do rainbow darters eat all size snails

[finfayce]

hi- i have a 30 gallon tank which contains 3 adult rainbow darters and a blue spotted sunfish. i know the darters eat small bladder snails. today i received 5 nerite snails. they are the size of a piece of popcorn. later in the afternoon i saw they were all upside down except for one. i turned them over. they are not in the original places.
their undersides are smooth white.
would the darters turn a snail over to eat its insides? is there any size of snail that would be big enough not to be bothered? i have biofilm and a little algae. i thought snails might help.
i have a sponge filter the right size for 30 gallons. i have a skimmer and 2 water flow
'whatever they're called.'

 

[GaryE]

I would expect them to. A lot of fish that meet small snails in nature, figure out flipping large ones in tanks. It's very easy for them to do.

For rainbow darters, I can't be sure, but I'm not surprised.

 

[finfayce]

I would expect them to. A lot of fish that meet small snails in nature, figure out flipping large ones in tanks. It's very easy for them to do.

For rainbow darters, I can't be sure, but I'm not surprised.

thank you. i just looked up that info.
i have put those poor snails in with darter- sharks! i put 3 in my amano shrimp tank. not sure if the snails are alive. learned not to do something without research. a hard lesson(

 

[GaryE]

thank you. i just looked up that info.
i have put those poor snails in with darter- sharks! i put 3 in my amano shrimp tank. not sure if the snails are alive. learned not to do something without research. a hard lesson(

I'll, uh, not mention how I learned this and was able to answer your question.

Watch out if the nerites are dead, as they pollute water fast. But they are large and the darters (you lucky person with that fish) may have still been figuring it out. It would be like you or I flipping over a woolly mammoth and then trying to decide how to eat it.

 

[finfayce]

I'll, uh, not mention how I learned this and was able to answer your question.

Watch out if the nerites are dead, as they pollute water fast. But they are large and the darters (you lucky person with that fish) may have still been figuring it out. It would be like you or I flipping over a woolly mammoth and then trying to decide how to eat it.

hey- thanks. 3 are alive in the shrimp tank. i can't see the other 2.

 

[finfayce]

hey- thanks. 3 are alive in the shrimp tank. i can't see the other 2.

hi again. it turns out that all nerite snails are alive ! should i move the ones in the darter tank to the shrimp tank? in abundance of caution?
thanks.