I miss my nerite...Did my Angels kill him (can I get another)?

I added a nerite to my 46gal in January and I enjoyed watching him cruise the tank. He quit moving last month, I relocated him to my 1.5gal plant QT and he never moved again.

Possible cause of death:
1. Breeding Angels (moderately aggressive/highly territorial when eggs/fry in the tank) - can't fix
2. Low pH (6.6)/soft water (KH 4/ GH 5) - working on it pH is up to 7.2, KH/GH better but not great (5 & 7)
3. Copper pipes - he lived for months, seeming to thrive - would it be a progressive accumulation of copper? - Can't fix.
4. Old age? I bought the biggest one in the tank because I was concerned about the Angels.
5. Not enough food - I don't have a ton of algae but do have SOME and he never seemed to have the entire tank completely clean so I didn't worry.

Appreciate any input, I can clean the algae off of my tank so I don't NEED another, I just WANT another.

 

The angels won't have killed it.

 

The angels won't have killed it.

Agree.

 

Not so fast my old female Angel killed 3 mystery snails before I realized it was her.

 

Not so fast my old female Angel killed 3 mystery snails before I realized it was her.

Really? Wow, well I learned something today. I never over the years of keeping angles and mysteries together had that happen.

 

Yea my female went nuts when my male decided he didn't want to spawn with her any more. She chased him around relentlessly attacking anything she could. Unfortunately I had to euthanize her.

 

Not so fast my old female Angel killed 3 mystery snails before I realized it was her.

Sigh, that was what I was afraid of -warns about nerites and angels. The male angel was bumping him one breeding cycle so I moved him to the other side of the tank. Wasn't the same breeding cycle as when I lost him but I always wonder about what happens when I'm not sitting right there watching.

 

I would think it'd be very difficult for a fish to attack a nerite snail since their fleshy parts and antennae aren't exposed as much as mystery snails. Nerites are pretty well tucked into their shells even as they are climbing the tank walls eating the bio film.

You could try a couple of horned nerites as they only get to be pea sized. Their little horns may also deter any fish from bothering them as well.

Edit: Are you sure it died? Did you do the sniff test?

 

Hmm. I would think pea sized would not be good! But the hard shell would probably be immediately spit back out.

And no, the snail did not smell at first but the shell has been in the plant QT tank for all of July and not moved so...pretty sure he's gone.