Snail Menus

Errr, nothing  I've never given my snails anything to eat or a supplement, and my GH (ie calcium) is moderately soft.

I have 5 nerites: 2 zebras in my 180 litre bought 13 July 2011 from Ebay; 2 red with black markings in my 50 litre (I bought the zebras and these were in the pack too, free); and one bee nerite, the small black and yellow ones, in the betta's tank bought 30 Dec 2013 after I accidentally killed the previous one when I forgot to remove it when treating the betta with eSHa 2000 

None of the big ones are showing any sign of shell erosion, which is what happens with insufficient calcium and/or acidic water - luckily mine is slightly alkaline. I haven't had the small one long enough to tell.

My tanks do get algae. And the nerites like munching on the wood in my tanks. There are always tiny black pellets under the wood which is what wood looks like when it's been through a snail's digestive system. I have fed courgette slices in the past and these snails totally ignored them, though those tiny pest snails and the mts loved it.

I would love to know if anyone else feeds their snails. Maybe it's just my tanks, perhaps I wouldn't be able to see the decor without them. But the big ones are over three years old and still going.


When I first had nerites I did buy a calcium supplement from the snail shop, a site that's long gone. It came in a tiny white bottle and you dosed so many drops per litre. I found it at the back of the cupboard, hardly used, when I replaced my 125 litre in January. If you are at all worried see if you can find something similar, but be careful of those products made for marine tanks.

I think they are really interesting too. I'm always a bit worried suggesting them as so many people find snails in general too gross to even consider. But these are nothing like those slugs-with-shells you get in the garden