# Zebra Nerite Snale Woes



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Hi there!

I posted a similar question in the invert' section, but am still unsure of what to do.... :fish9:

I'm new to fresh water inverts' and I want to get 1 or 2 Zebra Nerite Snails for my 10g tank, I'm just worried they will eat all the algae and my Pleco and RCS's will starve, (although I put 1/2 an algae wafer in every other day to help supplement).

Also, everywhere on the internet it says they do NOT eat plants, but the LFS guys said he's pretty sure they do...... who do I believe? *H2 

So, if I do get 1 or 2 of them, will they eat all the algae or will the other creatures be o.k. if I supplement more wafers? How much more will I need to supplement the algae wafers (1 whole one every other day instead of a half), and do they or do they NOT eat plants?

Any advice will be gladly welcomed!! *c/p*


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I have nerites and they don't eat my plants, so I don't know where he gets his info at. It shouldn't eat so much that it starves your shrimp and pleco, but depending on the type of pleco he may get to big for your tank.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

It's an albino bushy nosed pleco, so she maxes out at 2-3 inches. 

Thanks for the plant info.

Do you think a whole wafer instead of half every other day is better, or will it still be ok to just do a half wafer every other day?

I also read that they leave tons of eggs around that are hard to pick/scrape off..... is this true?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would never trust advice from my lfs'.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

They will leave little eggs around that are hard to get off of things. But unless its on the front glass I don't worry about them. Then I scrape them off with a glass scraper.

Good to hear its a bn, but be warned I have some that reaches 5 inches. so you can't always go by the 2 to 3 inches.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> I would never trust advice from my lfs'.


Yep. I'm learning this the more I'm on this forum! Lol.

Susankat, do you think I will need to put in more than 1/2 a wafer every other day with 2-4 Zebra Snails? Or will the left over veggie flakes and the 1/2 wafer be enough for the pleco, shrimp and snails?

Thanks so much!!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Actually I would put 1 in there every other day or couple of days. Just break it into 2 pieces and put them in different areas of the tank.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks so much for the tips! (I'm finding the LFS people aren't so reliable, lol).

Two final questions: Can they live in temps around 80-81 degrees? (I read one one web site that 77 is the highest they should be kept in, and then on another site it said they can be kept in temps up to 85. I was hoping that 80-81 won't kill them, as that is what my tank is...)

And, do they cause big ammonia spikes? (I called the pet store today to see if they had any Zebra snails. The lady said she could order me in a couple, but snails tend to produce a lot of waste and cause big ammonia spikes... I called another pet store for advice, and they guy said anything will add to the waste load but Zebra snails won't cause ammonia spikes unless they are dead). I can't seem to find anything on the internet on the issue either...

(Again, thanks so much for your advice and patience).


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