Nerite snail is a small snail in the snail world. They look beautiful for their shell color and assist aquarists to keep the tank clean by eating algae. Also they do not need too much care that’s why beginners can easily keep it in their tank.
Nerite snails can grow 0.5 to 1 inches long. Though they are very small, it is hard to keep too many snails in one tank. Even so new aquarists can start their snail tank journey by this snail but they should be careful about overstocking.
Therefore it is necessary to know how many nerite snails per gallon. If you know the volume of snails in a tank you can avoid overstocking as well as you can prevent the overpopulation in your tank as it multiplies rapidly.
So read this article till the end. Here you will get a lot of important information about nerite snails which help you to care for your snail.
How many nerite snails per gallon?
Nerite snail is a very small snail among the snail species. They are very popular to the aquarists for their algae eating behavior as they can clean algae from tank glass, decorations and plants.
It comes from eastern Africa where they live in brackish water. Also other types of saltwater species which begin in the pacific or Caribbean coast. Generally they live in the Neritidae family.
However, according to the expert it is better to keep a snail in 5 gallons of water. Also you can keep more snails in your tank to control your algae.
Though overcrowding is unhealthy and creates space and food shortage problems. So you should avoid overcrowding in your tank.
Here’s a chart to give you an idea about snail quantity according to tank size.
- In 5 Gallon of water Keep 1 snail
- In 10 Gallon of water Keep 2 snails
- In 15 Gallon of water keep 3 snails
- In 20 Gallon of water keep 4 snails
- In 25 Gallon of water keep 5 snails
- In 30 Gallon of water keep 6 snails
- In 35 Gallon of water keep 7 snails
- In 40 Gallon of water keep 8 snails
- In 45 Gallon of water keep 9 snails
- In 50 Gallon of water keep 10 snails
- In 55 Gallon of water keep 11 snails
- In 60 Gallon of water keep 12 snails
- In 65 Gallon of water keep 13 snails
- In 70 Gallon of water keep 14 snails
- In 75 Gallon of water keep 15 snails
- In 80 Gallon of water keep 16 snails
- In 85 Gallon of water keep 17 snails
- In 90 Gallon of water keep 18 snails
- In 95 Gallon of water keep 19 snails
- In 100 Gallons of water 20 snails keep.
So now it’s clear that you should keep snails in your tanks according to the aquarium size and algae quantity.
Can you have too many nerite snails in a fish tank?
Nerite snails lay too many eggs and may have a lot of eggs and multiply rapidly. Though it needs brackish water for hatching, its excessive egg will disorganize your aquatic life.
Also they deliver too much biological load which can destroy the aquarium environment. So you should not have too many nerite snails in your fish tank.
Always be conservative about keeping nerite snails in your aquarium.
How Should You Set Up A Nerite Snail Tank?
In the aquarium trade you will see two types of nerite snails one is saltwater snail and another is freshwater snails.
When you purchase a nerite snail, set up your tank according to the snail types. As both types of snail require different types of water parameters.
Though a common thing between both snails is that they both require a shaded hiding area so that they can take a nap in their stressed time.
So you need to keep some live rocks and plants as algae will grow there and be a source of nerite food.
As well as Use subtle grained sand for bottom as their tentacles are extremely sensitive. Also provide calcium rich food to your snail to keep their shell strong.
However, here are the water parameters for saltwater and freshwater nerite snails.
Saltwater Nerite snail water parameter
If you keep saltwater nerite snails in your tank you should maintain a saltwater environment for your snails.
As the water parameter is very important for your snail health so you should maintain the parameter very carefully.
First of all you need to maintain the temperature. It should be 72 degrees F to 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
The chemical level should be maintained carefully. Keep the Ammonia and Nitrite level zero. Also Magnesium should be between 1250 to 1350 ppm.
Nitrate should be above 20 ppm. KH will be between 8 to 12 dKH. As well as maintain calcium level 350 to 450 ppm.
Always maintain the water pH between 8.1 to 8.4. Also maintain the salinity of water, keep it 1.020 to 1.028sg.
Freshwater Nerite snail water parameter
Just like the saltwater nerite snail, freshwater snails also require the same temperature, Ammonia, and Nitrite level.
For freshwater snails the Nitrate level should be above 30 ppm. The water pH maintains between 7.0 to 8.2. GH should be 5 to 8 dGH. KH should be between 5 to 15 dKH.
Nerite snail tank mate
Nerite snails are very peaceful, non-aggressive snails and they do not fight with their tank mates.
They only focus on their food. You can keep them with your peaceful fish and any community tank.
So you should put some peaceful fish, snails and shrimp as nerite tank mates. You can keep tetras, barbs, guppies as they are small fish and peaceful.
Also always avoid keeping snail hunters and omnivorous fish in your snail tank. They will hurt your snail and feed it as their food.
Here are some fishes that will hurt your snail such as: Botia loaches, betta fish, clown loaches, yoyo loaches, goldfish, zebra loaches and green spotted puffer.
You have to avoid these fishes at any cost to keep your snail healthy and stress free.
How To Prevent The Nerite Snails From Laying Eggs?
If you keep nerite snails in your tank you must experience too many eggs all over the aquarium. So you should prevent this before it becomes out of control.
Some ways mentioned below to prevent the egg problem in your tank.
Keep A Nerite Snail
If you keep only one nerite snail it will not be able to create egg problems. Because they need both genders to reproduce.
Also if you purchase a female snail from any store it will lay eggs in your aquarium.
But it will be handle easily as there will be only one snail in the tank. So it’s better to keep less nerite snails to avoid laying eggs.
Only Keep Male Snail
As nerite snails need both genders to breed so you can keep a single male snail in your tank to avoid too many egg issues and over population.
Though it is difficult to identify the gender of snails, you can take the store owner’s help when you are buying a nerite snail.
As well as you can do your own experiment to identify the male snail. The easiest method is to take a separate tank and put some snail into the tank.
If you see an egg in your tank, find the laying egg snail. It is female and then does this again.
At last if you see there is a snail who is not laying eggs that means it is male. However it is difficult but you can try another method also.
In conclusion, Nerite snail is a non aggressive and superb algae eater which makes it popular to aquarists.
Though it is peaceful, you should maintain the proper number of snails in your tank. You can keep one nerite snail in five gallons of water.
If you put more snails in a small size tank it will cause space shortage, food shortage, egg issue and too much bio-load.
So always maintain the proper number and take care of your snails with their required tank condition.