The one animal here that cannot become a problem
Most snails in this hobby are sold as cleaners and remembered as an infestation. The nerite is the exception, and the reason is a single fact about its life cycle: its young cannot develop in fresh water.
Shrimp Science states it plainly: they cannot breed in freshwater, their young require a brief period of brackish conditions. Aquarium Co-Op says the same from the other end, that the eggs require brackish or salt water to reliably hatch. Wikipedia describes the wild behavior behind both statements, an animal that returns to brackish water to reproduce.
So the snail will lay eggs in your tank and nothing will come of them. That is the whole of the pitch, and it is a real one: you get an algae grazer that works every surface it can climb without the arithmetic that turns a pond snail into a population.
The cost is visible rather than hidden. Two of our sources describe the eggs as hard, white and difficult to remove, and Aquarium Co-Op compares them to sesame seeds. They go on driftwood and in the substrate and they stay there. A snail that cannot multiply still decorates your hardscape, permanently, and no source we hold says how long they last.
Why this record took so long
- The problem
- Seriously Fish, the reference behind every fish record here, does not cover invertebrates. This record sat with four blank fields for the same reason the cherry shrimp record did.
- What changed
- Asking sources that publish about invertebrates. Two of the four blanks closed at once, from a temperature figure on a species page and a size range on a care page.
- What did not
- Hardness, which is the field a shell is made of, and a growth rate. Nobody we are willing to name publishes either for this animal.
What you are buying, and what the label will not say
Nerite snail is a trade name, not a species. Aquarium Co-Op is careful about this and names only the family, Neritidae. Wikipedia describes one species that is sold under the name, Vittina natalensis, described by Reeve in 1845 and endemic to the coastal plain of East Africa, from Kenya down to South Africa.
Why we kept the record under the trade name
Because that is what is on the bag. Zebra, tiger and spotted nerites are sold interchangeably, often from the same tank, and a keeper who has just brought one home cannot tell which one they have. A record filed under a species name they have never seen would be technically tidier and useless to them.
What we can do is print the consequence. Every figure on this record says which source stated it, so where a figure comes from the single species page rather than from the family, you can see that on the row.
One thing worth knowing about the wild animal
Wikipedia lists Vittina natalensis as Near Threatened, and states that it can only reproduce in saltwater or brackish water conditions. Those two statements sit next to each other on the same page, and putting them together raises a question about where the animals in the trade come from.
We do not have the answer. None of our sources says how nerites reach the shops, and this record will not guess. It is worth knowing that the question exists before you buy six of them.
The numbers, and the one that is missing
Three of the four figures at the top of this record exist. The fourth is the one this animal is physically built out of, and no source we name will state it.
Temperature: 72 to 79 °F
From Wikipedia, as 22 to 26 °C. It is the only temperature figure anyone publishes for this animal: Aquarium Co-Op states a wide range of tropical temperatures and stops there, which is honest and unusable.
The figure matters to more than this page. It is the last record on this site to acquire a temperature, which means the shared band across every animal we hold can now be drawn without a gap in it.
pH: 7.5 to 8.5, once there were three sources
Aquarium Co-Op asks for a higher pH above 7.0 and names no upper limit, which made this the only record here whose pH was a floor rather than a range. Two later sources closed it: Glass Grown gives 7.5 to 8.5 and Aquatic Arts 6.5 to 8.5, so the three overlap at 7.5 to 8.5 and that is what the field prints, and it is the one figure on the page that puts this animal at odds with several of our fish: the ember tetra record runs from 5.5 to 7.0 and the kuhli loach from 3.5 to 7.0.
Hardness: one source, and it is hard water
A snail shell is made of minerals taken from the water. That is not a preference and it is not a tolerance, it is the same relationship our cherry shrimp record has with GH, where Shrimp Science publishes 4 to 10 and the record can print a number.
For a long time nobody did, and this record said so. Aquatic Arts publishes one: kH 12 to 18 and gH 12 to 18, which converts at about 17.9 ppm per degree to roughly 215 to 322 ppm. That is hard water, harder than anything else this site records, and it is one source rather than a consensus. What Aquarium Co-Op gives alongside it is the symptom and the remedy: if you have soft tap water and notice cracked or eroded shells, increase the minerals in the water and the food, and it names crushed coral and mineral supplements. Aquarium Science says only that some general hardness is needed for healthy snails and shrimp.
