tank they go everywhere and clean up really good. Yours probably like the driftwood because some driftwood will have almost like a fungus growth or other growth that inverts and snails love.
> 
> My snails only cost $2 each no tax at my LFS. I have a picture of one of my snails on the thread linked, I believe 4th page) if yours looks the same it is indeed a zebra.


Mine just came out fast as I put him in the tank.. he started to explore around the tank. I picked him out because he was very active. I thought "wowo that guy is probably healthy or tough " lol


I think he's definitely a tiger nerite snail. He has little stripes but not same as your zebra snail. Your snails look gorgeous! Of course! and the little disturbing that my bamboo shrimp just picked up some of TNS's poops and ate it. ew. o.o


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## LittleWatty

I bought a Tiger Nerite a while ago, hoping it would eat the diatoms in one of my tanks. For whatever reason, it kicked the bucket. It seemed fine, as it was moving around every once and a while. But, it just kind'a stopped one day, and then I found my shrimp eating it.


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## kfryman

Can you post a picture of your snail please?


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## Hallyx

I've had both Tiger and Zebra Nerites, about 0.4 in dia, with a subtle difference in appearance. They eat brown diatoms and algae off the tank walls, plants and other surfaces. They do such a good job I've had to supplement their diet with algae wafers. 

I move my two from tank to tank to keep the walls clean.

They're too big for Betta to eat.

They poop all over, so tank cleanliness is a wash. I don't have shrimp to eat their feces.

They breed in brackish water, so if you get one, that's all you'll have.

Who cares what they cost; stock is cheap.

Below these posts is a menu of "Similar Threads." Lots of good info there.


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## mkayum

kfryman said:


> Can you post a picture of your snail please?



kfryman, 

I'm positive that it's tiger nerite snail... I googled the kind of this snail and found many pictures that looks pretty much as my snail. Your snails have thick stripes and it covers the most its shells. But mine does not. It has like really small, short stripes and it has orange color..

I'll upload the photos later. Right now, my snail is scouting around the java ferns.. 


once he gets on the driftwood I'll take picture of him..


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## mkayum

MSG said:


> My betta Senetti that was caught in the plastic decoration, has eaten about 100 snails since July. earlier this week, I noticed a gang of several dozen baby snails gathering around the plants.
> 
> Due to her injuries, I removed everyone else and put Senetti in the tank.
> 
> Last night, there's no sign of ANY snails whatsoever.
> 
> Senetti is the only one that is patient enough to wait till they exit the shell enough so she can grasp the entire body, EAT the whole thing & leave the shell behind.
> 
> The others are not as patient. They'll rip off parts of the snail and they'll decay the water.
> 
> Back in July I did a little experiment, I put 10 snails with her. Within 2 hours all the shells were emptied out & I have a picture of it too.


Wait, are you talking about the small pond snails or nerite snails?


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## mkayum

LittleWatty said:


> I bought a Tiger Nerite a while ago, hoping it would eat the diatoms in one of my tanks. For whatever reason, it kicked the bucket. It seemed fine, as it was moving around every once and a while. But, it just kind'a stopped one day, and then I found my shrimp eating it.


Maybe it could be the water shock or something's in your tank that are killing the snails slowly like copper..? 

My snail have been doing great, he even ate the fuzzy that are growing on the driftwood. The gang of ghost shrimps and a bamboo shrimp, three dwarf algae suckers also helped him out. It's cool to see that they could work together to keep the tank walls and the decorations clean. 


I do supplement them a few of sliced cucumbers and sometimes algae tablet.


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## mkayum

How long would they live? one to two years or more?


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## mkayum

*Pic of my tiger nerite snail and my 20 gallon tank....*









TNS and his friend, bamboo shrimp.. 










My 20 gallon tank...


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## registereduser

MSG has lots of aquarium based drama :lol:

I had 3 zebras, one climbed out of the tank and died. 

They do a great cleaning job. I had to special order them from Petco and $3 is a great price IMO. If you have 2 in a tank they might lay eggs but the eggs won't hatch. They look like tiny sesame seeds.


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## MSG

My bettas are all very observant & active. They're exploring all day long. That's probably why they cause so much trouble. 

They all healed up nicely now. Even the siphoned & the stuck in decoration one. 

The one that kills snails has demolished....


ramhorns
pouch
pond
baby mystery
trumpets

Anything that moves in the tank, she'll follow, observe & try to eat. 

I have a apple snail a little smaller than a golf ball, but I know this betta would kill it by ripping off it's tentacles. I'm sure she would try to eat it if she could get the shell off. 

