Nerite snail (zebra)

Care at a glance

The nerite snail is the tidy cleaner of the freshwater tank: it scrapes the most stubborn film off glass, stone and hard-leaved plants without ever putting a hole in a leaf. The zebra pattern on its shell makes it an ornament rather than a necessary evil.

The best news is that it does not multiply: the larvae need brackish water, so you are spared a snail plague. It does glue white, grain-like eggs everywhere, which you have to scrub off by hand. Make sure there is enough calcium in the water — in water that is too soft its shell starts to erode — and put it back whenever it climbs out of the tank.

Best not combined with

• Clown loachChromobotia macracanthus
• Yoyo loachBotia almorhae
• Zebra loachBotia striata
• Dwarf chain loachAmbastaia sidthimunki
• Angelicus loach (polka-dot loach)Botia kubotai
• Blue botiaYasuhikotakia modesta
• Pea pufferCarinotetraodon travancoricus
• Figure eight pufferDichotomyctere ocellatus
• Green spotted pufferDichotomyctere nigroviridis
• Amazon pufferColomesus asellus
• Assassin snailAnentome helena
• Marbled crayfishProcambarus virginalis
• Electric blue crayfishProcambarus alleni
• Giant freshwater shrimpMacrobrachium rosenbergii
• Redclaw crayfishCherax quadricarinatus

Related species

• Amano shrimpCaridina multidentata
• Racing nerite snailVittina turrita
• Cherry shrimpNeocaridina davidi
• Olive nerite snailNeritina reclivata
• Crystal red shrimpCaridina cantonensis
• Ghost shrimpPalaemonetes paludosus