Water donkey in the aquarium: photos, conditions

Water burros represent a large population. These representatives of the crustaceans belong to the family Alikovich, to the order Isopoda. No relation to the insects they do not have. There are many types of these crustaceans in the ecosystem and each one takes its place.

Habitat water pill bugs

A Fairly common species can be found under stones on river shallow water or under large pebbles. Even the animals are called woodlice, but terrestrial woodlice differ somewhat from water, and underwater they may be just about an hour. Water donkeys also live in a humid environment, but can live under water, occupy the coastal part of the freshwater ponds, puddles, ditches.

You Can live in lakes and slow flowing rivers. They can't accumulate a lot of fluid in the body, so they need durable shell and moist environment. Thickets of aquatic plants in rivers, ponds and lakes – good cover from fish and even bugs who don't mind to eat all that food. If the water is clean and transparent, it may fall up to 5 meters in depth. Highly contaminated water is also populated by crustaceans, 7 thousand square meter get along well. They live 9 to 12 months.

Water donkey in the sea can not survive, because this species lives only in fresh water.

Aquarium crabs

Invertebrates have a flattened body, males are larger than females. Breathing occurs due to the plate gills located in the abdomen. Two eyes located on the sides of the head. The size of the woodlice in the range of 15-20 mm. Color can be grayish-brown, gray. Have these animals, eight pairs of legs, the last pair - duvetica similar to the tail of sipalki, only water the donkeys do not pinch anyone these davetiye legs. For humans they are not dangerous.

Recommended

Every girl should have a good epilator

Many girls who constantly take care of themselves are forced to use a razor. This often causes irritation, and unaesthetic hairs grow into the skin. It's not a pleasant feeling. But to stop removing hair on legs, armpits and in the bikini area is not...

Infant formula for newborns. The basics of choosing and the list of the most popular

Feeding a newborn baby is, at first glance, an elementary thing: pour and drink. It's exaggerated a lot, but the point is true. Nature has thought out what and how our children will eat, if not for one "but". What should I do if I have nothing to fee...

Note to housewives: what kind of frying pan is used to cook a particular dish

Everyone knows that such a kitchen appliance as a frying pan is necessary to fry cutlets or croutons, cook crispy potatoes and brown meat, bake fish or vegetables in the oven. But any housewife keeps far from one frying pan in her cupboard, but 4-5 p...

If these small creatures are attacking the hunters - fish or predatory insect larvae, then they become stationary and to ignore them is not easy. Moreover, in case of danger, the sea donkey or water chickweed casts of limbs, and during molting restores them.

But in the aquarium they can't escape from predatory fish, because they are there and are placed with the intention that the fish have feasted.

If the fish are not predatory, the small residents is carried out in the aquarium function cleaners.

Keeping and breeding of donkeys in the water

Often these small crustaceans are bred as fodder crops. They rarely contain just as a species for observation. They do not need to create separate conditions, they are able to live in conditions where little oxygen, for example under the ground or in rotting substrate. Water donkey in the aquarium is able to find food. The rotting remains of plants and tissues of dead organisms is fine. If the aquarium is valid, then there is always something to make money. You can feed it additionally boiled cabbage, Hercules leaves.

Aquarium Owners can do to grow this food for your fish in a separate container.

Reproduction of invertebrates

Propagation is possible at a temperature of only 7 degrees Celsius. Individuals are representatives of male and female. The male waits for the moment of molting, and this period is long enough pairing (up to 10 hours). The female is able to lay about 150 eggs are orange, they will stay in the lead bag to 6 weeks. Grew up up to 1.5 cm kids leave the mother and begin an independent life. Water when the donkeys reach the age of 2 months, they will be able to produce offspring.

Crustaceans eat much and long, for my life of a year can eat up to 170 mg of the leaves. At the same are themselves self-replicating nutritious food. Most aquarium fish eat it with pleasure.

In the absence of males for breeding females could live without males, impregnating herself (Protogenes).