So the record now holds a number, and a warning about how alone that number is. One source, at the hard end, and a second source describing what happens below it. A GH test is still worth owning before the snail is, and the reading you are looking for is high rather than neutral.
| Field | Aquarium Co-Op | Glass Grown | Aquatic Arts | Wikipedia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature | tropical, no figure | 72 to 78 °F | 65 to 85 °F | 72 to 79 °F |
| pH | above 7.0, no ceiling | 7.5 to 8.5 | 6.5 to 8.5 | not stated |
| Hardness | not stated | not stated | kH 12 to 18, gH 12 to 18 | not stated |
| Minimum tank | 2 to 3 gal | 5 gal | not stated | not stated |
| Adult size | 0.5 to 1.5 in | not stated | 0.5 to 1 in | about 1 in |
| Lifespan | 1 to 2 years | not stated | not stated | not stated |
| Copper | not stated | not stated | lethal in trace amounts | not stated |
Two rows in that table changed this record. The pH row now has a ceiling. This page used to print "above 7.0, with no ceiling", which was honest with one source and is not the best available answer with three: above 7.0 with no ceiling, 7.5 to 8.5, and 6.5 to 8.5 overlap at 7.5 to 8.5, and that is what the record prints now. And the temperature row is wider than it looked. Aquatic Arts gives 65 to 85 °F against Glass Grown's 72 to 78, which is a twenty degree spread on a field three sources address.
Temperament, and why breeding is the whole point of this record
The record files this animal as peaceful, grazing, and unlike most temperament notes on this site that one has no caveat after it. A nerite snail has no mechanism for being a problem to a tank mate. It cannot nip, chase, out-compete for food or defend territory, and every source we hold describes a peaceful grazer.
Which leaves breeding as the only way an animal like this becomes a problem, and it is the reason this record exists. Aquarium Co-Op states that the larvae are notoriously hard to feed and require brackish or salt water to reliably hatch. Aquatic Arts states that the eggs hatch into larvae without shells, in brackish water, and that breeding only occurs in brackish conditions.
So nerite snail care in a freshwater tank has no population problem in it, which is the opposite of every other snail somebody has been warned about. The white specks on the glass are permanent and inert, and that is the trade: a grazer that cannot multiply, and eggs that will not go away.
Copper, which is the thing that actually kills them
This record did not carry it and it should have led with it. Aquatic Arts states that snails are highly sensitive to copper, that copper is often present in tap water and in some aquarium treatments, and that even trace amounts can be lethal to snails and other invertebrates. It names medications and fertilizers as the two places keepers meet it without meaning to.
- Fish medications are the common one. A treatment dosed for a fish disease can empty a tank of snails and shrimp while curing the fish.
- Plant fertilizers are the quiet one, because they are added on a schedule by somebody who has stopped reading the label.
- Tap water is named as a source in its own right, which is worth knowing in an old building.
- It is not a nerite problem. The same warning covers our cherry shrimp record, and it is the reason the water and health topic exists.
Calcium, and where the shell comes from
A shell is minerals taken from the water and the food, so the remedy for a damaged one is minerals rather than treatment. Our sources name the products directly, which is unusual for this site and useful enough to print: Aquarium Co-Op names crushed coral, Wonder Shells and Seachem Equilibrium, and says they supply calcium, magnesium and other trace elements. Glass Grown names cuttlebone, crushed coral and calcium powder. Aquatic Arts names calcium rich foods, kale, spinach and floating cuttlebones.
We sell none of it and we are not ranking brands. We are recording that three independent sources answer the same question with the same category of thing, which is the strongest agreement on this record.
How to move one, since you will want to
Glass Grown is the only source that addresses it and it is worth one sentence: use a soft clean net, or guide the snail with a clean finger, and do not apply pressure or damage the shell. A nerite snail holds onto glass hard enough that pulling it off is the one routine handling mistake available, and the shell is the part that pays for it.
