Neptune Aquatics

Y'all know about Nerite Snails (aka Tapestry Snails)? Little gems.

So I've taken a liking to these lil snails called Nerite Snails. They're also sometimes called Tapestry Snails.

They're an intertidal snail from the Pacific and the Carribean Oceans. They stay small and they get to be about half an inch long at the most. They eat small/basic algae. I've seen them in a handful of stores. I've bought some from Aquarium Concepts and Cali Reef Co. Haven't seen to many at the other LFSs, probably because they don't perform as well (algae-eating) as the standard Trochus/Turbo/Astrea combo.

They are intertidal so they may take a little stroll outside of your tank. I haven't had these happen in my or Jill's tanks but our tanks have a rim so they have to put in a little extra effort to escape. We don't have lids.


I particularly like them because of the variety of colors they come in. Just one more thing to spice up the invertebrate diversity of a reef tank. Great for those tired of just seeing the trochus/turbo combination.

IMG_1980.JPG


I've notice you need to acclimate them slowly or they don't do well. Mine move slow at the initial introduction to the tank and then become acclimated to tank parameters. The ones in Jill's tank move super fast compared to the ones I just introduced to my tank.
 
Last edited:
You wont like them as much when you crunch one under foot. They notoriously escape the tank. Those shells wont look like that for long, they get covered in coraline and other crap ;)
 
Yeah they are inter-tidal which means they sometimes like to get some air, but I've never had them leave my tank.

I also have trouble growing coraline algae so their shells stay that pattern in my tank :D
 
My nerites kept getting out of my tank until I setup the mesh hood. I've seen some active in the nights but mostly sitting around water level, I feel they're very lazy guys :)
 
I also love these snails, but +1 for their escape artist ways.

I've got a mesh lid on our 90 gallon which seals completely, except for one small gap at the rear > 1cm across. Even with a gap that small, these snails escape every 2-3 days. They then wander around until they fall on the floor and have to be rescued.

I've probably performed 20+ rescues for the 12 snails in our tank, with all survivors but one who fell behind a piece of furniture.
 
Back
Top