Behavior of crustaceans under natural conditions

Living small crustaceans particularly carefree, they always have something to eat. They move slowly along the bottom or freeze without movement among the remnants of decaying plant matter, if necessary, swim. During the periods of drying up of reservoirs of lice bury themselves in the silt. May fall into a stupor until the rainy season. In the winter time hibernate, when water is heated to 12 degrees – out of it, and all life cycles are run.

Molting takes place in two stages, part of the shell is discharged first from the rear and then the front. The discarded chitin is consumed and used by the body as building material for new cells. The population is numerous, there are many favorable places for life of a water donkey. Photo of woodlice in their natural environment presented in the article.

For a person it poses no danger. On the question of whether bite water donkey or not, the answer is simple: no, they can't bite through human skin. The crayfish can bite off small pieces of food when eating, but to bite human skin, he can not.

My role in the ecosystem

People mostly do not like the tenants next to him. If crustaceans dwell in the bathrooms, they are trying to get rid of as soon as possible andto eliminate the cause of dampness. But in the ecosystem water donkeys play a very important role. Like all crustaceans, they feed on remains of dead fish, particles of rotting seaweed and fallen leaves. If the water is a lot of food for them, they very quickly multiply. Impregnated with and assimilating all the nutrients, they are a great food for aquatic fauna. They feed on burbot, ruffe, carp and crucian carp.

At the water donkeys many relatives. One of them is the shrimp carpenter, he eats wood and is very similar to the pill bug. These relatives can be taken in one and the same species.

Using burros as forage crops

In the warm season will not be difficult to find water of donkeys in areas with high humidity. In the winter they can be found only at the bottom of ponds in a state of hibernation. And aquarium owners care for their fish year round and want to feed them healthy food. Small crustaceans – nutritious food.

For breeding animals in the home fans catch about 2 dozen water woodlice. Females should be more, remember that they are different sizes. You need to put them in a flat and wide container of water. The soil in the vessel should not be, you need to install poor aeration. In a makeshift pond bottom is lightly carpeted with leaves.

At this time, the crayfish need to be fed vegetables and Hercules. They quickly multiply without any influence and assistance. Against each other they behave peacefully, so almost no losses. A colony of woodlice water the growing need to control and decimate (to feed fish). It's enough to get out of the water the leaf, which is occupied by donkeys, and shake them in a tank.

The Chitinous layer of donkeys softer than in terrestrial woodlice, so they eat almost all fish. This option can be useful for those who are helpless or contains fish, picky about food.

Mass farming of donkeys

Fisheries follow the diet for cultured fish. It includes both plant and animal food. Often the food they grow themselves both in the industrial and in pond conditions.

In living organisms, increased concentration of nutrients. These foods can truly be called complete. With proper nutrition, the fish grow well, easy transfers winter starvation and a well-digested proteins from live food.

In fish farming grows a variety of living organisms in foods, including shellfish. It is the crustaceans in most waters are a mass form of zooplankton. The young are fed with crustaceans in large quantities.

Arthropods breed very quickly, and because of this, biomass is created in a short time. Water donkeys are grown in floating cages in reservoirs by special technology.

Crustaceans are fed live, frozen and dried. As a powder added to the feed mixture.

Marine wood louse

The article mentioned that donkeys live only in fresh water, but they have a lot of family members that perform the same functions of the cleaners, only on the seabed. Water donkey in the Black sea not found. Two-the baby will not survive in salt water, it is not adapted to such environmental conditions. But his relative sea woodlouse reaches up to 60 inches in length and thrives in the marine environment. At the bottom of the sea, it cleans the territory from the carcasses of whales and other carrion, eats a lot.

This giant cancer is similar to the pill bug more than usual cancer or lobster.

Among crustaceans, there are parasitic species such as chickweed, devouring the language. This crustacean parasite on the body of the host (fish), and it bites into his tongue and feeds on the blood of fish. Thanks to the sharp claws of the parasite problem, how to fix your body language of the fish. Bloodless language is losing its functions, but the woodlouse remains in place until the end of days fish. The fish itself apparently did not realize that her tongue was chickweed.

Again, for a person of this kind is not dangerous. If to touch a living being or trying to pull it out, only in this case it may try to bite.