Saltwater Nerites are tough little intertidal grazers that excel at polishing rock, glass, and macroalgae surfaces clean. They’re great at eating film algae, diatoms, and other micro-gunk that builds up in both display tanks and refugiums. In the wild, larger Nerites spend a lot of time high on rocks during low tide, so once they hit “Jumbo size they often explore above the waterline. A lid is recommended at that point. Regular and Nanos rarely wander, but the big guys definitely do. We collect several naturally occurring species and color patterns, so your order may include a mix of shell styles. They range from banded to checkerboard and from flat to glossy. All are true marine nerites from shallow coastal habitats. Nerites sometimes lay small white eggs on the glass. These don’t hatch in aquariums, so they won’t repopulate your tank. Most people just scrape the eggs off during normal cleaning. To keep them comfortable in transit, we ship Nerites on damp (not submerged) packing paper. It mimics how they’re found on the reef and keeps them happy during travel.
