Aquarium snails: pros and cons, varieties, care and reproduction

Aquarium snails are eternal companions of fish and feel great not only in ulitaria, but also in common tanks. Despite the fact that snails are generally considered useful creatures, there has been a long debate about the appropriateness of their presence in home aquariums. That's why the issue of keeping snails remains quite relevant, and it is especially interesting for novice aquarists.

In order to understand whether snails are needed in a home aquarium, it is necessary to consider the positive and negative aspects of their stay in the reservoir. Below are a number of undoubted advantages that make these amazing creatures extremely popular.

• Snails are real orderlies of water bodies. They eat up food not eaten by fish and pick up dead particles of aquatic vegetation. Due to their small size, snails easily penetrate into hard-to-reach places and clean them of organic debris. In this they are great superior to catfish-orderlies, for which they are appreciated by aquarists. Many species of snails eat dead fish and keep the water from spoiling.
• Snails look very organic in an artificial reservoir and give it a more natural look. A wide variety of shell shapes and colors allows you to effectively decorate your aquarium and revive even the most boring body of water.
• The snails are very interesting to watch. They literally enchant the observer with their slow movements and help to relax after a hard day.
• Often, snails act as indicators of the state of the ecosystem and signal the owner about negative changes in time.For example, when the oxygen content is low, many of them float to the surface of the water, signaling that it is time to turn on the aerator. This behavior forces the owners to take emergency measures to normalize the conditions of keeping pets in the aquarium, which saves many species of fish from death.
• The next function of mollusks is that they often act as food for predatory inhabitants of the reservoir. This is more true for small snails and caviar, which are mouth-watering treats for carnivorous species.
• Another important role for snails is to loosen the soil. As a result of this procedure, it is saturated with oxygen, which prevents the formation of hydrogen sulfide and prevents the mustiness of the reservoir.

However, along with the obvious advantages of snails, there are serious disadvantages due to which many aquarists refuse to keep them.

• Many species of snails, although they are cleaners of reservoirs, themselves heavily pollute them. This is due to the release of a large amount of mucus, which, dissolving in water, leads to its cloudiness and foaming.
• In the absence of algae residues on the aquarium glass, snails begin to devour whole plants. The problem becomes visible to the naked eye when the number of molluscs is too high, when they deal with lush plants in a matter of minutes. Molluscs can eat fish eggs left unattended, preventing other inhabitants of the aquarium from breeding normally.
• If the snail died and was not caught in time by the owner, then its body quickly begins to decompose, thereby polluting the aquarium water and disrupting the biological balance of the closed ecosystem.
• Due to the high fertility of snails, the overpopulation of the reservoir occurs very quickly. In a short time, the population reaches enormous sizes, and if measures are not taken to regulate the number, the colony can cause irreparable damage to the reservoir. When there are too many shellfish, the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water decreases and causes stress in the fish. Moreover, molluscs literally pounce on plants and devour them mercilessly. Another problem with uncontrolled breeding is the large amount of excrement secreted by snails. Because of this, you have to clean the soil with a siphon much more often.
• Snails can carry worms and other parasites that are dangerous to the rest of the community. This is especially true for specimens that accidentally got into the aquarium, brought with river sand or algae from a natural reservoir.

Today there are a huge number of aquarium snails. Below are the most popular, non-demanding types of care, the content of which will be within the power of even a beginner.

This species is represented by beautiful, bright and clearly visible mollusks, which are distinguished by large body sizes and grow over 7 cm. The color of adults is quite intense and is represented by yellow, blue, burgundy, black and brown tones. The snail has a long expressive mustache. Nature has endowed this species with a special siphon tube through which the mollusk has the ability to breathe when it does not want to be on the surface. To do this, he exposes one end of the tube from the water and sucks in air. Due to their large size and the need to move their rather heavy body, ampullae are forced to eat well and are reputed to be one of the most voracious species. They are grown in water at 20-28 degrees, and there are no special requirements for the indicators of water hardness and acidity.

The variety belongs to the tropical category and is quite demanding to care for. The striped adult shells are olive-black with golden color and look very elegant. Growing such molluscs is not easy. To do this, the tank must always contain clean and fresh water with a temperature of 25-27 degrees, and there must be an air gap above its surface. Neritins love to eat algae and are quite useful in heavily overgrown reservoirs.

This type of snail is compact in size and has a round, pointed at the end of the shell. The color is gray-brown or brown with golden spots. But despite its attractive appearance, this variety has 2 significant disadvantages... The first is an increased mucus formation, and the second is a strong gluttony. No matter how much the snail is fed, it cannot get enough. The result is gnawed thick algae stalks and eaten leaves.

