Any special requirements for keeping snails?

[natureAddict]

My new pet snails look lethargic - are they dying?? I just bought 5 snails from c328 - 2 red, 2 brown/white stripe with spikes and 1 brown/white jagged stripes. Their size is that of our little finger nail. I put them in my guppy mud pond with lily plants and plenty algae (hope they do the cleaning for me, hehe) but now 2 days later they look constipated and not enjoying the algae - they stopped eating. Any advice??

[Quixotic]

Some snails may require specific requirements. The descriptions of your snails are mostly vague, but I could hazard some guesses.

1. red - red ramshorn snails?
Picture courtesy of Justikanz


2. brown/white stripe with spikes - horned nerite snails?
Picture courtesy of Justikanz


3. brown/white jagged stripes - zebra/tiger nerite snails?
Picture courtesy of Snerticus


Their requirements should be rather similar, but water conditions may be an issue. Since you mentioned pond, is it out in the open, exposed to direct sun? If that is the case, the water could get rather warm and it could explain their lethargy.

[natureAddict]

wow!! your fotos are SPOT ON man!! thanks. The water is not hot as it is shaded. I called the shop and he said DONT add salt - they are not salt water snails haha. my water changed about 2 weeks ago.

[z_z]

well technically nerites live in brackish water (pockets of water that is next to the sea), not freshwater.

[Quixotic]

Actually, most nerites (as in snails in the Neritidae family) are brackish or saltwater species, but there are indeed freshwater nerites as well.

Those few species found in Singapore's LFS (including those nerites in the pictures above) are supposedly freshwater, but they will tolerate slight brackish conditions.

Edit: Oh yeah, just to add, their offsprings may live their lives in brackishwater though as they supposedly go though a planktonic cycle at birth.

[natureAddict]

I have transfered all 5 snails to a clean freshwater container with some duck weeds and they seem happy sucking to the side of the container. Did the editor mentioned something like 'planktonic cycle at birth'. Whats that?

[z_z]

They have a larvae stage.... like crabs and mosquitoes.

[natureAddict]

Quixotic , thanks again for the pics. After searching the web for more answers on nerites and ramshorn, your pics are real nice and big.

[beetlejuice403]

Quixotic , thanks again for the pics. After searching the web for more answers on nerites and ramshorn, your pics are real nice and big.

Hi bro,

Wonder if the pH of the water in the pond could be an issue... read somewhere that most snails cannot tolerate (slightly) acidic water as it may pose a threat to their shells (mainly calcium) & hence their lives... For me, whenever I see alot of my snails crawling out of the water in my tank (as if escaping), it's normally time to perform water change liao...

Cheers!

[natureAddict]

thanks for the tip to check ph. i just brought 1 horned nerite to my shop - got free air-con lah, to see how he reacts to cool water and also how he socialise with shrimps, also to do some glass cleaning for the nano tank.

(Edit: Your sighting request has been consolidated into this thread in the LFS Sighting forums, http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=45134)