The full record
| Field | Recorded | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum tank | 2 to 3 gal | Aquarium Co-Op, as tanks as small as 2 to 3 gallons. Wikipedia states no tank size, and neither does Shrimp Science. Glass Grown disagrees upward, recommending at least 5 gallons to give them space to explore. |
| Temperature | 72 to 79 °F | Wikipedia, as a preferred aquarium temperature of 22 to 26 °C for Vittina natalensis, converted here. Aquarium Co-Op states only a wide range of tropical temperatures, with no figure. Two more sources now: Glass Grown gives 72 to 78 and Aquatic Arts 65 to 85, a twenty degree spread across the three that state one. |
| pH | 7.5 to 8.5 | The overlap of three sources. Aquarium Co-Op asks for a higher pH above 7.0 and states no ceiling, Glass Grown gives 7.5 to 8.5, Aquatic Arts gives 6.5 to 8.5. The floor is where they disagree and it runs a full point. Wikipedia and Shrimp Science state no pH. |
| Hardness | 215 to 322 ppm | Aquatic Arts, as kH 12 to 18 and gH 12 to 18, converted here at about 17.9 ppm per degree. One source, and it is the hardest water figure on this site. Aquarium Co-Op states no number and gives the symptom instead: soft tap water shows up as cracked or eroded shells. Aquarium Science says only that some general hardness is needed for healthy snails and shrimp. |
| Adult size | 0.5 to 1.5 in (13 to 38 mm) | Aquarium Co-Op, as 0.5 to 1.5 inches. Wikipedia gives about 2.5 cm, one inch, for Vittina natalensis specifically, which sits inside that span. Inches are the source figure here; millimeters are converted. |
| Diet | Algae, leftover food, decaying leaves | Aquarium Co-Op, which also names algae wafers, blanched zucchini slices and canned green beans where a tank has run out of algae. Shrimp Science describes it grazing algae from rocks, wood, plants and glass. Glass Grown and Aquatic Arts both name calcium sources rather than only food: cuttlebone, crushed coral, calcium powder, kale and spinach. |
| Water column | Substrate, and every surface above it | Ours, from the behavior two sources describe: Shrimp Science has it working over rocks, wood, plants and glass, which is the same habit our cherry shrimp record is filed under. |
| Lifespan | 1 to 2 years | Aquarium Co-Op, as about one to two years. Wikipedia states none, and neither does Shrimp Science. |
| Growth rate | Not recorded yet | Not stated by any source we name. None of the three gives a growth figure or an age at maturity, and for an animal that cannot complete its life cycle in fresh water there may be nothing in a tank to measure. |
The same nine fields for every animal on this site are in the A to Z index.
Where our sources disagree
The disagreement here is about what the animal is, not how to keep it. One source describes a family and one describes a species, and the figures follow from that choice.
Aquarium Co-Op
Neritidae, the family. 0.5 to 1.5 inches. Tanks as small as 2 to 3 gallons. A higher pH above 7.0. About 1 to 2 years. Eggs like hard white sesame seeds that need brackish or salt water to hatch.
Wikipedia, Vittina natalensis
One species, described by Reeve in 1845, endemic to the coastal plain of East Africa. About 2.5 cm. Prefers 22 to 26 °C. Returns to brackish water to reproduce. Listed Near Threatened.
What we record: we keep the record under the trade name, because that is what the animal is sold as, and we take each figure from whichever source states one. The size is printed as the span of both, and the temperature comes from the species page because it is the only figure anybody publishes.
What this means for you is that the snail in your bag may not be the snail in the encyclopedia entry, and no shop label will tell you which.
It does not hold a layer, it holds the walls
Our records file each animal under the part of the water it uses, and the nerite is filed on the substrate for the same reason the cherry shrimp is: it works surfaces rather than water. Shrimp Science describes it eating through algae on rocks, wood, plants and glass, which is every hard surface in an ordinary tank.
The waterline is where the trouble is
Aquarium Co-Op names one behavior that turns into a practical requirement. These snails move up to the waterline to eat the white bands of mineral deposits left by evaporation, and may crawl out of the aquarium if you are not careful. The stated fix is a tight fitting lid, with any snail sized holes covered.
It is worth taking seriously because the failure is silent. A snail that leaves the tank does not splash, and a keeper who finds a shell behind the cabinet a week later usually assumes it died in the water.
Company on the substrate
Our stocking rule is one group per layer, and the substrate is where we make the exception, because our sources describe the grazers as company for each other rather than as alternatives. A nerite and a cherry shrimp colony are the pairing that exception was written for.
What the pairing does not settle is hardness. The shrimp record asks for GH 4 to 10 and this record asks for nothing measurable, so the shrimp figure is the one to hold the tank to. That is the only case on this site where a blank on one record is answered by a figure on another.
What nerite snails eat, and what happens when it runs out
Algae, leftover fish food and decaying leaves, from Aquarium Co-Op. The word to notice is leftover: this is an animal bought to consume a surplus, and a tank that produces no surplus does not feed it.
The same source names the substitutes for when that happens, and they are specific: algae wafers, blanched zucchini slices and canned green beans. That is a shopping list rather than a principle, and it is the useful kind of detail a care sheet usually replaces with the phrase supplement as needed.
The most common way to lose one is to buy it for an algae problem, solve the algae problem, and then not notice that the animal you bought to solve it has nothing left to eat.
