Nerites don't seem to take to my water

[Splaker]

I bought 9 nerite snails about a month ago. Only 2 are still alive - the ones pictured below. It's seems that these two, both dark plain shells, seems to accept the environment of my tank. The other snails were either the zebra ones or a smaller lighter brown snail. So these appear to be a different subspecies. I guess they are different enough that they require or accept different parameters. I decided to add cuttlebone recently (too late for those other guys!) and I suppose can't hurt these two remaining a snails.

can someone explain the differences if any? Could it be that they are more tolerant? If so, I will try to buy only these darker ones hoping it's not just a fluke.

They are certainly busy eaters!

 

[GouramiGirl100]

How big is your tank that you had the 9 in? Maybe there was not enough food for them in the tank and some starved. Most nerite species have similar parameters unless they are limpet nerites which require a higher pH due to liking brackish water. I think what you have now are olive nerites. Nerites do require a lot of biofilm/algae growth

 

[Splaker]

65 gallons! I think that's plenty for 9. They may have come in unhealthy.. almost immediately they weren't as active...

As you can see I have plenty of algae

 

[GouramiGirl100]

65 gallons! I think that's plenty for 9. They may have come in unhealthy.. almost immediately they weren't as active...

As you can see I have plenty of algae

Yeah you’re right you have plenty. And 65 is obviously ample space so I’m going to have to agree that they were no in the best condition. Do you know your pH/gH ?

 

[Splaker]

looked at olive nerite - mine are darker

Yeah you’re right you have plenty. And 65 is obviously ample space so I’m going to have to agree that they were no in the best condition. Do you know your pH/gH ?

Idk the PH at this time. I will try to get a reading..I just bought a calcium test kit.

 

[GouramiGirl100]

looked at olive nerite - mine are darker

Idk the PH at this time. I will try to get a reading..I just bought a calcium test kit.

I’ve been keeping all types of snails for a long time (years) but In my current setup I have a gh of 15. I’ve had them in softer water before and there can be issues. You want to use a wondershell or cuttlebone like you say. Some nerites are more sensitive to pH as well, if the water is too acidic their shells can erode. But pH is unlikely the cause of a sudden death issue, I think they were probably not bred well. I’ve had mystery snails die on me randomly. I do think checking gh is worth it though to prevent future issues
Yeah yours are slightly darker than most olive nerites so may be a different type, you can tell by size eventually when they grow bc olives can be smaller

 

[Splaker]

We are on a well and must have a water softener to control the iron in the water. Thus, I think my water is soft. The cuttlebone can at least address this. I put about 2/3rds of a piece into my overhang filter a few days ago, but the snails had already died by that point. Can't hurt! I will measure my water's gh.

The two remaining snails are pretty big (I think). They are bigger than all of the snails that died. They feed almost constantly! Now that I have the bone in the filter, I think I'll shop for these specific ones, if I can locate them.