Some thoughts on breeding Nerite snails.

[Hendre]

Hey everyone.

To my knowledge and through some research I have found that nobody has really successfully raised Nerite snails in captivity, most likely due to the fact that they have a planktonic larval stage, and that there is almost 0 information available on it from both hobbyists and researchers. I spoke to a contact of mine, an Ichthyologist, who works at a marine aquarium and we brainstormed a bit on the limited available information and what he suspects from his experiences working with planktonic species. I wrote up these notes summarising what I could fine, and how I could potentially position myself to try and raise some larvae:

I would like to imitate this Keisel:


That is the sort of brainstorming I get on very little sleep. Once I have some time off from my studies and some more rest I will have a look at the finer details (especially finance!) and perhaps continue with my planning in regards to equipment, space and how I will operate the setups. I have a pair that produces hundreds of eggs, may as well capitalise on it. What do you guys think about these plans? Any suggestions, comments or critique would be appreciated.

 

[deeda]

I can't help but interesting to follow.

Check out the following topic from another forum on that member's stab at Olive nerite breeding from 2010-2011. Not sure if any of the info will be helpful to you.

 

[Hendre]

That's got some useful info, thanks! Definitely gives me more confidence that phytoplankton will be an ideal food source!

 

[ichthyogeek]

Hello! I have not worked with snail larvae, but last summer I did work with starfish larvae! Here're some things for you to consider:

Re: kreisels, it loooks like you have a system already in the works, but you can easily drill drum-style fish bowls and insert airline into them to create kreisels. You can also take one of those large 5 gallon water dispenser jugs, and cut out the top and bottom, and the center portion will fit into a 10 gallon to make a kreisel as well (you'd have to engineer screens and more airline tubing but same thing. Finally, you can also try doing a modified brine shrimp hatchery using 2L soda bottles and airline, since those also help keep larvae in suspension (although you'd have to heavily mod the air flow).
Another thing to consider, especially if you can get the equipment, is something like a Strathmann setup. I used it for raising starfish larvae, but it basically just slowly moves paddles around large 1 gallon jars to keep larvae suspended. Martin Moe gave a MACNA talk about raising urchin larvae, which may also prove useful!

Re: phytoplankton, man I love phyto. Nannochloropsis and Isochrysis are the two big ones in the hobby for raising larval fish, since they contain high levels of DHA and EPA (one contains one, the other has the other). But what I used the most last summer was Rhodomonas, which is super useful in rearing larval invertebrates, I think because of it's high ARA concentrations. Oh, and for the love of all things sterile, keep the rotifers as far away from the phyto cultures as possible! Feeding live microalgae is definitely preferred over feeding dead microalgae! My guess though is that nerite veligers are probably going to chow on phytoplankton rather than rotifers...

 

[Hendre]

Thanks for all that info! It is good to see that this is already done for other planktonic larvae! Those designs all sound good, however, I will probably stick to the kreisels since perspex is relatively cheap and should be straightforward to put together, I can also stack them relatively easily. I could not find any info on the Strathmann setup, do you perhaps have links for me?

Re: phytoplankton, man I love phyto. Nannochloropsis and Isochrysis are the two big ones in the hobby for raising larval fish, since they contain high levels of DHA and EPA (one contains one, the other has the other). But what I used the most last summer was Rhodomonas, which is super useful in rearing larval invertebrates, I think because of it's high ARA concentrations. Oh, and for the love of all things sterile, keep the rotifers as far away from the phyto cultures as possible! Feeding live microalgae is definitely preferred over feeding dead microalgae! My guess though is that nerite veligers are probably going to chow on phytoplankton rather than rotifers...

I will definitely be trying Phytoplankton and I have a local source I can get it from, will find out what type, at least it will make it far easier to culture versus a no name brand. Thanks for your insights!

 

[ichthyogeek]

Here's Martin Moe's talk, there are a few pictures of the Strathmann setup in it:

The reference book that contained what a Strathmann setup was, was "Reproduction and Devlopment of Marine Invertebrates of the Northern Pacific Coast" (I think). I also heavily relied on the Plankton Culture Manual as well, which was useful for phyto culture.

I unfortunately don't have any links, I think the PI made it himself.

Oh and for phyto, I recommend using Micro Algae Grow from Florida Aqua Farms! You can use it for nutrients for the phyto, but it's mostly just Guillard's Formula/2.

 

[Hendre]

Thank you. Will check it out later.

Oh and for phyto, I recommend using Micro Algae Grow from Florida Aqua Farms! You can use it for nutrients for the phyto, but it's mostly just Guillard's Formula/2.

Unfortunately I am not in the USA, I will be helped by a friend of mine who cultures the phytoplankton, and one of his associates that cultures it for feeding clownfish fry.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

All I can say is to be careful. Snails can be a real pest! Otherwise, I cant help. Have fun!

 

[Hendre]

All I can say is to be careful. Snails can be a real pest! Otherwise, I cant help. Have fun!

Nerites don't breed in freshwater so I doubt I will be drowning in them. Even if I am, they have not been imported here in months so I can easily sell them on.

 

[Niki_up]

Cool project! Def going to follow.

Good luck!