Yiipeeeee!!!

[Matuva]

First of all, big thanks to KeenShrimp & Baccus: A thread opened by KeenShrimp, and a reply Baccus did here did ring a bell to me

I said to myself: well, there's a nice estuary not so far, with a place with brackish to almost fresh water. Might be worth it just keeping an eye.

After day work, drove wifey at home quickly, jumped in my car, and run to the place.

And Bingo!!!

21 Nerites in 15 minutes I didn't even suspect I can find these horn nerite in my Country, never heard of them in any book. You can't imagine how happy I was when I saw a yellow dot on the immersed rock, put the all arm and shoulder inside water... and felt the horns under my fingers!!! I could not believe my eyes Then I found a second, and another, and another...

Sun was dimming, and I didn't feel confident in this place where deep water is very close from the shore and where the bull shark is sometimes cruising, so after the 21st nerite, I thought it would be more wise to come back later... I know what I will do this week-end

There are 2 kinds: 1 with horns, almost clear, one without, almost dark

I ran back home and acclimated them during 3 hours, and drop them in their tanks.

My favorite:

It's a true fact that these guys are trully unbelievable algae killers:

1 hour after being installed on this rock covered with algae- the rock is the size of a big egg-

2 hours after

less 1/2 hour cleanng on an anubias leaf

Gees, they made my day ^^)

Edited April 7, 2016 by Matuva

[Jul]

Hi Matuva!

 

The snails are really beautiful, I am as surprised as you to know we can find these here! I'll have to keep an eye open :)

Impressive work on the algae too!

 

Have a good evening, cheers

[waffle]

Wow great find!!! Congrats ?

[Matuva]

Thanks Jul and Waffle :)

Before

and 2 hours after

Most of the job was done by the yellow and the black ones. My favorite, the orange, was caring about the leaf. I have to explain him he must focus on the rocks, not the leaves

Edited April 7, 2016 by Matuva

[waffle]

Haha they are amaaaazing at cleaning up. My only nerite does rotations of cleaning duty in my nano tanks. It also seems impervious to hydra and eats them off tank walls, which is definitely a plus.

Edited April 7, 2016 by waffle

[KeenShrimp]

Hi Matuva, they look fantastic! Congratulations ?

[Baccus]

Congratulations, and what a great haul.....actually feeling a tad jealous.

If you start running out of algae covered rocks for them to feed on you can always try feeding them Nori Sheets, the seaweed wrapping that goes around sushi.

If I get a chance in the next couple of weeks I might get to go search for some more nerites in my area, I would like to get some more of the large olives but almost any would be nice to find.

[Matuva]

Thanks Baccus. I'm sure you'll have luck and it will be my turn to be jalous then ^^

I went back to the spot today, and despite I fear a bit about bull sharks, I decided to dive to find more, and here is what I collected in an hour:

• 52 horned nerites
• 16 "non-horned" ones
• 8 "limplets"?

At the moment, they are all in the acclimatation step, dripping method. I will acclimate them longer, as the ones I did previously do not look good. Most of them stay stuck on the rock or the glass, without moving. 3 only are grazing/eating, and 2 felt on their back, same as if they were very weak. Hope they will survive transition from brackish to fresh water...

Here are the ones I call "limplets"". They are oval shaped, almost black, flat, and were found only under driftwoods, opposite the nerites which were all collected on rocks. Any idea of what these are?

I also found nice pieces of drifwoood and some funny crabs, very flat, easy too catch and not agressive - they did not even try to escape and to pinch me, surprising- I had no place where to put them, so I released them, not sure also they will survive.

[Baccus]

What you are calling the "limpets" I think are actually possibly Olive nerites, just very small ones, the cleaner one seems to have the zigzag pattern similar to the ones I have but mine don't have as flat a shell.

 

[Matuva]

Some of the nerites have felt down at the bottom of the tank... I have taken them out and put them back in brackish water...

The others still get stuck on the glass or the rocks, but do not move or do very slowly. I only see few of them moving and eating

Do these snails from brackish acclimate well in fresh water? Is it a normal step in the way of going from brackish to fresh water? or should I worry about something going wrong with them?

Edited April 11, 2016 by Matuva

[Baccus]

Mine never seem to be moving actively quickly but if I should see one in a handy photo opportunity position I can be sure that by the time I have raced from the shed into the house found the camera and got back to the shed the nerite would have wondered off. They move deceptively quickly, even my notopalas seem to be able to sprint.

When you put the ones that fell down back into the brackish did you do it gradually or straight back from fresh to brackish? If they seem to be moving about ok in the brackish I would try reducing the brackish gradually back to fresh again and see how it goes, it may take a few hours or even a couple of days before they really are content in the fresh.

The ones that have fallen down too might be a little foot sore after being removed from the rocks they where on when you collected them. They tend to have a vice like grip and removing them without injuring them can be hard. With mine I think once the container they where in was fully fresh I submerged the container in their future home tank and let them come out in their own sweet time, because of their strong suction and clamping down and closing up shop as soon as something touches their shell or feelers.

I hope your nerites all pull through they are a great addition to a tank. I a couple of weeks I hope to be able to go do some more nerite hunting in my area to see what I come across.

 

Also I am pretty sure that its the horned nerites that quite a few online fish shops sell for fresh water tanks overseas. I don't know if they are the same type as yours but I would think they couldn't be too different.

And one last thing just check your water temperature, its possible they are finding the water to warm for themselves, although generally they can be quite tolerant of temperatures.

Something else that sprang to mind, when you put the snails in the tank did you drop them in to land possibly upside down or did you place them in the tank? Apparently nerites can have a hard time righting themselves once on their back and can die if not put the right way up.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Baccus
added information

[Matuva]

Definately, they do not afford the water of my shrimp tanks. I believe the water is too soft due the RO water and rain water I use.

In my fish tank - tap water - they look OK. So I moved most of them there, and to my mothers tank too.

Time to go hunting for this black / red mouth full fresh water nerite.

I collected some driftwoods in the brackish spot, let them sank for 3 days in a permangante solution, checked today, and found this little guy :

The shell is the size of the big thumbnail. This one was alive, almost healthy, unfortunately, 3 others were laying dead in the bottom... It looks happy in the fish tank.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Matuva