Mollusks play an important role in the home pond. Among amateurs, a variety of snails in the aquarium are popular, the species of which are estimated in dozens. They get into the water from everywhere - on the brought plant can be caviar, but some aquarists buy consciously. Presence of mollusks is acceptable in any vessels, except spawning.
Why do we need snails in an aquarium?
Molluscs in the pond perform a dual role - they help the breeder in caring for the living corner and at the same time bring some problems. What is a snail in a home aquarium - harm or benefit:
Benefits:
- Mollusks are considered natural nurses of the reservoir. They clean the soil, glass, eat food leftovers, rotting plants, thereby maintaining the purity and reduce the level of toxins in the environment;
- The behavior of some species (for example, melanium) is an indicator of the purity of water - with a lack of oxygen they float to the surface. This allows the breeder to find problems on time;
- Bright representatives of shellfish with a colorful shell serve as a decoration for the living corner.
Disadvantages:
- Can eat plants due to lack of food;
- Some mollusks (for example, fizy) secrete mucus;
- Often there is overpopulation - individuals have to manually delete.
Types of Aquarium Snails
Despite all the minuses, they keep mollusks in the pond as medical orderlies. For example, useful snails for the aquarium - ampularia, they are introduced specifically to maintain cleanliness. They penetrate into hard-to-reach places and remove algae growths, pick up not eaten food. There are various snails in the aquarium, their types differ in shapes, sizes, colors, most of them harmless. The design of the reservoir becomes more interesting if there are such residents in it.
Snail physis in the aquarium
Aquarium snails fizy - common shellfish with an interesting shell structure, due to which they are taken to the most remote corners. They have a rounded, with a pointed top and a left sink wrapped to the left. Its color is brown or brown, the body of the individual is dark. They are small in size - only two centimeters. They have pulmonary respiration, they can not live without water for long. The fizzy eat even the toughest plants, produce a sticky thread (mucus), which is fastened to the decor and leaves, multiply rapidly. As medics are useful only in small quantities.
Snail reel in the aquarium
Aquarium snails coil - a traditional representative of freshwater mollusks, in nature is found everywhere. They have a flat shell, twisted spirally, reddish or brown. The armor of adults is 35 mm. in diameter and 10 mm. thick. They move on a flat broad leg, with horns and eyes on their heads. Can live in a wide temperature range. Useful because they collect bacterial film from decayed plants, healthy leaves do not touch. But they quickly proliferate and need to be partially removed, so that the coils do not fill the entire body of water.
Snail melaniya in the aquarium
This viviparous mollusk, lives in the ground. Melanias are endowed with a shell up to 3.5 centimeters long in the form of a narrow cone. The color of the shell varies from yellow-green to dark-gray with purple longitudinal strokes. The color of the body is lilac or silver. Melanias breathe with gills; for them, it is important to have enough oxygen in the water.
Ground snails in the aquarium are useful in that they mix the substrate at the bottom, clean it of the remains of food and rot. By digging granules, they improve gas exchange, prevent rotting of organic particles. With them, biological equilibrium is more stable. Melanias lead a hidden lifestyle and multiply rapidly. For their normal displacement, the soil should be coarse-grained - 3-4 mm.
Helen snails in the aquarium
Aquarium snails Helen - predatory species, they feed on their congeners, they have a ribbed shell, conical, without an end. The color of the shell is yellow with spiral strips of dark brown tones. The size of the mollusk is 15-20 mm., Its body is gray-green. Helena burrows into the ground, she needs soft sand or gravel. At home, it does not multiply. Her diet is carrion and small snails. They are popular predator species, they help to fight the growth of the population of other mollusks in the pond. But with large relatives, helen can not cope.
Ampularia snails in the aquarium
Ampularia are the largest common mollusks, the diameter of the spiral shell reaches 5-7 cm. In most cases yellow snails are found in the aquarium, more rarely - blueberry, blue and brown. The leg of the ampullaria is light or dark. They have a long mustache, a siphon tube, with which they breathe atmospheric air, pulling it over the water. When food is scarce, ampullaria injures plants. Such snails in the aquarium and some species of fish, for example, cichlids, are enemies. The latter offend the ampulary - pulling at the mustache, plucking the parts of the body, which sometimes leads to their death.
Horned snail in aquarium
It is a bright black-and-yellow mollusk measuring up to one and a half centimeters. The durable armor of the individual is decorated with thorns in the form of horns. They have their own clams in each shell, sometimes they break off, but this does not affect its health. Thorns are very sharp, they serve as a protection for a snail in an aquarium with fish - they can hurt those who want to taste the mollusc. They do not breed in fresh water, are planted as effective cleaners, quickly eat algae. Rogats can escape and live long without water, wandering around the tank.
