Snails in an aquarium: good or bad?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Snails in an aquarium coexist with fish or are independent owners of a transparent dwelling. Mollusks can bring both benefit and harm to the aquatic ecosystem. Regardless of their purpose, snails are the same full-fledged inhabitants of the aquarium, like the rest of its inhabitants - fish, crustaceans or shrimps. Invertebrates are amphibious: they can live both in water and on land. How do snails exist in an aquarium, do they benefit or harm other inhabitants? This article will answer these and other questions.

Benefits of snails in an aquarium

Mollusks are not only very interesting inhabitants of the terrarium. They are also excellent nurses. In the general aquarium, snails feed on the remnants of food that other residents have not eaten - fish or crustaceans. Leftovers are a favorable environment for the emergence and development of a variety of harmful bacteria that not only pollute clear water, but also become a source of disease in the aquarium population.

The rough tongue of snails is a great tool to help clean slime and other dirt from glass walls. In addition, they willingly eat the remains of plants. All this favorably affects the microclimate of the water dwelling.

Some types of snails can serve as indicators of the state of the water in the terrarium. The behavior of molluscs indicates how much oxygen is in the water. If it is not enough, the snail rises closer to the surface of the aquarium and breathes air. In this case, the solution to the pollution problem is to replace the water or buy a quality aerator.

What are harmful aquarium clams

The negative side of mollusks is their active reproduction. Small snails in an aquarium can fill almost the entire space, leaving no room for other inhabitants. As a result, the amount of oxygen in the vessel decreases, which destroys the microclimate of the mini ecosystem.

How to get rid of snails in the aquarium? First, you should remove the caviar from the vessel in time. Removing extra adults will also help.

In addition, aquatic plants suffer from snails, which invertebrates simply eat. In addition, many gastropods produce mucus, which also pollutes both the water and the walls of the terrarium.

To prevent the development of infection among the inhabitants, shellfish should not be placed directly from water bodies. It is recommended to buy invertebrates only in specialized stores.

What to feed

When getting a pet, would-be owners wonderwhat to feed your pet. There are practically no problems with aquarium snails in this sense.

Gastropods swallow food through a miniature funnel that forms from the upper half of a clam's leg. A transparent film with small particles of food appears on the surface of the water. The snail sucks this mixture through an arbitrary “lip”. Eating the contents of the film, the snail gains the next portion. The process lasts until the animal is completely saturated.

Most mollusks are omnivorous and will eat anything that gets in their way. These are rotten plants, and dead fish, and remnants of food, and even algae, which serve as an adornment for aquatic dwellings. As they feed, they also serve as good tank cleaners.

Large species of snails can also eat larger pieces of food - slices of cucumber, carrots, spinach, and even fish caviar living in one vessel. However, it should be remembered that gastropods are "too tough" only the food that they can grind and swallow. As a result, it is preferable for pets to feed boiled fruits and canned spinach.

Snails in the aquarium and small slices of meat and lettuce, which was previously scalded in boiling water, do not shun. They are also happy to eat crumbs of white bread. With such feeding, it is important to ensure that food remains do not pollute the water. They are recommended to be removed immediately after the end of the invertebrate meal.

Snail breeding

In nature, there are heterosexual mollusks and gastropods hermaphrodites, that is, creatures with signs of both sexes. Some species are viviparous,who give birth to babies ready for a full existence.

The only common feature of all snails is their rapid and rich reproduction. This is especially true for hermaphrodites. It is enough to acquire one or two individuals to soon get a whole population of mollusks. To preserve harmony in the ecosystem of aquatic dwellings, you should remember how to get rid of snails in an aquarium. It is quite simple to do this: you just need to remove excess gastropods or their eggs from the reservoir in a timely manner.

How do snails reproduce in an aquarium? It depends on many factors: the state of he alth of the gastropods, climatic conditions, the volume of the container, etc.

