# My nerite snails had babies?!



## Phantom Miria

So I was talking with A friend when I noticed a small insect like thing crawling on my glass. I thought it was a bug or something so I quickly picked it up out of my tank and realized it had a shell, and was a baby nerite snail! 


I'm not sure how they reproduced, since I just have a freshwater 20g planted tank. I currently have 10 (now 11 ) olive nerite snails in my aquarium with my betta fish. I add prime, stress zyme, and have been doing weekly 50% water changes. Is this a bad sign? Should I be worried about my female betta trying to eat him or something? He's pretty tiny. 

Any help is appreciated!


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## Lonely Dragon

Are you sure it's not a pond snail or something that came with a plant? It seems weird they'd only have one baby...or are there more?


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## Phantom Miria

Well, I added all my plants and snails on the same day around 2 weeks ago. If it came with a few extra snails, I think I would have spotted them by now so I'm pretty sure its a nerite. I also haven't added anything to the system since then.

Also as you may or may not be able to tell in the photo, it has a very small olive colored shell just like the fully grown olive nerite's. It looks exactly like them except a baby version, lol. From what I can tell there is just one of these babies in the tank but I'm keeping my eye out for more. 

Also, my PH, Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite levels have all been normal.. nothing out of the ordinary. I'm going to test again today though.


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## ao

baby pond snails are pretty tiny and can be easily missed ^_^
wait till they grow up a bit for a proper ID~


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## Phantom Miria

Alright then, I may very well be wrong. Will they have the shell like the nerites though?


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## Lonely Dragon

Well that's totally weird...
But at least you got a free snail either way! =)


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## ao

when they're that small it's hard to tell ^_^


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## Phantom Miria

That may very well be the case. Thanks for the help! I'll keep an eye on him and lookout for any more =] He's super fast so I've already lost track of him lol


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## Otterfun

yes, my pond snail had bands on the shell like a zebra nerite


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## AyalaCookiejar

From what I've been told, nerites cannot reproduce in fresh water. They may lay eggs but they won't hatch.

Edit: I've also been told it can take weeks for ramshorns (pest snails) eggs to hatch. They hatch faster in warmer temps but it can still take like 2 weeks. Snails are the most common reason why people QT plants. Those will reproduce like crazy but they can benefit the aquarium if the population is kept in check. They reproduce faster if the tank isn't kept clean. The more algae and debris, the more food there is for them which = more snails.


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## AyalaCookiejar

Oh and another thing: I've read on another forum that you don't want too many nerites because they kind of compete for food, and most tanks don't provide enough food to support more than maybe, 1 per every 5 gallons?
I'll have to double check that info, though.


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## Silverfang

Nerites will lay eggs in fresh water. HOWEVER brackish water is needed for them to hatch. Sorry to disappoint, but that is either a pond or ramshorn.


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## registereduser

The baby snails come from the plants. There will be more....lots more! This sounds terrible but I hunt them down and squish them before they proliferate.


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## Elliriyanna

It does look like a pond snail  Which will quickly take over your tank


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## Destinystar

I QT my plants and still got some pond snails which I used to freak out about but now I dont mind when I see a few in the tank. Just dont over feed your fish and if he doesnt eat his food take it out so there are no left overs for the snails...lol If you start to get to many there are ways to handle that, like if I think I am getting to many I take some out when I do my water change.


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## OrangeAugust

Yeah, just don't overfeed your fish and you won't have a snail problem. I got some snails with some plants one time. I saw one pond snail right after I put the plants in, but it was 2 weeks before I also saw ramshorn snails. I think my bettas ate the ramshorns, though, because I only ever saw really small ones and I haven't seen any in a while. And I only have 2 pond snails in that tank. I only feed each betta 3 pellets at each feeding and I make sure they eat one before I drop the other in, so there is almost never any leftover food.


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## AyalaCookiejar

The snails won't get out of hand if the tank is kept clean, I agree. Overeating and algae will cause them to multiply like crazy. They can actually help the aquarium if they don't take over the tank. But I did choose to rid my plants of snails because I was worried about a spike in the cycle if they randomly overpopulated which doesn't take long (I already have 6 girls in a 10 gallon).

Jungle Clearwater will get rid of snails if you dose it really high and let it sit for maybe half an hour. I did it twice just to be sure.


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