This species is visually different from other varieties. Their shell resembles a cone, rarely grows to 3.5 cm and has increased strength. Melanias are nocturnal, and in the daytime they burrow in the sand and gain strength for night outings. Thanks to this, the soil in the tank is daily loosened and aired, which excludes caking and stagnation. The color of these snails resembles the color of the soil, which makes them difficult to see in the aquarium.

A characteristic feature of melania is its rapid reproduction, the uncontrollability of which often leads to the growth of the population to unthinkable sizes. In general, this type of mollusks is unpretentious in care, the only thing that snails require is that the water temperature is within 18-28 degrees. The rest of the parameters are not too important for them. The same applies to food: melania can be content with the remains of fish food and leaves of underwater plants.

This snail species is attractive and harmless, which will never harm the aquarium. Their reddish-brown shell harmoniously combines with the underwater surroundings and makes it more natural. Coils are considered effective orderlies of reservoirs, eating exclusively unsuitable for further growth of algae. They will gladly eat stems bitten by other fish, gnawed leaves and rotting parts of underwater plantings.

They do not use fresh and healthy plants. This is due to the peculiarity of the structure of their oral apparatus, which cannot perceive hard and juicy greens, but is able to grind only softened fragments that begin to rot. In addition, coils are very sensitive to deterioration in fluid quality and can be used as natural indicators.

This species of snails belongs to the category of predators and is often used to regulate the livestock. This method allows you to control the number of aquarium snails without resorting to chemicals. Helena does not belong to the category of hermaphrodites, therefore both females and males are required for her breeding. These mollusks are big fans of burrowing into the ground and spending enough time there. Because of this, it is recommended to use river sand or fine gravel as a soil. Helens are rather small snails, the diameter of their shells barely grows to 2 cm. The shell itself is cone-shaped and painted yellow with a spectacular spiral-shaped brown stripe.

This type of molluscs is distinguished by an extraordinary appearance and a wide variety of forms.The shell is often equipped with thorns or outgrowths, it can be absolutely smooth or have sharp edges and beautiful curls. The body of tylomelania is also quite unusually colored and can be black or orange to a small yellow and white point. This type of molluscs is quite demanding to care for, needs clean water and a spacious reservoir.

Tilomilania also does not accept too dense vegetation, since it reaches a length of 12 cm and needs free space. These molluscs are dioecious viviparous creatures and have low fertility. They hatch one egg at a time, from which small, few juveniles emerge. All tylomelanias are quite gluttonous, which is why they need to be fed at least 2-3 times.

These are giant snails, the shell of which grows up to 6 cm in diameter. Marisees adore thick, healthy plants and sometimes devour them at the very root. For procreation, both males and females are required. The female lays eggs on the walls of the reservoir or leaves, and the eggs themselves are represented by a jelly-like substance with small snails inside. Marises are very capricious and need water at a temperature of 21-25 degrees, with an acidity level of 7.5 to 7.8 pH. From above, the aquarium with marises must be covered, as they tend to get out and risk being crushed.

This species got its name from the presence of original sharp horns, very durable and rough to the touch. Thanks to a beautiful yellow-black shell about 1 cm in diameter, such an individual will never go unnoticed in a common reservoir. The horned snail is highly mobile and very active. However, the description of this species would be incomplete without mentioning the characteristics of the character of these creatures. They love to escape from the aquarium and travel overland.

That's why when purchasing horned snails for a home community, you need to buy a net or a transparent lid and cover the tank with it... In general, horned snails are quite unpretentious. However, when breeding them, some difficulties may arise. The fact is that such mollusks breed exclusively in sea water. In freshwater reservoirs, their caviar turns out to be unviable and quickly dies.

The shell of these snails is colored yellow or white and is endowed with a dark brown stripe twisting in a spiral. The leg can be either yellow or brown, and have several dark spots. Outwardly, spixies are somewhat reminiscent of ampullaria, however, they have a number of significant differences in structure and behavior. Firstly, they do not grow as large as ampullae, and barely reach 3 cm. Secondly, they do not have a breathing tube, and the whiskers are much longer.

Finally, snail eggs are laid on driftwood, stones and leaf plates, so they do not need to go to land for reproduction. In addition, spixies move much faster than ampullae and raise their shell to the maximum height above the surface on which they crawl. In the daytime, they like to bury themselves in the soil layer and lie in it until dark.

Aquarium snails, eating the remains of dead organic matter and thereby purifying the home reservoir, are very useful creatures and are specially purchased by the owners of underwater communities. However, situations often occur in which mollusks appear in the aquarium suddenly, when no one planned to place them there. This phenomenon is quite widespread, and the explanation is very simple. Uninvited guests enter the tank along with untreated soil or plants. In the first case, the sand was simply not subjected to heat treatment, and the small snail safely entered the aquarium. Often, mollusks enter the reservoir in the form of eggs, which were deposited by the inhabitants of the previous reservoir on the leaves of newly purchased algae.