Reproduction of hermaphrodite snails occurs as follows. Gastropods lay eggs mainly on the lower parts of aquarium plants, walls or decorations. The film of eggs is so dense that other inhabitants of artificial reservoirs are practically not afraid of it. After a fairly short time, small invertebrates hatch from it. The most common hermaphrodites are coil snails.

Other-sex mollusks can be viviparous (for example, melania or helena), or also lay eggs (ampullaria).

How to build a shellfish home

Snails are creatures with shells on their backs. To build and maintain the integrity of the natural shelter, gastropods need calcium and a water pH of at least 7. Therefore, it is recommended to line the bottom of the aquarium with a ball of small particles of marble, limestone, and sea shells. Can also be added to waterpreparations that increase water hardness.

The size of a home pond should depend on the size of the inhabitants. It is enough for small gastropods to fit in a small vessel, while the aquarium for Achatina snails (one of the largest invertebrates) should be at least 10 liters.

For the correct arrangement of the terrarium for gastropods, it is necessary to line the bottom with soil on which decorations, shells and plants are placed. If you decide to use the soil from your own garden, it must first be roasted in the oven to prevent infection. Quality soil for a terrarium should consist of sand, earth and coconut substrate.

For the comfort of snails, which are nocturnal creatures, it is recommended to place a building in the terrarium where pets can rest during the day. Broken flower pots placed upside down are great for this purpose.

The temperature in the aquarium should correspond to the natural habitat of snails and not exceed 25-28 degrees.

What the snail does in the aquarium depends on the state of the ecological climate in the reservoir. In the case of a favorable environment, the molluscs will feel comfortable and calm. In case of pollution of the water space, invertebrates will begin to worry and may even get sick.

Plants for terrarium with snails

Although snails are omnivorous and can eat various plants, there must be some fauna present in the pond. Ivy, fern, various types of aquaticmoss.

Before "planting" plants in a pond, you need to hold them in warm s alt water. So you can get rid of possible infections. After ten minutes, the plants should be thoroughly washed. Freed from harmful parasites and other uninvited guests, the aquarium can be enriched with greenery.

Top 8 popular snails

The most famous clams are:

• Coil. It is present in almost every terrarium. She became famous due to her original appearance and small size. The harm from snails in an aquarium lies in their rapid reproduction. At the same time, mollusks diversify the ecosystem of a domestic reservoir and are worthy neighbors to its other inhabitants.
• Ampoules are more capricious in their care. This is one of the largest aquarium gastropods. As a result, amulets have an excellent appetite and, if there is a shortage of food, they easily eat young sprouts of aquatic plants.
• Thylomelanias were not popular until recently. However, recently they have become more and more common due to their beautiful appearance. They are very selective in content. These exotic specimens are recommended to be kept in a separate terrarium and looked after more carefully than other species.
• Melania is as popular as coils. However, there is a difference in appearance and lifestyle. Melania live and breed in the ground, automatically shoveling it. Just like coils, they tend to skyrocket.population, which threatens to overpopulate the aquarium.
• Neretins are not only very beautiful, but also very useful. The benefit of snails in an aquarium is to thoroughly clean the reservoir of algae. These clams are quite expensive. The short age of non-retins also belongs to the minuses.
• Marise belongs to the giant snails. An individual can grow up to six centimeters or more. Maryse should be kept in a separate terrarium, as she is very voracious and eats aquatic plants down to the roots.
• Helena is one of the most unusual snails. Helens are almost the only cannibal snails, as they feed on their small relatives. On the one hand, it helps to get rid of extra clams from the aquarium. At the same time, it is recommended to keep Helena separately, as she can also eat exotic snails.
• Physes are midget snails. Small and easy to breed, physs can survive in harsh environments. The disadvantage of the snail is the ability to gnaw holes in very tough plants, which greatly spoils their appearance and harms their survival.

Snail diseases

Like all living things, molluscs are prone to various diseases. Gastropods exported from the tropics may carry parasites.

Crawling along the walls of the aquarium, the snail can break down and, falling, damage the shell. The chip must be treated with an antiseptic to prevent infection. Soon the "wound" will heal and the shell will recover.

