Features of the maintenance of the tylomelania snail

The tylomelania snail can become the main decoration of a home aquarium. This is a bright mollusk with an unusual shell relief. The snail's mouth is quite comical, and this feature attracts many aquarium enthusiasts. The content of this creature is available not only for specialists, but also for novice aquarists.

The length of the shell of the mollusk is 2-12 cm. The structure of the shell may differ in different individuals, for example, be smooth or acicular. This unusual creature is known in the circles of aquarists under several names: "Darwin's snail", "orange rabbit", "orange head", "Tilo snail".

And although most names include the word "orange", the snail's torso may not only be that color. There are individuals with cream, black, yellow or white spots, there are species with black bodies and yellow tentacles. Small eyes are located under the tentacles. The muzzle is large, and the antennae are long, lop-eared.

In nature, snails live in the waters of Lake Paso and the Malili lake system, and for the first time this animal became known in the 1800s. Tylomelania can be found in different shapes and colors, and their species is determined by the habitat.

When keeping a tylomelania snail, one individual will need at least 10-15 liters of water. Recommended temperature limits are 27-30 degrees, ideally 28 degrees. It is important to respect the average hardness of the water. If this parameter is exceeded, then the mollusk will become passive and may hibernate, and too soft water will provoke the destruction of the shell.

Prepare the soil before placing the snail in the tank. Place leaves, driftwood, stones on the bottom that will remind individuals of natural rocks. The grotto will allow pets to hide from the bright light, which these mollusks cannot stand and therefore rarely crawl out into the illuminated space. Choose sandy or loamy soil itself.

This interesting creature has an excellent appetite, it is constantly in search of food and is able to eat even algae from hunger. Of aquatic plants, they will not like moss and cladophora. Well these snails eat dry food, and also do not mind eating a dead fish. A tylomelania menu can consist of the following foods:

• shrimps;
• fish fillet;
• chopped vegetables: cucumbers, zucchini, cabbage.

You can use ready-made feeds, but those that settle to the bottom, and do not float on the surface. Examples include spirulina, catfish and shrimp pellets and flakes. In order for the snail shell to develop fully, it is important to include calcium in the diet.

If tylomelania is kept together with other fish, then it will be able to eat food intended for fish, eat up their waste products, and cleanse the aquarium of dead fragments of aquarium plants. That is, this snail may well serve as a biological filter in an artificial reservoir.

If the mollusk eats ready-made fish food, then make sure that it does not contain copper sulfates, as this substance is poisonous to gastropods. Harmful copper can also be found in fertilizers that some aquarists use to feed aquatic plants. Individuals are fed several times a day, and this is exactly the case when it is better to overfeed the pets than not to feed them. In search of food, the snail can bury itself in the ground.

Unlike many of their congeners, tylomelania snails are heterosexual viviparous molluscs. However, it is impossible to distinguish between two individuals by sex. Female snails give birth to one baby every 2 months.

Cubs are born in a milk cocoon, which they eat with their mother and other snails so that the baby gets out quickly. Babies are born 0.3-1.7 cm in size. They grow rather slowly, only by 8 months the size of a young individual will reach 8 cm. In general, the cubs are quite active, they quickly adapt to life in the aquarium, and immediately begin to study the situation.

Sometimes these snails give birth only to an empty cocoon, this phenomenon is called shock delivery. This happens when there is a sharp change in water parameters or when a new mollusk is added to the aquarium. Sometimes the shell is not empty, but with an underdeveloped embryo, quite viable.

In general, breeding in an artificial reservoir is quite rare, especially if tylomelanias live with fish. The life span of these animals is 1-3 years.

If the individuals are medium-sized, then they get along well with other small snails: coils, ampularia, melania, pokemon. Sulawesian shrimps may be suitable neighbors - these creatures love to feast on the secret that oozes tilomelania.

If the snail is large, then it is better not to keep it together with fish and shrimps. If you keep tylomelania with aggressive predatory fish, then they will soon become the prey of the latter.

Tylomelanias get along well with each other, it is important to keep at least a couple of snails in one container. At the same time, they will well accept the newbie, crawl up to him and get to know him in a tactile way.If the owner sees that no one is showing interest in the new resident, then you should bring the snails to each other and wait until they touch their heads - this ritual will allow the newcomer to quickly get used to the new home.

For the features of caring for these snails, see below.