Wow, you do have a tiger snail, but it doesn't have a nice looking shell. Does a blemished shell mean it's not getting enough nutrients? 

With a betta like mine, I'm done buying snails. I'm not going to attempt to place a shrimp in my tank.


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## Striker0086

I just got one of these guys yesterday. Mine is a tiger nerite. The LFS that I went to also had a zebra. And a slightly smaller one that I was going to get but it was an empty shell.:| So far it has cleaned off most of one of my little decorations. I am surprised by how much it was able to get off so far. I hope I can keep this snail alive. I was going to get some algae wafers in case, but I was short by 20 cents XD So can anybody refer me to some basic care instructions for these guys. I have a rough idea of how there exact care goes as I have been looking into getting a snail for a while and did a little research a while back.

As far as shell complexion goes. From what I have read that could be possible a lack of calcium in the snails dies which leads to a weak shell that will become pitted and develop holes. So try feeding it high calcium food. ie broccoli and spinach Or put some type of calcium source into the tank like pieces of cuttle bone.

If anybody see's any flaw in my advise, please correct it as this is just part of what I remember from my research.


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## Striker0086

They also need to have water that is a little more basic, about 8. Low pH water will eat away their shells.


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## Hallyx

Not the pH so much. Low KH (calcium hardness) means low mineral content especially calcium. Low pH can be an indicator.

Before you try to raise your KH (buffer) with seashells or something organic. Make sure your pH is nominal: EI in the 7 to 8 range. 

Snails may like a pH of 8 (and the calcium/minerals that go with that), but even adaptable Betta have their limits.


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## Olympia

KH is carbonate hardness. CO3 is carbonate, often bonded to calcium, yes, to produce CaCO3, which is the essential component of every invertebrate's shell. KH directly affects pH.

gH (general hardness) is the measure of minerals, namely calcium and magnesium, but others (such as sodium) also come into play here. This is totally independent of pH. You can have pH of 8 with kH 200ppm, and gH of 40ppm, it does happen in the wild.

In greatly acidic waters, freshwater snails can have their shells dissolved, the water drawing out the carbonates from the animal's shell. More common in a too low pH though is the invert simply cannot grow, and often becomes weak.

Many nerite species are found wandering around in acidic waters with unreadable calcium levels in the wild, I remember reading. This is the best snail for an acidic tank, I am not sure what is going on here but I don't think pH is affecting this snail at all. A calcium supplement never hurts, though.


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## Hallyx

Whoops. Misspoke. And you know i know better, Olympia. (What I get for posting at six in the morning.)

Thanks for the correction and further explication.


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## MaisyDawgThirteen

My snail (in my avatar) looks exactly like that!! Is it a tiger of a onion colouring. It was sold to my by my LPS as an 'onion/zebra' snail.


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## Olympia

:lol: Just looking out for you, Hal.


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## Kitty Whiskers

Here is a picture of my Nerite snails. The one near the top is a Tiger Nerite snail (Looks more like a football LOL) and the 2 bottom snails are the Zebra Nerite snails. Since August I bought 2 more Tiger Nerite snails and 1 more Zebra Nerite snail. The guy in the petstore also called them "Onion snails".


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## djembekah

oh cute! when i researched nerite snail coloration, i thought what I read was that that pattern was "tracked nerite" but i suppose every store calls them something different xD when i bought my two, my store just called them "nerite snails" lol


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## BettaQi

There're batik versions too different striping pattern.

I want one for the goldfish tank some algae up in there.


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## djembekah

they really are magical snails


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## mkayum

djembekah said:


> they really are magical snails


I agree! They all do the hard work than apple snails! I have to wait to see if Petco restock the nerite snails... I bought them earlier before they run out of those snails.. :O


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## mkayum

Kitty Whiskers said:


> Here is a picture of my Nerite snails. The one near the top is a Tiger Nerite snail (Looks more like a football LOL) and the 2 bottom snails are the Zebra Nerite snails. Since August I bought 2 more Tiger Nerite snails and 1 more Zebra Nerite snail. The guy in the petstore also called them "Onion snails".


Man... I wanna have those zebra snails.. their stripes are stunning! 

I only have two tiger nerite snails.. dang but they did super hard work by eating the alage & cleaning the tank glass..


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## MsGita

I had a zebra nerite snail for one week. Then my betta ate it 
I've thought about trying it again because I have brown algae but not sure if I want to chance it.


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## djembekah

Hm :/ could you like, quarantine the betta somewhere while you gave the snail a shot at cleaning the tank up? or do you just have the one tank?

another easy algae cleaning option would be to just buy an algae scrubber. those are harder to kill


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## BettaQi

Betta needs a time out!


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