How to breed aquarium snails

Улиток можно видеть в аквариумах практически everywhere. These shellfish, firstly, serve as an excellent decoration, and secondly, they are quite good cleaners, because they eat fodder, not eaten by fish. In addition, the snails destroy the mucus settling on the walls of aquariums and plants. At the moment there is just a huge amount of aquarium snails.

They can have a variety of sizes and externalview. Some types are of opposite sex, others are hermaphrodites. In any case, these creatures multiply instantly. Therefore, their population should be monitored.

To do this correctly, you need to know howAquarium snails breed. Hemp, for example, ampularia, lay eggs on the walls of aquariums, cover glass or lid, that is not in water. Eggs are kept quite tight, and therefore rarely fall to the bottom. Small snails appear in a half to two weeks. As for the hermaphrodites, even if only one specimen is planted in the aquarium, the offspring will necessarily appear. These snails can also mate with representatives of a kind. In this case, a larger mollusk always acts as a female.

Large aquarium snails, such as ampullaria,can be quite a good decoration of an artificial water reservoir. However, in an ordinary aquarium (50-100 liters), the presence of 5-7 individuals is quite sufficient. As for the small hermaphrodites, in a short period of time they are able to fill the aquarium almost completely. Especially prolific snail red - familiar to all from childhood a brown mollusk of small size. The number of hermaphrodites is more difficult to control, but it is quite possible.

There are only a few ways to get rid ofextra aquarium snails. Firstly, since they mainly eat the remains of fish feed, it is worthwhile first of all to follow the fish after feeding. If in 4-5 minutes after placing in the aquarium food it will not be eaten, then, the portion should be reduced.

Второй неплохой способ – приобретение some predators, natural enemies of aquarium snails. It can be, for example, the bots who attack mollusks and literally pull them out of the shells. The growth of the population of fiz, often falling into the aquarium by pure chance (with soil, plants, driftwood and stones), can be stopped by running into the aquarium catfish-sticking or ancistrus. These fish eagerly eat caviar and juvenile snails.

The same is done by some species of cichlids.

If such fish for some reason do notsuitable for the content in your aquarium, you can use another method. This method is called salad. To get rid of aquarium snails, take a leaf of lettuce and scald it with boiling water. In the evening, this bait is put on the bottom and pressed with some pebbles so that it does not come up. In the morning, getting the sheet and turning it over, you can see on the back of many small snails. Having done this operation several times, you can significantly reduce the number of individuals.

You can also use specialchemicals that are sold at pet stores. However, this method has one significant drawback. Killing snails, these funds destroy and useful bacteria. As a result, the biological balance in the aquarium may be disturbed. As a radical, you can also flush plants and soil in warm salted water. It certainly should help.