found these at the beach, are they safe?

[S4lt Lif3]

They are in a spare nano tank I have set up, are they ok to put into my main DT? sorry for a big pic, it wouldn't let me resize it. if you need better pics just ask, ill try to get better for you.

 

[pagojoe]

Yes, they are safe. They are nerites, probably Vitta virginea.

http://www.jaxshells.org/1013t.htm

Cheers,




Don

 

[S4lt Lif3]

thank you don for the response, what are they good for in a tank? do they eat left over food and the crap in the sand?

 

[pagojoe]

Nope, they are strictly grazers. Those particular ones usually graze on the algae and microorganisms that grow on grass or other plants in marshy areas. Like other nerites, they may climb above the water line in your tank. If they do, you'll have to poke them back down into the water.

Cheers,



Don

 

[S4lt Lif3]

oh alright, so are they worth putting in my tank if they don't eat the crud in the sand?

 

[pagojoe]

Yeah, they are great algae eaters.

 

[S4lt Lif3]

ok thank you I'll put a few in at a time, I just noticed that there were 2 of these threads, sorry for that, I guess I hit the button to many times..?

 

[cap1956]

I tried some from our local beach without much success. The moved very slow, didn't seam to eat much ( established reef tank w/o much algae) and they continually crawled above the water line and dried out and died. In nature they must wait for the tide to come in, so they aren't wired to return to water to survive. I would leave them on the beach.