Small golden algae eaters and shrimp

[Shanna]

It's not algae that I want to get rid of..... it's the crud that settles on the sandbed and the clear stuff on the glass (whatever that is!). Do the Nerite snails eat that? I have Ruby Red Ramshorns in that tank, but they aren't so good at cleaning.

That tank wasn't always a shrimp tank. A few months ago it had show guppies in it, and they left a mess.

[Mustafa]

Trust me, you do not want to get rid of the "crud" on the ground. Actually, a shrimp tank (or any fish tank for that matter) should never be vacuumed in any way. There are many beneficial bacteria living in that "crud" and sucking all of that up disturbs the chemical balance in the tank by disturbing the nitrification process. Remember, a tank is not an apartment that needs to be vacuumed once in a while....it's a fragile biological system that should be disturbed as little as possible.

[Shanna]

REALLY?? It looks weird--- like fungus or something. Some of it just looks like fish sh*t, some is this strange bacteria that grows in perfectly round "bumps", and there are a few bald spots where NOTHING is on the sand.

The tanks with sandbeds don't get as bad, but I have 2 tanks with gravel and if I don't vaccum those they FILL with debris.

You know MUCH more than I do.... do you REALLy hink I should not clean the bed?

What about when I accidently overfeed and fungus grows on the old food (this has never happened in a shrimp tank, only tanks with fish)?

[imisky]

......most of the benefital bacteria lives in ur filter and rocks, its true its on those debre but i would suggest sucking it out. i think thats the only way to get rod of it, no fish eats it. and your good bacteria will break those things down into no3 that your plants will take up if u have any

[Bradimus]

In my experience, vacuuming the substrate is the second worst thing you can do to a functioning aquarium.

Can you post a picture of this stuff?

[kimco]

They literally eat "all* algae in my tanks.

Does that mean BBA and hair/thread as well??? If yes, sure would like to get my hand on some of those............

BTW, recently I noticed that my green shrimp have an appetite for BBA, its the only shrimp that I notice eating that, does anyone else's eat those too???

Cheers,

KG

[flash69x]

I would love to get my hands on some Nerites. I saw the ones you were selling on aquabid but i ended up getting outbid. But from everything that I have read, they will clean the glass of everything.

[Mustafa]

They have eaten BBA and hair algae in my tanks, but only after they have cleaned up all the other types of algae. As I said, I have not seen a type of algae that they have not eaten yet, but they do have some preferences.

[Tatsyfish]

i dont know if hara jerdoni eats algea buts it only gets 3-4 cm...

[badflash]

Nerites will breed in fresh or brackish water. I am corresponding with a woman who breed them. She says the reason they don't breed in most aquariums is that they have a planktonic stage when they hatch and after that are very small and normally get destroyed in the power filters or eaten by their tankmates. After seeing the shrimp go after monia, I think tiny plankton or itty bitty snails would go fast in my tank.

Once I get some I'll put a few in my Briggs breeding tank and see if that works. This tank only uses a bubbler under tank filter and I keep it well fed with green water.

[Mustafa]

Trust me, the nerites that are sometimes available (Olive Nerites, "Zebra" Nerites, Virgin Nerites) do *not* breed in freshwater. People claiming the contrary have claimed all kinds of things and been proven wrong.

Is the woman you are corresponding with the same woman that claims to breed Amano shrimp in freshwater and posts pictures of amphipods as "Baby Amano Shrimp?" If so (and I *strongly* suspect she is the same person), check out the following thread and take everything she says with a whole tablespoon of salt:

viewtopic.php?t=710&highlight=duncan

It has been scientifically documented that these Nerites are amphidromous and their larvae need saltwater to survive. Plus tons of serious hobbyists in various countries have tried to breed these guys for years in freshwater and have not succeeded. So think about it.

As a rule of thumb I am always skeptical about people reporting breeding animals in freshwater whose larvae usually require saltwater AND do not provide any proof (pictures, methods..anything that could be replicated) whatsoever (as the person discussed in the thread above). Many times they actually prove the opposite of what they are trying to prove by the things they are saying and providing as proof (as the picture of the amphipod posted as "baby amano shrimp" clearly shows).

This person is particularly stubborn about her claims and will dodge any attempt to explain to her that she is not breeding any of the animals (with the saltwater larvae) she is claiming to be breeding and that she posted the wrong *species* of animal as the baby of a totally unrelated species (trust me I tried explaining this to her and it was met with something like: "how can he be so rude to just tell me that I am not breeding these animals!!!?? And then with silence...) She is also trying to sell Amano shrimp and nerites on her website that are clearly purchased from other sources as wild-caught animals, but will tell you that they are "bred" by her if asked. I find such behavior does not belong into any hobby and hobbyists should be aware that people with such unexplainably confusing behavior (what are they getting out of it?) exist and act accordingly. I can't emphasize that enough.

[badflash]

Well, you are sure right about the amanos. What she shows is a plain old scud as far as I can tell.

I searched for any sort of literature on the nerites and found nothing to prove one way or the other that they would not breed in fresh water, or salt for that matter.

Can you point me to the documentation you cite. I would like to try breeding them and would like to optimize the conditions. Could be an economy of doing them and amanos or bamboos together depending on the salinity level.

She is likely selling another variety of snail. Anyone know of a freshwater snail that has a planktonic phase?

[Mustafa]

Well, you are sure right about the amanos. What she shows is a plain old scud as far as I can tell.

You might want to point that out to her and see what reply you get.

I searched for any sort of literature on the nerites and found nothing to prove one way or the other that they would not breed in fresh water, or salt for that matter.

You're not going to find much in any literature. Neritidae are a neglected group of animals in science, just like the freshwater shrimp. It is however documented that most freshwater neritids, including the olive nerite, have larvae that get flushed out to the sea for development. There are some small small neritids, like Theodoxus fluviatilis, that breed in freshwater with direct (no floating larvae) development.

Can you point me to the documentation you cite.

I'll have to see what papers I saw it in. Either way, the fact that *nobody* has ever managed to breed them in freshwater (and many have tried) should be evidence enough. In fact, nobody has managed to breed them in saltwater either. However, nature proves that the larvae grow up in the ocean as you see smaller and smaller snails migrating upstream into the rivers the closer you get to the ocean. Plus, the larvae populate new river habitats through the ocean.

I would like to try breeding them and would like to optimize the conditions. Could be an economy of doing them and amanos or bamboos together depending on the salinity level.

Good luck. Just be aware that nobody has ever managed to breed nerites as far as I know, not even in the laboratory.

She is likely selling another variety of snail.

If she is, then she is misleading people. She is posting olive nerite snail pictures to sell the snails. If you get a reply about why she is doing that, then please let us know.

Anyone know of a freshwater snail that has a planktonic phase?

Yes, we've been talking about them all along. There are a lot of freshwater nerites in the world, one of them being the olive nerite.

[badflash]

What I was asking was if there are pure freshwater snails, not ones that need saltwater to reproduce. My understanding of the freshwater nerites is that they are actually intertidal snails and can live in both fresh and salt, but you would never find them in a land locked lake. What sanil species that are purely freshwater have a planktonic stage?

BTW- I've asked her to forward pictures of her nerites.

[Mustafa]

What I was asking was if there are pure freshwater snails, not ones that need saltwater to reproduce. What sanil species that are purely freshwater have a planktonic stage?

The short answer is "I don't know." The long answer would involve searching some scientific databases to see if anything about that is mentioned, which, honestly, is very low on my priority list right now since there is already tons of information piled up that I need to look up on various shrimp species.