Coil snails in an aquarium: features, benefits and harms

Coil snails are inhabitants of freshwater bodies of water. Some lovers of mollusks breed them on purpose, but often small creatures are uninvited guests - their caviar or tiny babies get into a new house along with purchased plants. If fish live in the aquarium, perhaps the owner should know more about the features of these representatives of the gastropod class.

Freshwater snails are a common species belonging to the order of pulmonary mollusks. Since their feature is the presence of an organ similar to light, the underwater inhabitant is able to survive even in contaminated ponds with stagnant water, with a lack of oxygen. The body of the snail has a shell, which is a spiral with 4-5 turns.

In diameter, the size of the invertebrate animal leaves no more than 3.5 cm, but these are the largest specimens more often found in nature. In an aquarium environment, they are able to grow up to 1-2 cm. Moreover, if there are a lot of them, then they are usually quite small. The mollusk has long horns, eyes and pair of tentacles, as well as a leg with a sole with which it moves along plants and glass surfaces. Snails live 2-4 years in the wild, and in the aquarium can live no more than 2 years.

Several species of such mollusks are distinguished.

• Famous aquarium dweller - a brown horny snail that prefers standing ponds with lush vegetation. This mollusk is the largest (up to 35 mm).
• Red horn coil - the animal lives up to its name, being distinguished by the bright red color of the shell.The view is considered to be decorative, in addition, it is an indispensable cleaner that restores order in the aquarium and eats the remains of plants, feed.
• Keeled snail - A tiny creature combining brown and gray in size 4 mm. Eating food from the walls and bottom, it also cleans the aquarium.
• Far Eastern snail has an Asian origin, its shell combines red and brown color, the plants are the food of this small unpretentious mollusk (its size is not more than 1 cm).
• Wrapped Coil - 1 cm small snail with a tan carapace. The variety is characterized by rapid replication, it is able to fill the water space with lightning speed, while polluting water and soil.

Snails are characterized by rapid reproduction, these organisms are hermaphrodites capable of self-fertilization. They lay eggs on the reverse side of the leaves of underwater plants, thus hiding it from the fish. Typically, the masonry is a tiny growth, extremely solid and almost imperceptible due to its transparency.

Wherever snails live, in an aquarium or in the natural environment, the benefits of their presence are obvious:

• these small creatures eat rotting parts of leaves and stems of underwater plants, feed on the remains of fish food and excess organics, for example, dead fish;
• clean the walls of the aquarium, removing plaque from them, remove unwanted film from the water surface;
• at the same time, they can be guided by their behavior when it is time to change water - if they float, it means it is polluted;
• when the mollusk population is greatly increased, this is a signal that harvesting is necessary, and it is time to reduce the amount of feed;
• various aquarium fish feed on coils;
• snails, especially some of their species, can decorate the aquarium and bring its environment closer to the natural one, more preferable for other inhabitants.

The opinion that coils are capable of damaging healthy plants is not based on anything - they have too small and weak teeth that are not able to bite off strong healthy parts of plants and are designed only for soft rotting fragments.

It is at least wrong to talk about snail coils as pests, because in nature every creature performs its specific task. However, it is worthwhile to figure out what causes a negative judgment about this mollusk.

• Some believe that the main harm is the uncontrolled fertility of the species, and since the population of snails is growing, there is a rapid pollution of the aquarium by their waste. Because of this, fish that lack oxygen are affected.
• Dead mollusks spread an unpleasant odor, and, decomposing, can cause fish disease.
• Coils can be carriers of microorganisms parasitizing on other underwater inhabitants.

Just want to note that half of these arguments are untenable, and removing mollusks is not difficult.

To combat the reproduction of snails, you need to know the conditions under which they feel comfortable. Those who breed them are well aware of such subtleties:

• coils, in addition to fish food and plant rot, feed on almost any organic matter - vegetables, boiled meat, crab sticks;
• Feel great with any characteristics of the water, but prefer the temperature - + 22-28 degrees;
• mollusks can be selected from the aquarium, so you need to close it with a lid;
• due to the fact that the coil body consists mainly of protein compounds, when they die, “corpses” quickly decompose, and they must be removed immediately so as not to poison the aquatic environment.

Snails begin to multiply actively only under the most favorable conditions for them:

• when there is a lot of food, which means that the fish are not hungry;
• there are no natural mollusk enemies in the aquarium.

Therefore, you can remove the coils without exposure to chemicals that are harmful to water and fish. For example, reduce the amount of feed. Or make new inhabitants, which include the following varieties.

• Somiki Antsistrusa - fish that help restore biological balance in an artificial environment. They are able to clean the hard caviar of snails, and thus suspend the birth of young individuals;
• Helena snails - unpretentious predators devouring their own kind;
• Macropods - these labyrinth fishes eat mollusks and various parasites;
• South American Tetraodons - also eat snails;
• Macrobrachiums - freshwater shrimp, characterized by aggressive behavior and loving to feast on the representatives of the gastropod family;
• Favorite delicacy also coils considered for barbs, cichlids and boats.

If there are not very many snails, but their presence is undesirable, you can use the bait to collect as many individuals as possible. This is done with the help of leafy lettuce or a leaf of white cabbage, which are preliminarily poured with boiling water and cooled.

A tried and tested remedy is the banana peel, which is first kept in a warm place or in the sun so that it blackens and softens. Coils cling to it in clusters and are easy to remove from the water along with the trap. However, this method has its drawbacks - a banana can significantly affect the composition of the water, and if there are fish in the aquarium, it is not a fact that they will feel comfortable.

Most of these drugs are made on the basis of copper sulfate, the effect of which negatively affects the life of plants, some fish, shrimp and other crustaceans living with coils.

In addition, it will be necessary to timely remove dead mollusks, drain water, rinse plants, driftwood, stones, as well as soil and filters. It’s not a headache, especially since it is possible to completely rinse an artificial pond, removing snails from it, without chemical compounds and without concern for the lives of other aquarium settlers.

No matter how you look, in the end it all depends on the person. Paying more time and attention to their wards, fish and snails, properly feeding and cleaning the aquarium in time, you can avoid the need to show cruelty to tiny creatures, the only fault of which is their innate ability to actively reproduce.

Interesting facts about snail reels can be found in the following video.