If you think you only need fishes, plants, and substrates in your freshwater aquarium, you are wrong. There are a lot of people who are not aware that a freshwater snail in an aquarium is a very helpful one. Getting interested? Well, here is why freshwater snails are advantageous.
 |
| Physidae Bladder Snail - Photo: Wikimedia |
Snails can be used for good and bad purposes, as most forces on this earth are. Commonly, they have gained a reputation as pets for they can destroy plants and do things that will turn your day upside down. They tend to be called as pets for their ability to multiply fast, more so when you put it in a confined area just like a freshwater aquarium. The first question that will probably pop into your mind is " Will they eat all my plants out?". That is possible in reality but with proper management, snails can actually do a lot of good in the maintenance of your aquarium. All you have to do is to introduce factors that can bring balance in their numbers. If successful, you can utilize their use and can even be good pets for you too!
There are one major purpose or use of freshwater aquarium snails. You must know that the diet of a snail depends on different materials. However, the majority of them are scavengers that will be fed on plants, especially those that are already decomposing, algae and dead animals. Others will hunt for smaller animals such as gastropods. So, with a freshwater snail, you can have a help in removing dead animals, algae, and decomposing plants from your aquarium. In short, you have a natural way of keeping the water in your tank clean and free from harmful in your aquarium, right?
They serve as cleaners which you can depend on highly. But always keep in mind that it needs your cooperation to actually be successful. Otherwise, the snails can deter the balance in your freshwater aquarium. You will not have a hard time keeping the snails away from the fish eggs because the eggs seem to be less delicious for snails. They tend to snob those eggs away, unlike other scavengers that can easily be tempted by the look of the eggs. This makes the freshwater snails a friendly neighbor.
One of the ways to control the number of your freshwater fish is to control the food. Make sure that you are feeding your fish in enough amount only. Otherwise, the left over will be devoured by the snails. When this happens, snake blooms occur. Another way to keep their number is to introduce predators. There are species of fishes that can gobble up snails in minutes. If you think their numbers are already conquering your aquarium, then simply place a Pufferfish in the tank and observe how they decrease. Most of all, you can apply the lettuce method. Put the lettuce leaf on the bottom of the tank by tying something heavy to it. After that, you can pick the leaf out of the tank after the snails have attached themselves to it already.
Here are the types of snails which you will find very interesting- snails with Cup-shaped shells, Drop-shaped shell, Discoidal shell, Globose shell, Conical shell.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment