Snails in the aquarium
Many beginners aquarists think about the question: Do we need snails in the aquarium? Will they benefit or, on the contrary, only harm? Let's try to understand.
Snails can bring both benefit and harm - it all depends on what kind of snails are contained in the aquarium, how many of them, whether they fit the habitat.
What are the snails useful for?
Well, firstly, snails are natural nursesthe aquarium. They eat the remains of fodder, dead parts of plants, waste of life of aquarium fish. They also clean the plaque on the walls of the aquarium. Secondly, snails, like plants, support the microclimate and biological equilibrium in the aquarium. Thirdly, certain types of snails serve as indicators of the state of water in the aquarium. According to the behavior of these snails, you can notice whether the soil and water in the aquarium are clean enough to react in a timely manner.
Finally, snails can serve as a decorative element, which also brings a kind of benefit.
Now let's see, In what cases can snails be harmful?.
Snails can actively breed in an aquarium. This can lead to overpopulation of the aquarium and, as a consequence, a lack of oxygen on all the inhabitants of the aquarium. If snails do not have enough feed, they can eat plants in the aquarium. In addition, some snails excrete mucus, which pollutes the water.
The greatest danger is the excess of snailsin aquarium. The optimal ratio is: 1 large snail for 4-8 liters of water. If the snails become much larger and need to reduce their number, then a few simple methods of combating snails will help in this.
The simplest and most effective, however, very tedious, method is manual catching extra snails from the aquarium.
A little easier task can be with the help of a little trick. It is necessary to put a bait for snails on a smalla saucer in an aquarium and leave for the night. The next morning the snails will gather on a saucer at the bait. Then you can remove the saucer from the aquarium and remove the snails. If there are a lot of snails, you will have to repeat the procedure several times. As a bait, grated vegetables, potatoes, scraped meat, etc. are suitable.
You can remove snails and chemically. There are special means for combating snails. Before using the fish, the fish will need to be discarded, and after that - the aquarium must be carefully cleaned and returned to the fish.
Another sure way - biological. It is enough to launch into the aquarium those kinds of fish that eat snails. Only then an aquarist may have another question: where should we now get these fish?
If it is decided nevertheless to plant snails in an aquarium, then can not for this purpose to bring conventional snails froma neighboring natural reservoir, because such snails can enter an aquarium into an aquarium. Therefore, it is best to buy snails in a specialized pet store.
Reminder. As some species of snails are able to get out of the aquarium, it is desirable that the aquarium is covered with a lid.