Small snails are hardly distinguishable in dense thickets of underwater vegetation, which is why the owner of the reservoir may not know for a long time that he has got snails. And only an experienced aquarist is able to notice on the leaves of plants a small, pebble-like solid placer of black color. After a few days, it becomes clear that these are nothing more than young snails. The shoots begin to move quickly around the aquarium, the delicate body of the mollusks becomes clearly distinguishable.

Most aquarium snails quickly adapt to the microclimate of the reservoir and live well in it. They are quite hardy and healthy creatures that do not require individual care, eat the remains of fish food and bring undoubted benefits to the aquarium ecosystem. The only thing that needs to be closely monitored is the quality of the water. It should be moderately tough and contain sufficient amounts of calcium and other mineral salts that molluscs need to build their shells. In soft water, the shell begins to soften and deform. There is an opinion that too many mollusks are intensively drawing out the necessary salts from the water, as a result of which the water hardness is significantly reduced.

The optimal indicators are considered acidity from 6.5 to 7.8 pH, hardness from 10 to 15 dGH and temperatures above 20 degrees. In addition, there should be no more than 1 mollusk for every 8-10 liters of liquid. Snails should be purchased exclusively in pet stores, followed by quarantine.

The next important point in keeping snails is the type of food. Most of them are omnivorous, which means that their presence in the aquarium does not create additional costs and does not cause hassle. They eat both fish food and natural plant foods equally well. However, omnivorousness also has a downside and often leads to damage and complete destruction of a large number of underwater vegetation. This is especially true for sluggish species of snails living in the same aquarium with too nimble and nimble fish, which gobble up all the food with lightning speed. In such a situation, snails have no choice but to devour algae.

In this case, you can equip a separate aquarium for the snails and plant it with fleshy algae. For this, large-leaved plants are usually taken, which snails cannot do much harm. The snails themselves should be fed with special feed or natural food: carrots, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber and white bread crumbs. By the way, these same products can be used when keeping snails in a shared aquarium. Fish do not eat such products, so they will not claim food for snails. Carnivorous species of molluscs are additionally fed with pieces of boiled beef.

When creating favorable conditions for keeping snails reproduction occurs without any difficulties. Molluscs lay eggs on rocks, plant leaves, or on aquarium glass, just above the liquid level. Initially, the eggs resemble jelly-like balls, from which small mollusks are born a few days later.If you need to quickly obtain offspring, the process can be artificially accelerated. To do this, take a container with a volume of 30 liters and fill it with settled water. Then several floating algae are placed there and 3-4 snails are planted. They are fed twice a day using fish food, bread, cabbage leaves, boiled carrots and potatoes.

Further, the mollusks are closely watched and wait for one of the individuals to begin to lay eggs. When breeding bisexual species, this individual should be noted in some way in order to subsequently know exactly where the female is. Many species of snails lay in the late afternoon, so monitoring should be intensified during this period. Some snails, for example, ampullia, lay a clutch directly on the surface of the water.

In no case should the spawned eggs be touched, except for those situations when the eggs have swam too close to the lighting device and may die from high temperatures. In this case, you need to carefully place a piece of foam plastic under the masonry and tow it to a safe distance. Next, you should be patient and expect the appearance of young animals. The closer this event is, the darker the eggs will be. On average, snails take about 3 weeks to mature.

The survival rate of newborn mollusks is generally very high, but if the clutch is done in a common aquarium, then not everyone has a chance of survival. Most of them will be eaten by fish, and only a few babies will be able to survive. With proper care and timely birth control, an adult can live up to 3 years. If the aquarium is overcrowded, or the water temperature is too high, then the life span of the snails is sharply reduced.

Adult snails are compatible with most fish species, while babies often need careful selection of their neighbors. This is due to the fact that the newly hatched molluscs are immediately eaten by an adult fish. Barbs especially love to feast on fresh snails. They eat newborns whole, and the grown-up juveniles are first grabbed by the leg, then shaken out of the shell and only then devoured. As a result, an empty shell sinks onto the ground. Tetradonts and many cichlid species capture molluscs whole in their mouths. They bite and spit out the shell, after which they eat the contents.

Most snails get along well with small and non-aggressive fish, and the only inconvenience for them is the attacks of nimble fish on their whiskers. In this regard, one can often observe a situation when the snail reflexively presses them to the body when the fish approaches.

For the pros and cons of keeping aquarium snails, see the next video.