Shrimp Science states that nerite snails will only eat the decaying parts of a plant. Nothing we hold describes them damaging healthy growth, which separates them from several snails sold beside them.
Who eats a snail
The compatibility question runs the other way round for this animal. Nothing in our records describes a nerite troubling anything; the question is what troubles the nerite.
Aquarium Co-Op names the ones to avoid: pufferfish, snail eating loaches, and fish likely to nibble on their antennae or head tentacles. None of the three is a record on this site, so this record carries no refusal against anything we have written, and the pairing grid on our tank mates page shows the shared temperature band instead.
That grid is the reason the temperature figure above matters beyond this page. Until it was recorded, five of the pairings on this site had no answer at all, because you cannot overlap a range against a blank.
Six names on the same shelf, and one animal underneath
Aquarium Co-Op names six varieties of nerite snail: zebra, black racer, red racer, tiger, horned and olive. This record named one of them, which is not enough for a page somebody arrives at after typing a variety into a search box.
What the trade names describe is a shell pattern. Nothing in any of our sources attaches a different temperature, a different pH, a different diet or a different tank size to any one of the six, and none of them changes the fact this whole record turns on: the eggs need brackish or salt water to hatch, so no variety of nerite snail becomes a population in a freshwater tank.
The one distinction a source does make
Aquarium Co-Op singles out the olive nerite snail as one of the hardiest. That is the only comparative claim between varieties anywhere in our sources, and it is a claim about robustness rather than about requirements.
Which one this record is about
All of them, and the fields are the genus rather than the pattern. The scientific name at the top of this page is Vittina natalensis, which Wikipedia holds under Neritina natalensis, and the shop shelf mixes several species from the family Neritidae under whichever of the six names sells.
- Zebra nerite snail, the common one, and the size figure Wikipedia gives, about an inch, is for this animal.
- Black racer and red racer, named by pattern and by speed. Same requirements on every source we hold.
- Tiger and horned, the horned being the one people ask about because the projections look like damage and are not.
- Olive, which Aquarium Co-Op calls one of the hardiest, and the only variety any source ranks.
If a shop sells you a variety this record does not name, the A to Z index is the list of what we have verified rather than a list of what exists.
Questions about nerite snail care
Is copper harmful to nerite snails?
Lethal, on the one source that addresses it. Aquatic Arts states that snails are highly sensitive to copper, that it is often present in tap water and in some aquarium treatments, and that even trace amounts can be lethal to snails and other invertebrates. Medications and fertilizers are where it usually arrives.
Practically: read the label on any fish medication before dosing a tank with snails in it, and read the plant fertilizer you have been adding on a schedule. This is the failure that empties a tank in a week rather than the one that shows up as a cracked shell over months.
What water hardness do nerite snails need?
One source publishes a figure and it is high. Aquatic Arts gives kH 12 to 18 and gH 12 to 18, roughly 215 to 322 ppm, which is harder than any other figure on this site. Aquarium Co-Op states no number and instead describes the failure: soft tap water shows up as cracked or eroded shells.
So treat it as one source at the hard end rather than a consensus, and treat a GH test as something to own before the snail. The remedy every source that addresses it points at is minerals in the water and the food, not a treatment.
What pH do nerite snails need?
Three sources, and they overlap at 7.5 to 8.5, which is what this record now prints. Aquarium Co-Op asks for a higher pH above 7.0 and states no ceiling; Glass Grown gives 7.5 to 8.5; Aquatic Arts gives 6.5 to 8.5.
The floor is where they disagree, and the disagreement runs a whole point. Nothing here supports an acidic tank for a snail, which is the same reasoning as the hardness answer above: shell is mineral, and acid dissolves it.
What are the types of nerite snail?
Aquarium Co-Op names six: zebra, black racer, red racer, tiger, horned and olive. None of our sources attaches a different temperature, pH, diet or tank size to any one of them, so the trade name describes a shell pattern rather than an animal with different needs.
One comparative claim exists: Aquarium Co-Op calls the olive nerite snail one of the hardiest. That is the only ranking between varieties in anything we hold.
How do you move a nerite snail off the glass?
With a soft clean net, or by guiding it with a clean finger, without applying pressure and without damaging the shell. Glass Grown is the only source that addresses it.
It is worth saying because a nerite holds on hard, and pulling one off is the single routine handling mistake this animal offers. The shell is the part that pays, and the shell is the thing this whole record is about protecting.
Will nerite snails breed in my tank?
