Nerites with betta?

[SweetTart]

I plan to put a Plakat betta and 2 nerites in my 10 gallon tank. Sadly I had an issue with worms yesterday so I have to restart my cycle, but my water was consistently around 7.2ph.

Has anyone had success keeping Nerites with bettas? I've read that their shell can be damaged from the water, is there any way to prevent this?

If not, what sorts of snails would do well in a betta tank? Preferably a type that doesn't eat live plants and won't overrun a tank.

 

[Essjay]

I've always kept a nerite in my betta's tank, one of the smaller species. I did once have a betta that flared at the snail when it was on the glass - presumably the betta thought it was an invader swimming in his tank - but that was all the beta did, he didn't attack the snail at all.

As with all snails, their shells will erode in soft acidic water. There are products that claim to provide snails with calcium, but I have never used any.

 

[Colin_T]

If the tank is big enough you could add a mystery/ apple snail. They will graze on algae and eat excess food. If there is nothing for them to eat, any snail including mystery snails will eat live plants. If you have live plants you can increase the light on the tank to encourage some algae for the snail/s to eat.

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If you have small white worms (detritus worms) in the tank, they are usually harmless and normally appear if there is a water quality issue (ammonia, nitrite or high nitrate reading), or chemicals that are stressing the worms out. The worms thrive in tanks with excess food and lots of gunk in the substrate.

The easiest way to deal with them is to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week. Then do a water change and gravel clean once or twice a week after that (assuming there is a filter on the tank). If there is no filter then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every couple of days.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

 

[Essjay]

If SweetTart lives anywhere in the EU, mystery/apple snails won't be an option. Since I can't get them I always forget about them

 

[Colin_T]

That's right, silly EU banning them coz they are gonna eat the government and take over the world.

Who would have thought a snail would cause so much chaos. I mean the government should be more worried about little grey men from other worlds than snails ruling Britain.

 

[Essjay]

They are also worried about them ruling the other 27 countries in the EU, everywhere from the Mediterranean to the Arctic circle


It won't help when we leave the EU. They'll have to repeal any laws the government sees fit, and by the time they get round to this one my grandchildren will have died of old age.



Doesn't Australia have a list of tropical fish that are banned from being imported?

 

[NickAu]

Doesn't Australia have a list of tropical fish that are banned from being imported?

Not just fish but snails also, EG assassin snails,

 

[Colin_T]

They are also worried about them ruling the other 27 countries in the EU, everywhere from the Mediterranean to the Arctic circle

Watch out Santa, the snails are coming, the snails are coming.

 

[NickAu]

any snail including mystery snails will eat live plants.

Apple snails (Pomacea diffusa) will not eat your plants no matter how large they get (and they get larger with age), unless they're starving. They prefer dead and rotting plant matter or leftover fish food.

Ramshorn snails generally will eat only the most delicate plants, preferring algae, uneaten fish food, and dead fish.

Malaysian trumpet snails are a 100% peaceful species and they won't eat live plants,

 

[SweetTart]

If the tank is big enough you could add a mystery/ apple snail. They will graze on algae and eat excess food.

I considered an apple snail, but from the information I've seen it seems they can get pretty large? I'd be worried they'd outgrow my tank since I only have a 10 gallon.

It seems they were detritus worms, I think they were feeding on the fungus on my driftwood. I completely drained my tank and washed everything, and plan on letting my gravel dry for a few days before setting the tank back up. I'd rather not have any if possible. I plan on feeding whatever snails I get vegetables, and I just don't want to have to worry about them (worms) exploding in population.

Ramshorn snails generally will eat only the most delicate plants, preferring algae, uneaten fish food, and dead fish.

I originally wanted to stock Nerites and Ramshorn (they're so cute!), but I'm worried they'll overpopulate. I'd rather not have to kill snails to keep their numbers down.

 

[Jeremy180]

OK, moving on from the subject of the threat of worldwide snail domination,

I have heard that providing a shell for terrestrial snails to eat helps with she'll health, but you would need a pretty small one to not cause the hardness to go up.
Nerite shells are thick, though, and from what I hear, as long as the ph is not below 7.0, then they should manage.
If you decide to add a shelshell, do note that some sold in souvenir shops can be painted, which can be potentially harmful for fish.

 

[Colin_T]

Mystery/ apple snails are pretty slow growing and mine never got bigger than about 2 inches over a 4 year period. If you get one and it gets too big you can always trade it in for a smaller one.

As long as the pH of the water is above 7.0, snail shells should not dissolve. Their shells are made of calcium and in acid water (pH below 7.0), the calcium is dissolved by the acids in the water and the snail shell gets thinner and breaks down.

If you feed them a small amount of fruit/ vege they won't touch plants.

 

[NickAu]

Mystery/ apple snails are pretty slow growing and mine never got bigger than about 2 inches over a 4 year period

Strange, My mystery snails grow fast, a snail the size of a pea will be the size of a golf ball in under 6 months.

This is what a healthy snail looks like. Its about 7 months old. Image is of my snail.

This is the same snail about 7 months ago. The snail is the tiny dot on the feeding dish.

 

[Colin_T]

There was only one snail supplier in Perth when I got mine and they were inbred before I got them and I never added different bloodlines because they all came from the same original breeder. I'm pretty sure that caused them to stay smaller than they should have.

 

[NickAu]

Oh and PS.

I have never kept Nerites, I do not like them because they lay eggs all over the tank it looks ugly and the eggs rotting in the tank cant be good for water quality.

I considered an apple snail, but from the information I've seen it seems they can get pretty large? I'd be worried they'd outgrow my tank since I only have a 10 gallon.

Yes they can get huge if they are well cared for. Image is not mine