Melania the snail, who is she? Conditions for keeping snails

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

Melania can be found in every second aquarium, but people are so used to them that such residents do not attract much attention to themselves. As noted by experts, no one is engaged in breeding snails of this genus. However, the snail melania cares little about this, it lives perfectly in aquariums and is not going to change anything in its habitat. It is almost impossible to protect your aquarium from such a living creature. Yes, this does not make sense, they are excellent in the role of living drainage in the aquarium environment, and there is no harm from such snails at all. Melania aquarium snails are commonly called sand snails.

Basic living conditions for the melania snail

The mollusk is found almost throughout Africa, Asia and Australia, but the geography of distribution of these snails is not limited to this. As a rule, the snail melania settles in an ordinary reservoir at a depth of 1 meter, but there are also cases when the settlement of such snails was at a depth of 3-4 meters. For themselves, these creatures make a soft bed, which includes sand, silt andclay deposits. It is in such habitat conditions that huge settlements can be found. On plantations with an increased dose of feed, you can easily find about 35 thousand mollusks.

The snail melania feeds mainly on lower algae, organic matter, which is half destroyed. In a word, such snails can be called detritophages. It is not difficult to get food for them, because due to the fact that the soil is quite loose, they move along the bottom of the reservoir and dive deep into its thickness.

Melania breathe with gills, so they just need dissolved oxygen in the water. And reproduction requires special attention, it happens in the process of live birth.

Varieties of melania snails

The aquarium literature says that there is only one type of melania - Melanoides tuberculata. However, this opinion is erroneous, since in fact this genus is characterized by two more species, namely Melanoides granifera and Melanoides riqueti. Snails of the first species inhabit small rivers and streams in Malaysia, while snails of the second species are found in fresh waters of Singapore.

In addition to these species, the melania snail Melanoides turricula is also known, but at the moment scientists come to the conclusion that this is just a subspecies of Melanoides tuberculata.

Despite their diversity, all melanias have a conical shell. The mollusk can easily close the mouth of the shell with a lime cap. It is this cover that helps to maintain the microclimate necessary for the mollusk, andfavorable outcome when exposed to harmful environmental factors. But it is worth noting that melania is quite tenacious and can withstand fairly high temperatures and high salinity of water.

Characterization of Melanoides tuberculata

Aquarium owners are more familiar with Melanoides tuberculata though. Melania snails have settled in the aquarium for a long time. How they get inside is still a mystery to many. The most important version is the transfer of these creatures with plants and animals brought from other countries. It is almost impossible to stop such a migration, since newly born snails are so small that it is difficult to see them even with a magnifying glass.

According to its structure, the shell of this type of snail is elongated, its length reaches 35 mm, and its width is 7 mm. The characteristic color of the snail is gray mixed with various shades of olive, green and brown.

The curls at the mouth of the spiral have a special contrast, they are more saturated in color. Here you can see bright burgundy touches, which are individual for each mollusk. Such snails are rarely found on the surface, more often they live in the ground.

Difference between Melanoides tuberculata and Melanoides granifera

Melanoides granifera is another great aquarium creature. As a rule, these snails differ from their relatives in greater attractiveness. Their coloration includes brown and gray tones, which distinguishes them well from the rest of the snails.

Snails of this speciesthey love a warmer habitat, are capricious in choosing soil for living, but they can live without it at all. Most often, this species is found in sand, because due to the rather large diameter of the shell in other soil, it is quite difficult for snails to move forward. These snails are not fearful and spend enough time on the surface, they can often be seen on stones and driftwood. Also, these snails are particularly slow, which is expressed in reproduction, and in movement, and even in adaptation.