African aquarium snails
A giant land mollusk that has a heart, brain, kidney, lung and eyes. The size of its shell reaches 25 cm, the length of the body - up to 30 cm African snails in the aquarium - species:
- Ordinary ahatina (tiger). The yellow shell has brown stripes, the body is black. This is the largest species of African shellfish. Black snails in the aquarium move very slowly, they eat fruit, they need calcium to build a shell - they add eggshells to their food;
- Arkhahatins. They differ in rounded shell with veins, presence of tail, body has dark pimples;
- Lamycolaria. On their neck there is a memorable strip of black or brown color, the size of the shell is up to 7 cm.
As a shelter for African shellfish, a plexiglas aquarium with a capacity of 10 liters per capita without water, covered with a lid, with openings for air access, is suitable. As a soil, a mixture of garden soil is used. African residents prefer a temperature above room temperature - 25-28 ° C. Special devices are used for heating.
Aquarium snails marisa
This is a large species, the size of the shell reaches 6 cm in height. The shell has three or four turns, the color varies from yellowish to brown with dark strips. Leg - flesh-colored with spots (male) or chocolate (female). The content of snails in the aquarium requires a special temperature regime - water 21-25 degrees moderate rigidity. The Marises are sensitive to the cold habitat due to tropical origin. They are omnivorous and gluttonous, you can not leave them hungry - they can eat vegetation under the root. Behavior peaceful, fish do not touch.
Aquarium zebra snail
A zebra snail is a beautiful, very useful species, up to two centimeters in size. The bright golden zebra's house is decorated with black stripes, the second name for the mollusk is Neretin. Pets are simple in content and feel good in an aquarium of any size. They do not occupy the reservoir with their population, since young plants need sea water (salted water). Adult individuals can live in any environment. Neretines are snails that clean the aquarium: glass, stones, snags, scenery from algae. They do not harm plants and inhabitants, completely harmless and harmless. But they live a little - one year.
Aquarium snails - maintenance and care
Stamina and excellent adaptability to any conditions refer to the virtues of mollusks. They can live as in pure, oxygenated water, and in littered with organic remains. Such residents should not be taken from water bodies - many of them become masters for parasites causing fish diseases. It is better to buy molluscs in a pet store and spend a month in quarantine (a separate vessel).
Snails are indicators of oxygen in the environment, when it is short, they go up to swallow fresh air. According to ammonia and nitrates, the quality of water is maintained as it is for fish. Snails in the aquarium (all species) prefer a calcium-saturated hard environment. If it is too soft, they can not build a strong shell - it will collapse.
The optimum temperature of the medium for the life of most mollusks is 18-28 degrees. In warm water, they eat faster, grow and creep, but live less. Under favorable conditions - begin to multiply. At a water temperature of 18 degrees, the snails become stiff, become sluggish, fall into hibernation, and when it falls, they die. Individuals have a special feature - they "run away" from the vessel. Therefore, a container with such residents is equipped with a lid. Most species multiply rapidly, they need to be manually removed, so that the population does not become too large.
Snails in an aquarium with fish can be attacked by the latter. Such individuals as cichlids, gourami, a family of goldfish, even shrimps are not averse to eating shellfish. They pinch their whiskers, body parts, they can fully dig out a resident from the shell. In molluscs, if damaged, the trunk can partially grow again. But if it is offended - it is better to plant a pet so that it does not die. Snails in the aquarium, types of diseases:
- Coma. Sometimes snails do not get out of the house, this is due to a lack of oxygen, if the aquarium is overpopulated. We must put them in a spacious vessel;
- The sink is holey. It is necessary to increase the hardness of water and to feed the animals with cabbage and salad;
- Pests. Sometimes the shell becomes white. The pet should be placed in brine for 15 minutes.
What do aquarium snails eat?
Molluscs are saturated with biological waste from fish, algae, dead plants. But if they start eating plants, the animals need to be fed. What snails eat in the aquarium:
- bloodworm, daphnia;
- finely chopped lettuce, dandelion leaves;
- meat, powdered;
- vegetable (cucumbers, sweet peppers, zucchini, pumpkin);
- fruits (strawberries, banana, pears, apples).
Feed the shellfish better in the evening or at night. Sweet, spicy, pickled and smoked products can not be given to snails. Salt is a poison for pets. To the shell of the shellfish was strong and shiny, calcium should be added to the food. Its source can be sepia (bone cuttlefish, sold in pet stores), milled eggshells, shell rock.