Amano eating RCS? +nerite problem

[JennyPenny]

I put an Amano and a bamboo shell in my tank with RCS about a month ago. A few days before I got the shrimp a berried female's eggs hatched. Since then, 2 more females have had their eggs hatch. And I can't find a single baby! Will amanos eat baby RCS?
About 3 weeks ago I had an infestation of hydra, which I treated with Fish Bendazole. The hydra came in on plants I purchased. This tank has a lot of algae and I don't feed it. My nerite snail died after I treated the tank. Since then, I have not been able to keep nerites in the tank. They all stop moving or keep falling on their back. I read that Fish Bendazole is safe for shrimps, but is controversial for snails. Is my tank ruined for nerites? Is there another snail I can put in that won't eat my plants?

[NYCShrimp]

I just had the same problem with Fish Bendazole Even after several water changes and a filter change, the nerite I just purchased died.

[JennyPenny]

What a bummer! Did your snail keep falling on its back or just stop moving?
I winder if we will ever be to put nerites back in the tank. I have done three water changes since.

[NYCShrimp]

He's on his back feebly moving around, still, after I moved him into another tank, but I do not have any hope for him.

Reading up on the issue - it seems like tons of water changes, gravel vacuuming and doubling up on activated carbon in the filter might help (I do not use activated carbon and may try to get some). You might have to really get in there and stir all the gunk up, and do some filter changes before the tank is nerite-safe. Even trace amounts can give nerites neurological damage while other snails are often fine.

I'm probably going to give my tank 6 months or so before trying again.

I also swap my nerites out between my freshwater tank and my opae ula tank, as they thrive in brackish water and it keeps them healthier.

[NYCShrimp]

So my little nerite ended up making a full recovery! If you end up trying another nerite down the line, but it still seems to have issues with your FW tank, pop it in your opae tank. The brackish water is best for them!

[JennyPenny]

That's wonderful news about your nerite. I ended up purchasing 4 baby rabbit snails and one adult rabbit snail. They are all doing well. I also introduced trumpet snails to agitate the sand. Unfortunately tiny pond snails somehow were introduced! Likely from purchased plants. That's a bummer. :/
The rabbit snails are not even close to nerites as far as algae removal. 5 rabbits can not do what one nerite did. Bah! Maybe I will try a nerite again soon. Hopefully that fenben is slowly breaking down.

[JennyPenny]

Also, I removed the Amano shrimp. I had about 50 RCS in the tank prior to intruding him, as well as several berried shrimps. I am now down to about 12 shrimps. I did not find dead shrimp and I'm sure he was eating them, otherwise where would they be? Big bummer for me since I won't be able to spend money on more shrimp for quite some time.

[Mustafa]

T5 rabbits can not do what one nerite did. Bah! Maybe I will try a nerite again soon. Hopefully that fenben is slowly breaking down.

Yeah...rabbit snails kinda just keep the algae from completely going nuts but don't really "clean" it off the tank walls and decoration. Nerites do...and so do ramshorn snails, but those also have a habit if eating little holes into aquatic plants (if you have any).

[Mustafa]

Also, I removed the Amano shrimp. I had about 50 RCS in the tank prior to intruding him, as well as several berried shrimps. I am now down to about 12 shrimps. I did not find dead shrimp and I'm sure he was eating them, otherwise where would they be? Big bummer for me since I won't be able to spend money on more shrimp for quite some time.

There is a good chance, though, that the RCS were simply dying and the Amano were eating the dying (or half-dead) shrimp. Amanos are less sensitive than RCS even, so this scenario is possible. Unless you have a horde of really hungry amanos..(and by horde i mean 20-50+ I doubt Amanos will be able to catch and eat healthy RCS.

[NYCShrimp]

Yeah, the scenario Mustafa describes seems more likely. The fenbendazole killed off my shrimp pretty slowly, but it was the only thing I changed when they were previously doing very well.

After several months of water Ans filter changes, I'm just now trying again with 3 neocaridina. I'll probably try to add a nerite in 6 months if they are thriving.