Olive Nerite question

[newb]

during the tropheus tank tour, somebody at my place mentioned something about olive nerites shells deteriating(probably mispelled that!). well I just noticed that almost all of the ones in my 210gallon tank have shells that are turning white. Is this bad for them? what can I do to fix it? will the remedy affect my tropheus...they come first. None of the zebra or red spotted ones are experiencing this problem. I can pull most of the olives if this remedy is gonna present a problem for the tropheus.

[Mzungu]

Just dose calcium in the water, that should help their shells. It shouldn't harm the trophs at all. :) Lemme find a link to the stuff I use...

[Mzungu]

Well, I don't think the place exists anymore. It was www.rainbowsnails.com. But probably Calcium supplements for saltwater aquariums would work, as well.

[myjohnson]

I don't know if it will harm the tropheus are not, but if MB says it's cool then most likely it is (that girl knows her stuff).

I learn about this when I was into saltwater stuff. Also add a few in my tropheus tank.

Ask on marsh or dig around in reef central (beware cause that place has A LOT of information).

[Darbex]

It shouldnt hurt the fish at all. I have olives in all my tanks and I found a shell that was empty and had huge holes in it. And my fish were fine and are still fine.

[Mzungu]

I think I might have mentioned this at your place, Randal, but maybe not. From what I HEAR, the zebra nerites (and probably your red spotted ones) are a freshwater snail, where olive nerites are saltwater and/or brackish snails. I would assume that the lack of saltwater and its accompanying salts/nutrients (absent in FW) might be a reason that the olives seem so susceptible to their shells eroding. But adding calcium supplements to the water shouldn't harm anything. :)

[myjohnson]

From what I HEAR, the zebra nerites (and probably your red spotted ones) are a freshwater snail, where olive nerites are saltwater and/or brackish snails.

So can zebra and red spotted nerites breed in fresh water?

It would be cool to have some and breed them too.

[mgarrido]

So can zebra and red spotted nerites breed in fresh water?

It would be cool to have some and breed them too.

The Zebra Nerite Snail requires brackish water in order to breed successfully. Some may look at this as a plus, meaning that the Zebra Nerite will not over populate a tank and become another pest in the aquarium.

[newb]

I dont think so. I have had mine for many months now and all they do is leave the little white eggs that disappear after a few days.

[myjohnson]

yeah, that's what I figured.