Horned nerite

Care at a glance

Overview

You can keep one on its own or add a few, in a tank of 19 liters or larger, since they are solitary and do not need company. They are peaceful bottom grazers that spend their time working over rocks, glass, and driftwood for algae and biofilm. Run the water at 22 to 26 C with a pH of 7 to 8, kept hard and alkaline so the shell stays solid. They are very sensitive to copper, so skip any copper-based medications or fertilizers. In a clean tank that runs low on algae, supplement with algae wafers, and keep a lid on, because they will climb out.

In the wild

Horned nerites come from freshwater streams across the Indo-Pacific, where they graze algae and biofilm off rocks in moving water. To match that, give them an established tank of at least 19 liters with hard surfaces to crawl over and a film of algae to pick at. They want harder, alkaline water with calcium in it, because their shell pits and erodes in soft acidic conditions. Keep the temperature from 22 to 26 C and the pH between 7 and 8.

Good to know

This is a small snail in the family Neritidae, growing to about 1.5 cm with a spiked, horned shell. It cannot reproduce in fresh water, since the larvae need brackish conditions to develop, so a freshwater tank will never overpopulate. Females will still drop hard white egg capsules on surfaces, but those eggs go nowhere in your tank. Most in the trade are wild collected rather than tank bred.

Did you know

The spikes give it the name, but they are really an anti-predator feature that makes the snail awkward to swallow. Each shell carries its own pattern of black and yellow banding, so no two look quite alike, and the horns themselves can wear down over time in a tank.

Related species

• 

  Olive nerite

  Vittina usnea

  0.8 in (2 cm)5 gal (20 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Virgin nerite

  Vitta virginea

  0.8 in (2 cm)5 gal (20 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Tiger nerite

  Vittina coromandeliana

  1 in (2.5 cm)5 gal (19 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Zebra Nerite

  Vittina natalensis

  1 in (2.5 cm)5 gal (20 L)66–84°F (19–29°C)

• 

  Marbled Limpet Nerite

  Septaria porcellana

  1.2 in (3 cm)5 gal (20 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Dusky Nerite Snail

  Neritina pulligera

  1.6 in (4 cm)5 gal (20 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)