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If you’re thinking of adding snails to your aquarium one of the first things to consider is what sort of food they need. After all, you want to make sure that your new pets are well looked after and don’t go hungry.
Nerite snails are great algae eaters. They also eat flake food, bloodworms and green vegetables. Snails are great scavengers and will eat most debris left on the bottom of the tank which makes them an invaluable part of your tanks clean-up crew.
When I first looked into getting snails for my community aquarium Nerite snails were the top of my list. This was partly due to their algae eating capacity. But also because of their inability to breed in a freshwater setup so they wouldn’t overwhelm the tank.
Read more about their breeding habits in my article here. As part of that research I needed to know what to feed the snails and over time I have learned what my snails will, and won’t, eat.
What Is The Best Food For Nerite Snails?
Aquarium snails will happily chomp away on any fish food debris, fish waste, decaying plant matter and algae in your tank. They are really good at cleaning the bottom of your aquarium also the tank glass. Any algae and biofilm build up on the glass and other hard surfaces is considered good food by Nerite snails
The Onion and Zebra Nerite snails I have in my tanks are great algae eaters. They make short work of eating any leftover food too and definitely enjoy snail/shrimp pellets and algae wafers. To be honest they will eat any food that’s on offer.
So, Do Nerite Snails Actually Need To Be Fed?
In a snail-only tank there obviously won’t be any leftovers so you will need to specifically feed them.
Here are a few of the things they will eat:
- Broccoli
- Green Beans
- Spinach
- Courgette/ Zucchini
- Cucumber
- Kale
- Bloodworms
- Calcium Chips
- Algae Wafers
- Pellets For Snails/Shrimp
- Homemade Snail Jello (Snello)
As you can see, Nerite snails love to eat a variety of foods including a range of different vegetables. You will need to either blanch or steam the veggies before feeding them to your Nerites to soften the vegetables first.
There is an added bonus to feeding vegetables to your snails. If you have fish and shrimp in your tank as well, they also love a few greens every now and then in order to vary their diet.
Will Nerite Snails Eat Plants?
On a couple of occasions I thought my Zebra Nerite was eating one of the live plants in my tank. But on closer inspection it was only eating the decaying leaves. The fresh growth was left alone.
My snails also love to munch on the algae that sometimes builds up on live plants and also the biofilm that builds up on my artificial plants.
There are some types of aquarium snail that will eat the live plants in an aquarium. If you don’t want that to happen then the Nerite snail will be a great addition to your planted tank.
How Often Should Snails Be Fed?
Snails In A Community Aquarium
If snails share their living quarters with fish and other tank dwellers then you will probably find that you won’t need to add much, if any, other food just for the snails.
Being detritivores they will scavenge around and eat anything left on the bottom of the tank. The algae growth and biofilm that builds up on other hard surfaces is also a favourite. If you find that this is in short supply then you need to add extra food at feeding time, just to make sure the snails and other invertebrates are getting their fair share.
I’ve found that the Nerite snails and shrimp in my tank will feed mainly at night. This means if the fish have eaten most, or all the food, I’ve put into the tank at feeding time the tank will be extra clean by morning. This is because the shrimp and snails will have scavenged any other edibles during the darker hours. Which helps to keep the aquarium clean.
On the other hand, if you find there is a build up of detritus at the bottom of your aquarium you may be adding too much food. Or feeding more often than is needed for your particular tank occupants. Which means that even the snails can’t clean up all of the leftovers. And excess food will mess up your tank.
If you live in a soft water area you may need to add a calcium supplement of some kind to your tank water every now and then to maintain the snails’ shell hardness. If, on the other hand like me, you live in a hard water area there is likely to be enough calcium in the tap water anyway. So extra calcium is unlikely to be necessary.
It’s best to check your water hardness if your not sure though, just to be on the safe side.
Snail Only Aquarium
If you only have snails in your aquarium then it is recommended to feed them everyday. Just as you would for a fish only tank. The only difference is that some of the recommended foods will be targeted at the needs of your snails rather than at a fish/community tank.
The list above is a great start for Nerite snails and other types of snails are likely to be similar. But, it’s always worth getting some advice, or doing a little research, to make sure you’re providing the correct diet for your snails if they’re not Nerites.
Can Nerite Snails Overeat?
Like most living creatures the instinct to overeat when there’s an abundance of food is one that’s hard to resist. For this reason you need to monitor the food you put into your aquarium. I know this is a bit trial and error but it’s worth the effort.
That being said, even the greediest of snails won’t eat everything in the tank unless there isn’t enough food being provided. I’ve yet to see a Nerite snail so overweight that it’s shell no longer fits.
Do Nerite Snails Eat Shrimp Or Fish?
In my experience Nerite snails will only eat fish or shrimp if they have already died. They won’t attack them to get a meal. Even so, it is best to try to remove any deceased tankmates as soon as possible in order to prevent any possible ammonia spike in the tank.
Nerites are mild-mannered peaceful snails. They are more than happy to plod along eating all manner of waste and other goodies found along the bottom of the tank and on the tank glass.
They are not known for showing aggression toward other members of the community so they won’t kill them for a snack. Which is another reason I like having them in my peaceful community aquariums.
How Long Can Aquatic Snails Go Without Food?
Freshwater aquarium snails can typically go for weeks, even a few months if necessary, without food. Although this isn’t something any aquarium keeper would deliberately do.
There’s a big difference between not specifically feeding your snails and just making sure there’s enough food in your aquarium for all of its inhabitants. I have found this is especially true in a community tank as my Nerite snails will eat pretty much the same as the various fish and shrimp that also live with them.
In addition to flake fish food, shrimp pellets and bloodworms I often treat my little guys to some green veggies. The snails don’t just get the leftovers. If they are quick enough to get to the food, which they generally are, they will tuck in and enjoy the meal along with their tankmates.
So, this is not actually the snails going without food. It’s them going without being fed specific food just for them. I made sure when doing my original research that the various members of my community would eat basically the same things in order to keep costs down in my easy care aquariums.