When we start to place everything the aquarium needs, you are likely to think if you need aquarium snails. Aquarium snails are considered necessary animals for the proper functioning of the aquarium. Until recently, there was a poor conception of the function these animals fulfill, since it was thought that they ate the plants that we put in the fish tank. Today it is known that these animals are very humble and have great popularity.
Therefore, we are going to dedicate this article to tell you all the characteristics, function and which are the best aquarium snails.
Why do snails appear in the aquarium?
Snails can suffer in our aquarium in various ways. The first is intentional. Snails are known to have great benefits for the aquarium. For this reason, many people decide to introduce snails into their aquarium. The other way is incognito. There are stowaways in some plants that we put in the aquarium from which they can develop. Sometimes they become a pest depending on the conditions in the fish tank.
The thing to keep in mind is that many of these snails they are quite interesting bioindicators. For example, the species melanoides tuberculata it is a snail bioindicator of the lack of oxygen in the water. If our aquarium lacks oxygen in the water, this snail will appear more frequently. This will indicate that we will need a aquarium oxygenator.
You have to understand that snails are not bad. They are very useful when scraping algae from the walls of the tank, they eat food remains. de peces, helps get rid of dead plant remains and serve as bioindicators. We can say that they can help us maintain proper cleaning in the aquarium more efficiently.
Types of freshwater snails
There are different types of snails depending on the species and the type of water in which it lives. We are going to analyze what are the types of freshwater snails.
- Snail Helena: it is also known by the common name of the assassin snail. It is a mollusk that can measure about 2.5 centimeters and has a hard shell with a conical shape. It is easily recognizable as it has yellow and brown colors with a spiral shape. The main characteristic of this snail is that it is quite destructive. Therefore, it is used to eliminate various pests in aquariums. If you take good care of it, it can live for about 5 years.
- Pomacea canaliculata: it is a snail that has a semi-spherical shell. Its color is brown and yellow and it has some orange and stopped spots. It is known by the common name of crop apple snail. It has a maximum size of 7 centimeters and has a very high reproduction rate. It is able to survive in areas that have little oxygen.
- melanoides tuberculata: It is also known by the common name of Malaysian snail or trumpeter snail. Its shell is elongated and has a light brown shell. Its shape is quite conical and pointed. They are usually introduced in freshwater aquariums since they are easily reproducible. They usually have a maximum size of 8 centimeters.
- Caracol celebrates: It is also known by the name of the tiger snail and is one of those with the most remarkable shell of the rest. It has stripes with greenish colors that are combined with other black stripes. The shell is quite shiny with a yellowish background and black stripes. Its maximum size is 3 centimeters.
Snails for marine aquarium
Snails in marine aquariums serve the same function as freshwater ones. They can help in cleaning the aquarium by eating the remains of fish food and other dead plants. You simply have to take into account the type of snail species and the species de peces that we have in the aquarium.
There are some species that are more compatible than others depending on the character. There are very territorial times that they come to fight with others. The same goes for snails.
Treatment for aquarium snails
Although aquarium snails are useful it is as cleaning equipment, it must be borne in mind that have a high reproducibility. If you are not careful, you can practically have an invasion in a few weeks. You should not have too many snails in the aquarium, as they can quickly contaminate the water. They do this through excrement that is high in nitrites and nitrates. The high concentration of nitrites and nitrates in the aquarium can lead to massive growth of algae.
Before leaving a snail in the aquarium, it is necessary to verify whether these organisms are going to eat the live plants or not. Usually most of them don't, but it could be if food is lacking
For the treatment of aquarium snails there are some species that eat it. However, it is not one of the best options for it. The best is control the food that is given to the fish, add the food when they are most awake so that there is not too much food for the snails. Snails reproduce quickly because they have a large amount of resources.
One of the best options to eliminate aquarium snails is to place a lettuce overnight and take it out the next day full of snails. This way we will get most of them out.
Can a snail infestation form in the aquarium?
If the snails have a lot of food and good conditions they will reproduce at high speed. All this will depend on the species that we have and the conditions that favor a good development of the animal. If we have an excess of nutrients and good conditions for the snails, they will reproduce at high speed to the point of becoming a plague.
How to remove snails from the aquarium
As we have mentioned before, there are some species that were eaten and snails. However, it is not a good idea since we must also remove this species once we do not have snails in the aquarium.
The ideal is to make good use of resources and not give them too much food. Control well the amount of food that is given to the fish so that there are not many debris at the bottom of the aquarium and the same with the plants.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about aquarium snails.