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Is my nerite snail dying?

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tabletopfishguy

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Just looking for some answers as to what my nerite is doing, i got 3 zebra nerites about a week ago and at first they were ridiculously hungry and ate the greenspot algae in my shrimp tank and after a few hours they just hunkered down and haven’t moved since, today i picked up one of my snails to do a smell test since they haven’t been moving at ALL, same spot for the past 4-5 days not an inch of movement, the snail i picked up was hanging out of its shell and didn’t retract when i pulled it out of the tank but did react to me gently touching it and did move. I placed all 3 of them to a moss patch in the tank and heres how looked, id say he was a lot more out of the shell, i could see eyes and antennae he didn’t grasp onto anything just kind of waved his body.

Tank mates: Like 100+ cherry shrimp and 2 guppies
Parameters: nitrate 0,
nitrite 0,
KH 90ppm,
ph:7.2,
GH: 200ppm
 

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test the water for ammonia

do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate, see if it helps.
 
Not a snail expert personally, @Essjay knows a lot more about them and might be able to help, hopefully!

It kind of looks as though a chunk of the front right on the snails shell might be missing? But he might survive that.

Nerites do have a habit of hunkering down and going semi-dormant for a few days, alarming us, then returning to zooming around eating mode after being a stone for a week or so. The sniff test is surefire - it's not dead if it doesn't make you gag to sniff it, so pop it gently back, ideally on it's foot somewhere soft like where they are now, and wait and see, is all I can really advise.

Even if there is damage to the shell from being caught or falling off the glass or something, that doesn't mean it's doomed... they can do some healing and repairing, so fingers crossed for yours! But yeah, if your water quality is good and you're not adding chemicals like meds containing copper to the tank, then try not to worry about nerites going dormant for a few days. If it's not ammonia, nitrites, high nitrates or meds, then they're likely just having that nap time, and not to worry about them too much, because it is normal.
 
The sniff test is the definitive sign of a dead snail :sick:

A couple of weeks ago one of my nerites was on its back and I know that if there is nothing nearby for them to get hold of they struggle to right themselves. I picked the snail up and had a sniff - smelled fine. But just in case I put it back right at the front of the tank. It didn't move for days so I sniffed it again- it was fine. A few more days later and it was still in the same place. This time the smell was appalling so I knew it was dead.

So yes, check the water then if that's OK keep an eye on the snail and sniff it every couple of days. Warning - the smell of a dead snail is gross. It's the kind of smell which lingers in the nose for hours so take a tiny little sniff rather than a lungful.
 
Essjay said:
The sniff test is the definitive sign of a dead snail :sick:


So yes, check the water then if that's OK keep an eye on the snail and sniff it every couple of days. Warning - the smell of a dead snail is gross. It's the kind of smell which lingers in the nose for hours so take a tiny little sniff rather than a lungful.
Click to expand...

I shouldn't laugh, but urgh, I can almost taste it now :sick:🤮

Some scents burn themselves into your memory. Yak.
 
Essjay said:
The sniff test is the definitive sign of a dead snail :sick:

A couple of weeks ago one of my nerites was on its back and I know that if there is nothing nearby for them to get hold of they struggle to right themselves. I picked the snail up and had a sniff - smelled fine. But just in case I put it back right at the front of the tank. It didn't move for days so I sniffed it again- it was fine. A few more days later and it was still in the same place. This time the smell was appalling so I knew it was dead.

So yes, check the water then if that's OK keep an eye on the snail and sniff it every couple of days. Warning - the smell of a dead snail is gross. It's the kind of smell which lingers in the nose for hours so take a tiny little sniff rather than a lungful.
Click to expand...
yeahhh i had bad luck with mystery snails in the past the smell test is no new news to me… definitely had my fair share of recoils into horror. and the first time i went for a gulp of a sniff LOL
 
Essjay said:
The sniff test is the definitive sign of a dead snail :sick:

A couple of weeks ago one of my nerites was on its back and I know that if there is nothing nearby for them to get hold of they struggle to right themselves. I picked the snail up and had a sniff - smelled fine. But just in case I put it back right at the front of the tank. It didn't move for days so I sniffed it again- it was fine. A few more days later and it was still in the same place. This time the smell was appalling so I knew it was dead.

So yes, check the water then if that's OK keep an eye on the snail and sniff it every couple of days. Warning - the smell of a dead snail is gross. It's the kind of smell which lingers in the nose for hours so take a tiny little sniff rather than a lungful.
Click to expand...
AdoraBelle Dearheart said:
Not a snail expert personally, @Essjay knows a lot more about them and might be able to help, hopefully!

It kind of looks as though a chunk of the front right on the snails shell might be missing? But he might survive that.

Nerites do have a habit of hunkering down and going semi-dormant for a few days, alarming us, then returning to zooming around eating mode after being a stone for a week or so. The sniff test is surefire - it's not dead if it doesn't make you gag to sniff it, so pop it gently back, ideally on it's foot somewhere soft like where they are now, and wait and see, is all I can really advise.

