# Nerite Snails at top of tank/ keep dying



## macleod92 (14 Jun 2020)

Hi - I’m wondering if anyone can offer some suggestions about what to do with my Nerite Snails.
About three weeks ago I bought 10 freshwater nerite snails which I put in three different tanks. 
Since then I’ve had four of them die. One crawled out of the tank and was found on the floor the following morning. The other three were just found unresponsive in their respective tanks.


The rest of them seem to spend all their time at or above the waterline pretty much not moving all day.  A couple of times I’ve found them making a break for it out of the tank. 

I already had other Nerite snails in two of my tanks and they are behaving normally. It’s just the new snails that have been acting weird and dying. 

I’m really confused and obviously worried for the rest of the livestock in my tanks. 
If anyone can offer any insights I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks!


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## Conort2 (14 Jun 2020)

@macleod92 do you use co2?


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## macleod92 (14 Jun 2020)

In one one of the tanks. Not the other two in which two snails died.
But the one where the new snails are all at the top has CO2.
But the original two snails are happily at the bottom of the tank.


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## alto (14 Jun 2020)

macleod92 said:


> offer some suggestions about what to do with my Nerite Snails.


Unfortunately the most effective advice - purchase from another source
Write a complaint to the retailer (if clients don’t complain, shops have little recourse with their suppliers - fish/shrimp/snail shipments may sell quickly and shop’s experience may be that the livestock seemed fine, after initial losses) 

Always check snail purchase for ANY odour - dead snails stink terribly, but not quite right snails often have a slight difference in smell (a whiff of malodour that you may think you’re imagining)
Monitor movement of new snails, any that aren’t doing well, move to a bin with ~15cm water, and relatively high sides, (loosely cover to prevent escapees), add water movement for better oxygen levels, change water frequently re ammonia etc, add some wood/rocks/plants  from existing tank for biofilm etc (if possible - otherwise feed sparingly every 2-3 days, water change 12-24h after feeding, removing any uneaten food) 

Snails should ship damp and humid (with at most a small amount of water) and should not be rolling/tossing about in the bag 

New snails often seem to do better in cooler tanks, and seem to appreciate a humid area to rest in (drop water level several cm’s) - I’d move the nerites in the CO2 tank


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## jameson_uk (14 Jun 2020)

I find my Nerites often hang out at the water line every so often. I have also found that new ones sometimes struggle to acclimate and I have had a few stay pretty still for a day or two but go on to be _normal_.

If they are trying to escape then I think they aren't happy with the water parameters. Did you acclimate them slowly? Are your tank parameters wildly different to the parameters they came from?


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## sparkyweasel (14 Jun 2020)

jameson_uk said:


> If they are trying to escape then I think they aren't happy with the water parameters.


That is often the case. 

What species of Nerite are they?


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## rebel (15 Jun 2020)

Just to confirm that nerites can live in soft water and CO2. I had one for over 2  years. It escaped a few times but I just pick it up to 3m from the tank after work and plop it back in... It's a wonder my robot vaccuum didn't pick up one day.


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## Conort2 (15 Jun 2020)

macleod92 said:


> In one one of the tanks. Not the other two in which two snails died.
> But the one where the new snails are all at the top has CO2.
> But the original two snails are happily at the bottom of the tank.


Hmmm they could be stressed from the new parameters or may have been in poor health already. Pretty hard to tell with snails compared to say a fish. My red and tiger nerites do not like co2 and will hide under the substrate or above the water line when co2 is on. Strangely it doesn’t seem to affect my clithon corona and they carry on normally.

Cheers

Conor


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## Simon Cole (15 Jun 2020)

You can see quite a bit of damage to the shells. Look a bit like they have been in a washing machine. This is usually diet, which needs Ca and Mg, and I would agree that water hardness has a part to play here. Your snails look like they were imported and were not looked after. You get these pitting marks when the acidity in water eats away at the shells so I totally agree that carbon dioxide has an impact if the water is not buffered.  But this happened before you even got them! Not your fault mate!
My LFS manager told me that there is a trick to removing them without pulling them off or else they would die. Maybe they were simply ripped off before shipping. Dead snails stink, so check any that don't move and quarantine them. 
Pesticides are very common in drinking water at this time of year. I wouldn't even drink the water that comes out of taps in London, 
They will crawl out if the humidity is high, which it has been. I would certainly get a lid too.


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