It is not recommended to often take pets in hand. This can causeanxiety for phlegmatic beings. When taking a pet, you should wet the animal's leg with water and gently bring your palm under it. With the second hand, it is recommended to hold the snail by the shell. Keep the clam in your hands for a short time so that it does not start to worry.

Gastropods can go into hibernation. The duration of hibernation depends on climatic conditions and humidity levels.

Features of the snail coil in the aquarium

The mollusk of this species is a frequent inhabitant of domestic waters. These invertebrates can be deliberately bred, but most often they end up in an aquarium with plants.

Externally, coil snails are easy to distinguish from other species. They have a shell in the form of a tightly twisted flat spiral. The seam is clearly visible between the turns. Under natural conditions, some types of coils can reach 3.5 centimeters. But in the aquarium, they usually do not grow more than 1 centimeter.

A feature of the mollusk is the ability to float on the surface of the water with the shell down. This is possible due to the air bubbles that are inside the snail's house.

The following types of coils are known in nature:

• Horny. The largest of these mollusks. Its size can reach 3.5 cm. The color of the shell is brown, and the body is reddish-brown. The horn coil feeds on feed waste and plant remains.
• The horn red coil is the second largest (2 cm). Unlike simple horny, this species has a bright red color of the shell. The horn coil is an excellent orderly,eating bacteria and leftover food.
• Far Eastern. The birthplace of this type of coil is East Asia. The coil is unpretentious in care. Shell color ranges from reddish to brown. As food, the Far Eastern mollusk prefers plants.
• The keeled coil is brought into the aquarium along with plants and soil. The greyish-brown color of the shell is a good camouflage for the clam in the soil. Kilevatka feeds on what it finds in the ground, and also cleans the walls of the reservoir.
• The wrapped spool is a pest. Watching how snails breed in an aquarium, one can understand that a rapidly growing population can significantly affect the state of the ecosystem of a home reservoir. In addition, the wrappers pollute the soil and water. The shell color of the coils is dirty yellow, the body color is light beige. The coil can also freely exist outside the aquarium.

Beauty ampoule

The birthplace of this type of snail is the mouth of the Amazon. Over time, the population moved to Hawaii, Southeast Asia and Florida. Under natural conditions, the mollusk leads an exclusively aquatic mode of existence. However, like all his relatives, he needs air from time to time. For a sip of oxygen, the ampoule rises to the surface of the water. There she pulls out, uses a breathing tube and sucks air through it. The snail, like fish, has a similar respiratory system, consisting of gills and left-sided lungs.

Difficult natural conditions have led to the fact that the ampoule has a well-developed limb,protected by a kind of sash. In times of drought, the sash closes and the snail hides in the shell, waiting for the unfavorable period.

Snail snails need partners to reproduce.

Clamshell color can vary. But the main color of the shell is yellow. In addition to it, you can find a white, brown and even black invertebrate.

Snail snails in the aquarium take root very well. When buying, you should remember that these are mollusks of considerable size. They can grow up to 8-10 centimeters, but there are also larger specimens. Some individuals can be compared in size with other giants - marises.

Different types of ampoule may differ not only in color, but also in the shape of the shell. Snails usually live for about two years.

Luxury Achatina

Photos of snails in the Achatina breed aquarium show noble and elegant creatures. This type of mollusk is very prolific. At one time, the gastropod can bring from 100 to 600 eggs, from which babies will soon hatch.

Achatina comes from Africa. An invertebrate is one of the largest mollusks on Earth. Large shells are painted brown-yellow and decorated with a dark pattern. The shell can be up to 40 centimeters long and weigh up to 600 grams.

Achatina have lungs and are hermaphrodites. It is noteworthy that pregnancy inhibits the growth and development of the animal. Therefore, mating snails up to a year is undesirable.

Achatins are quite easy to keep. They are almost omnivorous and do not require special care. MaybeThis is why Achatinas are very popular as pets.