Snails can be seen almost everywhere in aquariums. First of all, these mollusks serve as a wonderful decoration, and secondly, they are quite good cleaners, since they eat food that is not eaten by fish. In addition, snails destroy mucus that settles on the walls of aquariums and plants. At the moment, there is simply a huge number of aquarium snails.
They can have a variety of sizes and appearance. Some types are heterogeneous, while others belong to hermaphrodites. In any case, these creatures multiply instantly. Therefore, their population must be monitored.
To do this correctly, you need to know how aquarium snails breed. Homosexual, for example, ampullar, lay eggs on the walls of aquariums, a cover glass or a lid, that is, not in the water. The eggs hold rather tight, and therefore rarely fall to the bottom. Small clues appear in one and a half to two weeks. As for hermaphrodites, even if only one individual is planted in the aquarium, her offspring will certainly appear. These snails can also mate with representatives of a kind. Moreover, a larger mollusk always acts as a female.
Large
aquarium snails, such as ampoule, can be a pretty good decoration for an artificial pond. However, in a conventional aquarium (50-100 liters), the presence of 5-7 individuals will be quite sufficient. As for the small hermaphrodites, in a short period of time they are able to fill the aquarium almost completely. The red snail is especially prolific - a small brown clam familiar to everyone since childhood. The number of hermaphrodites is more difficult to control, but it is quite possible.
There are only a few ways to get rid of excess aquarium snails. Firstly, since they feed mainly on fish food residues, it is worthwhile first of all to trace the fish after feeding. If after 4-5 minutes after placing food in the aquarium, it will not be eaten, then the portion should be reduced.
The second good way is to purchase some predators, natural enemies of aquarium snails. It can be, for example, bots that attack mollusks and literally tear them out of shells. The growth of the physical population, often falling into the aquarium by pure chance (with soil, plants, snags and stones), can be stopped by running catfish-sticks or ancistruses into the aquarium . These fish willingly eat caviar and juvenile snails.
Some
types of cichlids do the same
.If such fish, for whatever reason, are not suitable for keeping in your aquarium, you can use another method. This method is called salad. To get rid of aquarium snails, take a lettuce leaf and scald it with boiling water. In the evening, this bait is put to the bottom and pressed with some pebbles so that it does not surface. In the morning, taking out the leaf and turning it over, it will be possible to see many small snails on the back side. Having done this operation several times, you can significantly reduce the number of individuals.
You can also use special chemicals that are sold in pet stores. However, this method has one significant drawback. By killing snails, these agents also destroy beneficial bacteria. As a result, the biological balance in the aquarium may be disturbed. As a radical remedy, you can also wash plants and soil in warm salted water. This should surely help.