No. Shrimp Science states they cannot breed in freshwater and that their young require a brief period of brackish conditions; Aquarium Co-Op states the eggs need brackish or salt water to reliably hatch. You will get eggs and you will not get snails.
What are the white specks my snail is leaving on the glass?
Eggs. Aquarium Co-Op describes them as hard white sesame seeds, each containing dozens of eggs, laid on driftwood and in the substrate. They are difficult to remove and none of our sources says how long they persist.
How big does a nerite snail get?
0.5 to 1.5 inches, from Aquarium Co-Op, which is the span across the family. Wikipedia gives about one inch for Vittina natalensis specifically, which sits inside it. Which figure applies to your snail depends on which species you were sold, and the label will not say.
What size tank does a nerite snail need?
Two to three gallons, per Aquarium Co-Op. It is the smallest minimum on this site, which is what makes the animal a real answer in a nano tank rather than a compromise.
Why is my snail's shell cracked or pitted?
Aquarium Co-Op attributes it to soft tap water and states the fix: increase the minerals in the water and the food, with crushed coral or a mineral supplement. What no source we name gives is the hardness figure to aim at, so this record leaves that field blank.
Do nerite snails climb out of the tank?
They may, and the source gives the reason: they move to the waterline to eat the mineral deposits evaporation leaves there. A tight fitting lid with the snail sized holes covered is the stated answer, and it is the one piece of equipment this record insists on.
How many nerite snails per gallon?
No source we hold states a number, so this record has no group size on it and our stocking tool gives none. What it does state is the volume floor, two to three gallons, and that a snail bought for an algae surplus needs the surplus to exist.
Will a nerite snail eat my plants?
Shrimp Science states that nerite snails will only eat the decaying parts of a plant. Nothing we hold describes damage to healthy growth.
Can nerite snails live with shrimp?
Yes, and it is the pairing our substrate exception exists for. Hold the tank to the shrimp record instead of this one on hardness, because the shrimp source publishes GH 4 to 10 and no snail source publishes anything.
How long do nerite snails live?
About one to two years, from Aquarium Co-Op. Wikipedia states none and neither does Shrimp Science, so it is a one source figure and the record says so on the row.
The feeding question this record raises now has a page of its own. Our guide to feeding an aquarium snail collects what five sources name as food, the calcium figures behind a healthy shell, and a blanching method with times in it. It also reports the blank this record shares: not one of them publishes a feeding frequency.
A second fish on this site is now refused against this record. Our clown loach record carries four sources naming snails as food: Aquarium Co-Op says they are more than happy to help with a snail infestation, Aquarium Source says they will eat any freshwater snail they can get ahold of, Seriously Fish records that the species preys on aquatic snails, and Wikipedia calls it one of the few fishes that will eat bladder snails. The water would have allowed the pairing, since that record prints 82 °F and this one runs 72 to 79. Nothing we read says a hard shell is protection, so the cell is a refusal rather than a caution, and this record is now refused against both the pea puffer and a fish three times its size.
The third refusal against this record comes from inside its own silo. Our assassin snail record is a carnivore that hunts other snails, and asked directly whether it takes mystery and nerite snails, Aquarium Breeder answers: eventually, yes, adding that larger snails are taken if the assassins gang up. Two other sources on that record limit the prey to snails smaller than the hunter, which a 0.5 to 1.5 inch nerite is not always. The water would have allowed it, since that record runs 75 to 80 °F inside this record’s 72 to 79, so the refusal is a diet rather than a band. This record is now refused against the pea puffer, the clown loach and a snail, which is a fair summary of what this silo is up against.
What a snail asks for and a fish tank may not have
Four things, and two of them are about water this record cannot put a number on.
- A tight fitting lidit climbs to the waterline
- Crushed coral, or a mineral supplementif your tap water is soft
- A GH test, before eitherno source gives a figure
- Algae, or a substitute when it runs outwafers, zucchini, green beans
Every item our records ask for is gathered on the tank setup topic.
Nothing here is a paid link. It is the shortfall between what this record asks for and what a boxed kit contains.
How this record was compiled
- By
- Verified
- Sources
Aquarium Co-Op, Wikipedia, Vittina natalensis, Shrimp Science, snails in a shrimp tank, Aquarium Science, general hardness, Glass Grown Aquatics and Aquatic Arts
- Conflicts
Printed above: one source describes the family, one describes a single species
- Blanks
Growth rate stay empty until a source we trust states them
- Not recorded
A hardness figure, a group size, a growth rate, whether it is active by day or by night, and how long the eggs stay on the glass