New sad snail

[PrairieSunflower]

Recently had to give up and admit defeat after a long battle with velvet. My two remaining occupants of my tank are two amano shrimp. I went to the pet shop the other day looking for more shrimp to add (they had none)... but spotted a tank with dead or dying nerrite snails.

I bought the only one that looked like he has a chance to pull through. The kids have named him Nomnom as it spent what seemed like the entire last 24 hours zipping around the tank eating and pooping non-stop. He is taking a nap now.

Is there anything I can do to maximize his chances of surviving?

He was all the things you'd not be looking for in a snail, he was barely moving, imperfections on his shell, tiny chip on his shell. But he was still alive and I wanted to give him a chance.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Nerite snails can be hard to feed if they are not tank bred and fed algae wafers or suchlike.

I'd recommend you to try algae wafers to see if your nerite takes to that, hopefully will.

But if not, then you need to grow algae, yes I know, a contradition amongst many fishkeepers as they try to get RID of algae

There are several methods to doing this, easiest way is to get a non sharp piece of glass and lay that in a shallow container of water and leave by windowsill, then algae will naturally grow on the glass fairly quickly.

Be sure the piece of glass does fits comfortably in your tank, not restricting flow or swimming space of any tank mates etc. Have heard of folks making the mistake of not testing the glass fitment first.

Also a nice addition, is if your water does not have much calcium is to add some cuttlebone or something like that. Also there are foods that contains calcium so that a possible option if your snail will eat any other food other than just algae.

Calcium is good for snails as well as shrimps for their shells etc.

Be aware adding calcium can affect the water parameters so do not add too much calcium.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Ooo thanks! That sounds like good advice. I will try algae wafers first. I should be able to grow algae im the sun too.

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[StevenF]

I have found neuritis to be trouble free additions to my tank. They get enough from the algae in the tank so I don't need to fee them (they don't need a lot anyway). If your plants are growing you likely have enough calcium in the water . You can do a GH test on the water and determine you calcium magnesium levels. If it is above 2 degrees (about 40ppm) your water should be OK for them. If he is moving around periodically he is fine. You should only worry if they don't move around for long periods of time. If the snail hasn't move in 3 days I would check your water parameters and do a large water change to insure good water parameters.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

My tank is recovering after meds for months, the meds have been cleared and my remaining plants cut back but thriving.

I'll have to check my GH test to see if its still valid, I can't even remember the last time I tested that. My test may have expired.

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