Zebra Nerite Snail (Neritina natalensis)

Description

Zebra Nerites snails' shells have a truly striking and beautiful pattern, featuring gold and black zebra-like stripes running all the way down.  These attractive snails definitely draw your eyes directly to them, but they also serve some very useful purposes, as all Nerite Snails do.  They clean algae off of glass, plants, and decorations, they eat hair algae, and they keep your substrate clean and the correct color.
Nerite Snails are widely believed to be the single best snail in the aquarium hobby for eating algae.  They are totally safe with any fish, shrimp, or plants, and are completely peaceful.  Nerite Snails require salt water to reproduce, so they will never overpopulate your aquarium (as some freshwater snails are known to do).
Zebra Nerite Snails range from 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter.  They usually will remain around 1 inch throughout their lifespan, but the occasional snail will reach 1 1/2 inches!  They do not eat plants (only algae), so they are perfectly suitable for planted tanks.
When keeping any type of Nerite Snails, it's a good idea to make sure the water line in your aquarium isn't too high, as these snails tend to climb up beyond the water line.  Additionally, Nerite Snails do not tolerate water with high nitrate levels.  All freshwater snails are very sensitive to copper, so watch out for copper if you use tap water in your tank.
What We Like About These Snails:
Among the most voracious algae-eating snails
Do not reproduce in freshwater
Safe with plants
Completely peaceful
RECOMMENDED TANK PARAMETERS:
Temperature
:  65° - 85° F (18° - 29° C)
pH
:
6.5 - 8.0
KH
:  5 - 12 dKH
Minimum tank size
:  2 gallons per snail
CARE GUIDELINES:
Diet
:  Nerite Snails can subsist on algae if there is enough present in the aquarium.  Their diet can be supplemented with algae wafers and/or
blanched vegetables such as zucchini, kale, spinach, or cucumber.
Warning! Avoid any food product, medication, or plant fertilizer that contains Copper of any form. Copper is toxic to invertebrates. Many commercial fish foods, medications, and plant fertilizers contain copper or more commonly copper sulfate. Always look at the ingredient list for any product going into the aquarium to ensure they are copper free.
Social behavior
:  Peaceful and solitary; will not engage with tankmates.
Origin
:  Northeastern, Eastern, and Southern Africa
Average adult size
:  1 - 1.5 inches (2.5 - 3.8 cm)
Average purchase size
:  .5 - 1 inch (1.3 - 2.5 cm)
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