# Ramshorn or Nerite Snail for a 5g tank?



## WinterFrost (Jan 19, 2015)

I am going to get a companion for my Betta tonight:-D and I was going to get a Nerite snail, but then I came across a Ramshorn. So what are the pros and cons of both?


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

I've never had snails but I've been looking into them as I quite like the Red Spotted Snails that my local pet store sells, and this is what I can tell you. 

Ramshorn snails are cute, but they will breed. You start from a pair and within a couple of months your tanks are overrun with hundreds of snails. Obviously that can become a problem, but the pros are that you can sell the excess or feed it to your fish. Bear in mind that not everyone will hunt down snails, and if your betta isn't the most aggressive he most likely won't keep the population under control. Another reason why many people consider ramshorns as pests is because they can munch on your plants and you don't want that in a planted aquarium. I think the biggest advantage of ramshorns is that they are very pretty and you get some with truly unique colours! 

Nerite snails are cute little things and they have the advantage of not breeding in freshwater aquariums. They'll still lay eggs, but they'll never hatch unless you provide them with brackish conditions. They also come in lots of different varieties, with the zebra nerite being the most popular and easily available. The cons of these snails are that they can be quite picky with what they eat and can starve if there's no algae present. You can teach them to eat veggies and algae wafers, but not every snail will do so.


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## SabastiansMom (Jul 25, 2014)

I personally like the nerite snail. But it's only because they won't breed unless conditions are ideal. I have one nerite in each tank...Harry is in the 55g...Tigger...is in the first ten with my Betta, Nick and Kermit is in the other ten gallon. All are happy. In fact I'm trying to get rid of snails. MTS's


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

One ramshorn will become many more ramshorns haha. Personally I don't mind them, which is good because I have an explosion of them in my 15g atm xD 

If I had the choice I'd get a nerite, since they are one of the best for algae control and I like the look of them. They also far well against nibbling bettas. Not all bettas can live with snails though, so be prepared to return or rehome the snail if your betta harasses it too much.


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## CelticRavens (Feb 21, 2015)

Tress said:


> One ramshorn will become many more ramshorns haha. Personally I don't mind them, which is good because I have an explosion of them in my 15g atm xD


I brought home 1 ramshorn last Sept & have had an explosion, too. I just gave up & named them Legion when I was naming my aquatic pets. 



Tress said:


> If I had the choice I'd get a nerite, since they are one of the best for algae control and I like the look of them. They also far well against nibbling bettas. Not all bettas can live with snails though, so be prepared to return or rehome the snail if your betta harasses it too much.


Love the way my tiger nerite looks. If I was interested in snail farming I'd set up a tank to breed nerites.
Ronin never flares at Nameer, just swims up to see what his tank mate is doing then swims away. He flares at the baby ramshorn _*every*_ time he catches it on one of his Pothos leaves. :lol:


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## Aeon (Jul 15, 2014)

i have 2 nerite snails and had them for a few months in seperate tanks I recently put them together due to the new tank cycling .... today I came home and found the lil white spots on my plants. regardless I carefully scrapped them off cuz I dont want to see them but regardless one is in his own lil kritter keeper to he goes back in his normal tank


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