Breeding nerite snails

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oocfish

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I've been looking into breeding nerite snails (different kinds-zebra, ruby, olive, etc.), but I haven't been able to find any detailed information on this besides that it should be in brackish water.

Anyone know anything about this? I'd like to just start breeding my own nerite snails for my planted tank, as they seem to rather efficient algae eaters.

Thanks in advance to anyone who has any knowledge in this arena!
 
Hello,

You cannot breed nerite snails in fresh water to start off with. These snails are capable of living in Fresh,brackish,and saltwater. Of which they only breed in brackish water.

So if your hoping to breed in your existing FW planted tank, your out of luck.
 
Adistar said:
Hello,

You cannot breed nerite snails in fresh water to start off with. These snails are capable of living in Fresh,brackish,and saltwater. Of which they only breed in brackish water.

So if your hoping to breed in your existing FW planted tank, your out of luck.
[snapback]909215[/snapback]​
I wasn't planning on breeding them in freshwater, as I already discovered (and already mentioned above) that they need brackish water to breed...which is why I was asking if anyone knew anything else besides that information about breeding nerite snails. Let me clarify - I want to breed them in a brackish water environment, so as to be able to use them for my freshwater planted tank (that is, of course, after "weaning" them from the brackish environment).
Thanks.
 
Adistar said:
Hello,

You cannot breed nerite snails in fresh water to start off with. These snails are capable of living in Fresh,brackish,and saltwater. Of which they only breed in brackish water.

So if your hoping to breed in your existing FW planted tank, your out of luck.
[snapback]909215[/snapback]​
I wasn't planning on breeding them in freshwater, as I already discovered (and already mentioned above) that they need brackish water to breed...which is why I was asking if anyone knew anything else besides that information about breeding nerite snails. Let me clarify - I want to breed them in a brackish water environment, so as to be able to use them for my freshwater planted tank (that is, of course, after "weaning" them from the brackish environment).
Thanks.

I've been doing the same research, and from what I have come up with is:
- Breed them in a brackish tank, temp set at 79F, with a lower level of illumination
- Moving the eggs to a smaller hatching tank are an option, but not necessary
- Once the eggs hatch, move them to a marine tank, or other fully salty tank.
- Once the hatchlings become little snails, move them back to the brackish tank, you can keep them there to rebreed, or move them to a freshwater tank to solve algae problems.

Keep me informed if you manage to breed them, I would like to see some pics ;) I currently have a fresh and a brackish tank, hence need one more to get them bred (or change my fresh tank, but its so well planted...)

Spinal
 
Hey Yah. Well Iā€™ve been breeding Nerites for a while. It seems to be a lot of confusion to a lot of people. Lets start off slow to clear the water from messy breeding details.
Nerites are A sexually. Once eggs are laid they can be transfer to a fully saltwater tank non brackish water I well explain this later. How do you get your little snails to lay eggs? More theyā€™ll eat the more theyā€™ll will to lay eggs. 99.9 percent of the time theyā€™ll lay eggs on your glass rocks or hard surface. I usually wait about maximum 72 hours before moving the egg. In case my Nertie might want to lay a few more. Iā€™ve notice my best Nerita are laid on drift wood. I well explain this in a bit and the reason why. It doesn't matter what kind of water you breed them in whether it be fresh salt or brackish. Let me be a little bit more clear about this. What will matter is how you will hatch these eggs. Nerite eggs can take a long time to hatch from a few days to a few weeks. I had a few eggs that hatched a month later. As far as water temperature my hatching is room temp. As cold as a bowl of goldfish water.

Alright time to get down to the good stuff with directions.
1. Pick a item(s) with some good algae mounted to it. Place this item where your Nerite well be. FRESH SALT OR BRACKISH WATER. What temp isnā€™t important. What quality should be at the best possible. I personally like using drift wood. Driftwood has tons of algae for these baby to feed.
2. Wait a few days. Until you see a good amount of eggs on item/decor. These eggs look like little sesame seeds. WARNING DONT TRY TO REMOVE THESE EGGS BY SCRAPPING THEM. You'll pop the shell. Wait about 72 hours to get a nice size decor with eggs on them.
3. Set up a small tank. Iā€™m using a 1 gallon tank to nurse the babies nitrites. A air bubble line that is set very low 1bubble ever 2 seconds. Also a marine/saltwater (freshwater salt wont work). Why salt and no brackish. The reason is once these Nertie are born at this stage they need all the calcium and mineral to develop a health strong shell. Which well increase the level of survival as juveniles. I had little luck with brackish water. My percentage increased about 80 percent when Iā€™ve hatched Nerite in fully saltwater tank. I usually fill the saltwater level just enough to cover the decor/driftwood.(this is where youll place your decor cover with eggs)
4. Usually about every 3 days I well perform a 50 percent water change. Donā€™t want your snail to die from bad water. This is easy to do. Donā€™t be lazy takes less then 5 mins.
5. Once your eggs are hatching. Theyll hatch at a very slow rate. Youā€™ll see that they're very small larvae. You can feed them algae that's on your dĆ©cor or driftwood. If not you can head to your local aquarium or pet shop. And purchase some algae chips.
Chop these algae chips into small fine grains. And drop them in your tank. Feed them by eye. If you donā€™t see any food. Give them food.
6. Once you see a nice shine to the shell on your snail, its time to move them. This process can take weeks. I donā€™t recommend one or 2 days. They'll die on you. Purchase a small measuring device. The measurement I am using is ML. For my one gallon tank. I would treat about gallon of freshwater(for people out there that donā€™t know what Im talking about treating your water. Neutralizing water from harmful chemicals using(Tetra Aqua Clear (or any other brand).Simply ever morning take out 10ml of tank water. Replace 5Ml in the morning and 5ML at night. For a full month. This step is only for freshwater tanks. For brackish or salt. Just lower the level of salt until you reach your tanks ppm. For a safe entry.
Enjoy your new NERITES. Usually i breed about 100 a month and sell them to my local pet shop.
 
Though very old thread.... very interesting post Neritehead. Any pictures of your set-ups and in particular the nerite larvae???
 
Can't add anything to what Nearitehead has said, as I have not yet carried the process through, as he clearly has with success . But I can confirm that bogwood is the laying site of choice for these snails. In warm or cold freshwater, my nerites smother bogwood with eggs. I have never had one egg on the glass or a rock. I wonder if this because the snails 'know' that wood is the stuff that is most likely to be swept downstream to the sea, where they need to be in order to hatch and survive..?
 
Can't add anything to what Nearitehead has said, as I have not yet carried the process through, as he clearly has with success . But I can confirm that bogwood is the laying site of choice for these snails. In warm or cold freshwater, my nerites smother bogwood with eggs. I have never had one egg on the glass or a rock. I wonder if this because the snails 'know' that wood is the stuff that is most likely to be swept downstream to the sea, where they need to be in order to hatch and survive..?

Strange you should say that as today i discovered that the white dots littering my aquarium were nerite eggs...needless to say they're all over the glass and i can't see any on bogwood or plants. Odd.

Does anyone know a good technique for scraping the eggs off the glass? They're tough!
 
Hi Neritehead

How long between the time I see eggs until they hatch and start moving around?
 
Neritehead came on 1 time 2 years ago I don't think he is going to reply....

It is probably temperature linked and given the times he mentioned I would suspect 1-2 weeks
 

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