Tiger Nerite Snail Splashy Fish

Nerite snails are extremely popular for their  unique patterns and colors, as well as their practical benefits. They work hard to clean algae off of glass, plants, and decorations, they eat hair algae, and they keep your substrate clean and the correct color. In fact, nerite snails are widely believed to be the single best snail in the aquarium hobby for obliterating algae off of glass, rocks, live plants, driftwood, and other types of decorations. Although they thrive in both freshwater and salt water, they require salt water to reproduce. Thus, they are quite incapable of overpopulating any freshwater aquarium. Nerite Snails are completely peaceful, and therefore safe to keep with any fish, shrimp, live plants, or other snails.  

Tiger Nerite snails hail from Africa – specifically Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania. They are not hermaphroditic snails, so they are made up of male and female snails. Nerite snails are very low-maintenance and rather hardy, making them perfect for beginning aquarium enthusiasts.

Other types of Nerite snails that we sell here at Splashy Fish include Black Racer Nerites, Sun Thorn Nerites, Tiger Eye Nerites, Zebra Nerites, and Zebra Thorn Nerites.

Nerite Snails are herbivores and are widely known as one of, if not the most, voracious algae-eaters out of any snail. If there is not enough algae present in the aquarium, their diet can be supplemented with algae wafers or blanched vegetables (such as kale, zucchini, carrots, etc.).

As mentioned above, Nerite snails will not breed in pure freshwater. They can successfully be bred only in brackish water (semi-salty water, or water that has more salt water then fresh water, but less than sea water). If you are interested in breeding Nerite snails and you have a tank with brackish water, we suggest using a calcium-rich substrate (such as crushed coral) to support shell growth in the young snails. The water temperature should be kept around 79-80 degrees Fahrenheit to encourage breeding. Successful breeding is more likely with a group of 5 Nerite snails or more, as this makes it more likely that the group will contain both males and females. Once the snails are comfortable in their environment, they will lay eggs that will soon hatch into larvae without shells. The young snails will  develop shells, and after some time may be placed in either a brackish water or freshwater aquarium.