What happen to my nerite snail?

[Dscheng]

Hi all,

What happen to my nerite snail? It covered with many white spot.

[Urban Aquaria]

Those are nerite snail eggs, probably laid by another female nerite snail in the same tank.

[Dscheng]

What? I thought nerite snail is unable to breed on fresh water? Yes, i got a few nerite snail, sometime they will stick together.. like stack on top of each other.
Or is it just egg?

[seudzar]

They are eggs

[Urban Aquaria]

Nerite snails can still mate and lay eggs in freshwater... but the eggs will usually be dormant or hatch but the larvae will not survive as they need brackish/saltwater conditions to develop.

Thats the only trade-off with nerite snails, while they are excellent algae eaters, they tend to lay eggs around the tank.

The only way to avoid that is to just stock only male nerite snails, but its almost impossible to differentiate them from female nerite snails just by looking at them (unless you happen to spot them mating, or see the female snail actually in the process of laying eggs).

Personally, i have managed to separate male nerites from the females by observing them over time though, the males i transfer to my display tanks, while the females get transferred to my non-display tanks.