Nerite Performance

[Andyroo]

Went to river up the road and collected maybe 1/2 a Litre of small nerite snails between 2 and maybe 8mm across two weeks ago.
Within 48Hrs my tank was (and still is) cleaner than I remember it ever getting or being. Glass is cleaner than I can get it with scraper, no detritus on bottom to stir up and reduce clarity, gravel slowly getting clean of hard green turf (algae on glass was also this hard encrusting green turf algae, but in little dots 'cuz I clean it occasionally). Loaches have figured out how to eat them, so their (snails) days are numbered, but it took all of 30-seconds to collect probably 600 to 1000, and overnight with a little corn meal cleaned 'em out, so my karma might be dented but otherwise I'm not too fussed. Functional live food- brilliant!
No more screwing around trying to find MTS or breed rams or ponds that the fish will gobble in 20-minutes. Nerites are way tougher.
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[Smertrios]

What do the nerite snails look like? Must not be like the nerites I think of when I hear the name nerite as they can fetch a few $ each.

 

[Andyroo]

Yup- same ones. Trade price makes me giggle a little bit 'cuz they're pretty common, even in Florida.
Problem is that they have an obligate marine stage so aren't bred, so have to be collected, so are costly.
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[mgamer20o0]

there are all kinds of nerites not all of them can be kept in fresh water.
http://microseashell.com/bbs/zboard...c=on&keyword=&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc

 

[Andyroo]

MGamer, I was under the impression that what we had around the Caribbean was/is only one two species, but with fantastic variability in shell colour. Am I wrong?

 

[mgamer20o0]

do you have a picture of them? i dont know exactly what nerites there is the caribbean. in flordia there is the olive nerite which is Vitta usnea. though i think there is another couple more that cant be kept in freshwater. i know more about the ones that can be kept in freshwater.