Horned nerite snail

[ryangiggs]

Hi Guys,

The horned snails that was sold in freshwater fish shop can it be acclimatized to the brackish water? If so, how long should i acclimatized it?

I tried putting in one straight into my opae ula tank after acclimatizing it for 2 hours... it always stayed on the top side of tank along the water line as though it is trying to get away from the water... it survived for abt 2 weeks before dying... but during this period i saw it eating the algae and moving across the tank but it tends to stay on the top half... I wondered if it needed more time to acclimatized?

I read somewhere that these snails does not need to be acclimatized from freshwater to brackish water... but needed if it is from brackish water to freshwater... anyone had any experienced in transiting these guys from freshwater to brackish water?

[Keystone]

You should always acclimatize when switching between fresh and brackish water. Longer acclimating periods are always better for the animal.

[Corucia]

FYI, you can find brackish water horned nerite snails from another vendor. I've had them in my lab reactor setup for a few months now and they are doing fine. Not sure what the protocol is on this site to share the vendors name but happy to pass it along if you send me a message.

[ryangiggs]

Thanks Corucia.

I am in Singapore so i dun think your vendor will be willing to just ship 1 or 2 snails over.

There is a shop selling brackish horned snails here but at a premium price. I think they sell at about $2-3 per pc. Most freshwater LFS here sell freshwater horn snails at $2.50 for 5pcs. Not as though it is too expensive to buy 1 or 2, but just exploring whether is it possible to transit them them from freshwater to brackish water. More of it as an experiment to find out how to properly transit them so that other opae ula owners can do the same to reduce cost.

I bought another freshwater horned snail to try. Acclimatized it for 6 hours this time. Seems to be doing well so far. Will update here further if there is any changes.

[minishrimps]

I've done both the "throw them in there and hope they acclimate" method as well as the "slow acclimation by dripping in brackish water into the freshwater" method. I only had one snail die and that was during the slow drip method. In my experience Horned Nerites can survive either.