# My Nerite Snail stays too long above the water surface



## manami (Feb 4, 2012)

Hello all. Sorry for so many new Threads from me. 

I need help. I don't know if this is normal or not. My nerite zebra snail stays almost all the time above the water, but I can still see it clearly in the tank. I always gently remove it from the glass and put it on top of a plant. But it just looks for the glass of the tank and slowly moves to the surface and stays there.

I've noticed that my betta likes to bites on it's antenna and there was a time when my betta was bothering the snail. But today when I removed the snail from the glass my betta wasn't bothering it, but later the snail went right back up. And now he is hiding from behind the filter.

Is this normal? Is my snail shy? Or is it just hiding from the betta?
My tank is algae free. Should I worry about what he eats?
What else do they eat while the tank is out of algae?


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

To feed a Nerite put some rocks in a bowl of water and set in a window sill. When algae forms on the rocks, put into your tank.

Some of my Nerites spend a lot of time out of the water and others don't. But it could be yours is hungry and seeking food. They are very picky and very seldom (even when starving) will they eat algae wafers for vegetables.


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## ZoZoe (Jul 2, 2014)

Sorry to hijack,

But to do the rock-algae grow method, what kind of rocks are safe? Do they need to be pretreated in anyway? I'm assuming I can't just pick up a pretty one off the street? XD


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## Patong (Jul 9, 2013)

I have noticed that when I feed my crawfish Nori the olive nerite snails will actually crawl over and eat it while it's weighed down by a rock. They won't touch algae wafers but for some reason they will eat Nori! I discovered this by total accident when I spotted the crawfish picking them up and tossing them off of his food repeatedly O.O


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Are you feeding Nori (seaweed) in a freshwater tank?

I'd make another thread on how to tell if rocks are aquarium safe and how to make them that way. I don't know. :-(


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## 2muttz (Aug 16, 2013)

Hi Manami,

There is no such thing as too many questions.!!!

Is your tank filtered ~ or do you clean it out completely each week? Remember that there will be more for the nerite to eat in an "aged" tank than one that regularly gets cleaned and wiped. Your nerite might be eating diatoms ~ the invisible slime like stuff you can feel on your glass, décor, etc. Mine will sometimes even ignore algae and just keep at the diatoms, they seem to love it. If you regularly wipe your glass and décor clean, this won't be as available to him.

Surprisingly, most rocks that you can pick up outside are aquarium safe! I love rocks and wanted to use some of my collection when I first started aquarium keeping, so I did quite a bit of research on this issue.

It is important that any rock you put in with your fish and snail is "inert". One simple way to check for this is to put a few drops of vinegar on the rock. If it bubbles, the rock is not inert, and don't use it. If it lays flat like water, it should be fine. 

I boil all my rocks before using them, even ones that have been in the house for years. A few minutes should be fine, but I go overboard and boil them for at least 1/2 hour. I have a ceramic pot that I use just for that and nothing else.
Boiling will bring out any rust that may exist in a rock, indicating iron, also. Although I read that a lot of fishkeepers don't consider rust a problem, I discard anything I see with rust. It really doesn't happen often.

Of course, since you have a betta, you are concerned about smoothness, so keep that in mind. Probably the *** best *** rock are freshwater lake ones which are washed smooth. I'm lucky enough to live fairly close to Lake Michigan where I've gathered many smooth rocks in all colors over the years. You can probably buy similar ones at craft stores for much less $$$ than the pet stores charge if there's no rivers or lakes near you.

These are the precautions that I've taken with rocks, and it's always worked out fine for me. If you are uncomfortable with "wild" rocks, remember you can also grow your algae on aquarium plants and décor in the same way.

Good luck!


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Don't boil smooth rocks, though! They can explode from expanding steam inside the rock.


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## manami (Feb 4, 2012)

I confess I'm a little nervous of using a rock from my patio and/or my front house. We have dogs that do their business behind the house and in front where we have small to medium rocks on the ground...and we have lots of neighbours that have one or two dogs... 

We don't have craft stores that sells rocks as far as I know. I might risk it and find something at petsmart or petco that sells those small plastic bags with smooth-likes rocks.


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## 2muttz (Aug 16, 2013)

Walmart sells nice bags of smooth river rocks if you have one nearby.

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myexplodingcat said:


> Don't boil smooth rocks, though! They can explode from expanding steam inside the rock.


I have honestly never heard of this. Over the years, I have boiled at least a hundred smooth lake rocks, probably more, and have never had as much as a crack. I am not trying to be argumentative, just giving my own experience. thanks.


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## manami (Feb 4, 2012)

I'll check it out at walmart and search those smooth rocks. 

Today in the morning I saw the nerite snail moving down and landed on top of the Marimo Moss Ball! It was so cool! When I came home from work it was already above of the water again...but at least it goes down by itself. I won't force it go down anymore UNLESS it reaches OUT of the tank! :shock:


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## Pandanke (Jun 16, 2014)

Nerites are notorious escape artists, so as long as you have a cover he cannot possibly escape from (and DO check around the filter area, they love water current) it should be fine. He knows where the water is, so he can fall back in, but they are known to escape and go look for more water/food... and die.


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## Patong (Jul 9, 2013)

@RussellTheShihTzu

Yes I feed nori in a freshwater tank, its recommended to give nori once a week to crawfish for its high iodide content. May the nerite like it because they can go into brackish water and they might eat it in the wild? The nori i feed is the kind used for wrapping sushi labeled Ingredients: Pure seaweed


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