Keeping snails shells healthy (calcium)

[Mech]

So I have decided to buy a few nerite snails (clithon Diadema) the thorny type that are yellow and black to live in my Opae Ula tank.

I know they can live in fresh or brackish water but what is the best way to acclimatise them and how long should I do this before adding to my tank? I'm worried they are kept in fresh water before they get to me and I don't want to kill them.

My main question is will the ocean rock I have in my tank be enough to give the snails enough calcium to keep their shells healthy? Limestone (ocean rock) is apparently loaded with calcium. Should I add a small dish or crushed coral to be safe?

Thanks.

[Varanus]

My understanding is that so long as there is a source of calcium that will grow biofilm (and thus get grazed on) the snails will get what they need. Some people do nothing but put in egg shells. My MTSs have done fine with the limestone holey rock.

If you do notice any shell problems you can always put a bit of cuttlebone in the tank too, though you may have to boil it to get it to sink.

[NYCShrimp]

As far as acclimatization goes: nerites are actually brackish, so they thrive in salty environs. I have a tiger nerite who I pop back and forth between my FW and opae ula aquarium with no acclimatization at all. The only thing I would be careful about is large temperature differences.

This also seems to be the consensus amongst internet folks! Nerites are fantastic little algae-cleaning powerhouses. The horned nerite is a good choice as they are small! I'd say one nerite per 2.5-5 gallons should be good. I feed mine zucchini/courgette for calcium, but your limestone should be fine.

[Mech]

Thanks for your replys, they get delivered on Friday. I purchased 5 and they are small from the seller. They will be going in my 17gallon tank. I want them to remove some stubborn green algae from the glass as wiping over it won't remove it and i don't want to upset the shrimp by scraping up and down the glass.

I can't wait

[NYCShrimp]

It is actually kind of unbelievable to see the difference they make. I pop my nerite between aquariums when one starts to look a little grungy, and he cleans up all the glass within a couple of days, then gets working on the decor. They are miracle snails.

[KenCotigirl]

That seems like a good solution to the algae problem. Nerites are so efficient in eating algae they could eat all the algae/biofilm leaving little for the shrimp. But putting a couple in to clean up the tank and then remove the snails brilliant. i have not cleaned the glass in any tank with nerites. I may start a nerite cleaning crew tank.

[Keysuri]

May I ask a silly question if they need some additional calcium does it mean that they need to actually touch,let's say, cuttlebone or it should be in the water to enrich the water with Ca and it will be enough? I am asking because I do not want to spoil my decor in the tank

[Varanus]

May I ask a silly question if they need some additional calcium does it mean that they need to actually touch,let's say, cuttlebone or it should be in the water to enrich the water with Ca and it will be enough? I am asking because I do not want to spoil my decor in the tank

My understanding is they do benefit by having some way of grazing on the calcium source, but you'll know if a lack of it is a problem if their shells start degrading. Limestone looks really nice though if you are worried about décor.

[Keysuri]

My understanding is they do benefit by having some way of grazing on the calcium source, but you'll know if a lack of it is a problem if their shells start degrading. Limestone looks really nice though if you are worried about décor.

Thank you for your reply, Varanus!!!
So you think they need to actually "lick" limestone or seashells to get Calcium? You see I have only 2 colors used in the tank - black (sand, rock) and green (moss, algae, decoration) (and red shrimps of course : ) and I did not want to add white limestone. But if it is a question of snails' health then it will be out of question, safety and health is my priority, in this case I can hide limestone behind the rock... but I just wonder where they get Ca from (touching the surface if limestone or from the water)!

[Varanus]

So you think they need to actually "lick" limestone or seashells to get Calcium? You see I have only 2 colors used in the tank - black (sand, rock) and green (moss, algae, decoration) (and red shrimps of course : ) and I did not want to add white limestone. But if it is a question of snails' health then it will be out of question, safety and health is my priority, in this case I can hide limestone behind the rock... but I just wonder where they get Ca from (touching the surface if limestone or from the water)!

Can't answer with any authority, I assumed they eat the calcium as when looking up info on snail shell health I didn't read about adding calcium to the water itself. That said, you need not change anything unless you actually see problems with the snail's shells. If problems do occur then the shells can heal once they get a extra calcium source.

[NYCShrimp]

Well, I got home from a short holiday trip and found my nerite Lyle on the floor a foot away from my aquariums. No idea how long he'd been there, but he ended up being totally fine when I popped him back into his tank. Whew!

Word of warning to anyone with a rimless tank! Apparently you will need to snail-proof it.

[Mustafa]

Although snails can ingest calcium rich food, they are definitely using dissolved calcium-carbonate (not just calciium!) from the water column. When you have a calcium carbonate source in the tank then you usually don't have to worry much about anything as there will be dissolved calcium carbonate in the water. Only large snails or lots of snails in the tank may need supplementation. But then..that all depends on if the tank is primarily a Supershrimp tank or a snail tank.