Even if there is damage to the shell from being caught or falling off the glass or something, that doesn't mean it's doomed... they can do some healing and repairing, so fingers crossed for yours! But yeah, if your water quality is good and you're not adding chemicals like meds containing copper to the tank, then try not to worry about nerites going dormant for a few days. If it's not ammonia, nitrites, high nitrates or meds, then they're likely just having that nap time, and not to worry about them too much, because it is normal.
Click to expand...
nope its shell is fully intact, its just the angle the lil guy was sitting at that made it seem like he was missing a chunk of his shell, he looks just like all of my other nerites. Hunkered down in the moss where i set them. I unfortunately dont have ANYTHING to test for ammonia as of right now which blew my mind when i went to check so thats on tomorrow’s shopping list. No extra ferts or meds are being added, only ferts in the tank come from my stratum that is probably leeching into the water (i should have mesh bagged it and capped it)😁🥲…. now i have previously about 2-3 months ago dose the tank with no planaria but i feel like that would be all changed/filtered out by now due to maintenance.
 
Colin_T said:
test the water for ammonia

do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate, see if it helps.
Click to expand...
im due for one regardless, thats on tomorrows bucket list along with distilled water since thats whats holding me back from a WC as of now
 
tabletopfishguy said:
nope its shell is fully intact, its just the angle the lil guy was sitting at that made it seem like he was missing a chunk of his shell, he looks just like all of my other nerites. Hunkered down in the moss where i set them. I unfortunately dont have ANYTHING to test for ammonia as of right now which blew my mind when i went to check so thats on tomorrow’s shopping list. No extra ferts or meds are being added, only ferts in the tank come from my stratum that is probably leeching into the water (i should have mesh bagged it and capped it)😁🥲…. now i have previously about 2-3 months ago dose the tank with no planaria but i feel like that would be all changed/filtered out by now due to maintenance.
Click to expand...

Eeeek, I don't know the product or ingredients to that med, but some meds, especially ones that contain copper, can leave a residue on the tank silicone and glass, or settle into the substrate and not get removed by typical water changes, maybe?

Worth checking, if they were great and active for a week, then began shutting down, all three at the same time? That could be a sign there's something toxic to inverts in there. Not a certainty, try not to panic - you could run carbon in your filter for a while to help remove any traces of previous meds.. Seachem also have a product called Cuprisol that can be added to the filter for a while to remove some of those things that can't easily test for, that I've used before.

@Essjay is the chemistry expert, I'm sure she'd know, if there's an ingredients list online whether it could be the med lingering and affecting the snails.
 
Last edited:
tabletopfishguy said:
im due for one regardless, thats on tomorrows bucket list along with distilled water since thats whats holding me back from a WC as of now
Click to expand...
Are you using distilled water in the aquarium?
That can cause problems to snails because they need minerals for their shell.

The pH can also drop suddenly if there is no KH (carbonate hardness) in the water and a sudden drop in pH can kill fish, shrimp and snails.
 
Colin_T said:
Are you using distilled water in the aquarium?
That can cause problems to snails because they need minerals for their shell.

The pH can also drop suddenly if there is no KH (carbonate hardness) in the water and a sudden drop in pH can kill fish, shrimp and snails.
Click to expand...
Distilled yes, but i remineralize with salty shrimp gh/kh, parameters are mentioned above i tend to remineralize new water to about that level. Not sure if thats enough for the nerites im not super educated with their needs for minerals.
 
AdoraBelle Dearheart said:
Eeeek, I don't know the product or ingredients to that med, but some meds, especially ones that contain copper, can leave a residue on the tank silicone and glass, or settle into the substrate and not get removed by typical water changes, maybe?

Worth checking, if they were great and active for a week, then began shutting down, all three at the same time? That could be a sign there's something toxic to inverts in there. Not a certainty, try not to panic - you could run carbon in your filter for a while to help remove any traces of previous meds.. Seachem also have a product called Cuprisol that can be added to the filter for a while to remove some of those things that can't easily test for, that I've used before.

@Essjay is the chemistry expert, I'm sure she'd know, if there's an ingredients list online whether it could be the med lingering and affecting the snails.
Click to expand...
active for a week is a strech id say activitive for about 5 hours then hunkered down, peeking out periodically
 
AdoraBelle Dearheart said:
Eeeek, I don't know the product or ingredients to that med, but some meds, especially ones that contain copper, can leave a residue on the tank silicone and glass, or settle into the substrate and not get removed by typical water changes, maybe?

Worth checking, if they were great and active for a week, then began shutting down, all three at the same time? That could be a sign there's something toxic to inverts in there. Not a certainty, try not to panic - you could run carbon in your filter for a while to help remove any traces of previous meds.. Seachem also have a product called Cuprisol that can be added to the filter for a while to remove some of those things that can't easily test for, that I've used before.

@Essjay is the chemistry expert, I'm sure she'd know, if there's an ingredients list online whether it could be the med lingering and affecting the snails.
Click to expand...
would i see shrimp die off and a halt to breeding if there was something toxic to inverts? I know snails are different in their sensitivity to things though, i haven’t seen any issues with my shrimp so id thought the snails would be fine. The no planaria could possibly be leaving a residue thats not good for them, might relocate to a different tank that hasn’t been dosed with that medication to see if theres any difference
 
The main ingredient in No Planaria is betel nut palm extract. Many aquarists report nerite snails dying or becoming lethargic after No Planaria treatment. It has a strong residual effect and can linger in the substrate for weeks, so you might need to use activated carbon filtration and gravel vacuum to remove it. It is best to remove snails during treatment.
 
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