Melania is a snail, who is she? Conditions of keeping snails

Melania can be found in every second aquarium, but people are so used to them that such residents do not attract much attention to themselves. As it was noticed by experts, no one is engaged in breeding snails of this kind. However, Melania the snail cares little about this, she lives well in aquariums and is not going to change anything in the habitat. It is almost impossible to protect your aquarium from such a living creature. Yes, there is no point in this, they are excellent in the role of living drainage in an aquarium environment, and there is no harm from such snails at all. Aquarium snails of Melania are called sandy in another way.

The main habitat conditions of the snail melania

The mollusk is found almost throughout Africa, Asia and Australia, but the geography of the distribution of these snails is not limited to this. As a rule, the melania snail settles in an ordinary reservoir at a depth of 1 meter, but there are also cases when the settlement of such snails was at a depth of 3-4 meters. For themselves, these creatures make a soft bed, which includes sand, silt and clay sediments. It is in such habitat conditions that huge settlements can be found. On plantations with an increased dose of feed, you can easily find about 35 thousand shellfish.

Melania snail feeds mainly on lower algae, organic matter, which is half destroyed. In a word, such snails can be called detritophages. It is not difficult to get food for them, because due to the fact that the soil is quite loose, they move along the bottom of the reservoir and dive deep into its thickness.

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Melania breathe with the help of gills, so they just need dissolved oxygen in water. And reproduction requires special attention, it happens in the process of live birth.

Varieties of melania snails

The literature on aquariums says that there is only one type of melania – this is Melanoides tuberculata. However, this opinion is erroneous, since in fact this genus is characterized by two more species, namely Melanoides granifera and Melanoides riqueti. Snails of the first species inhabit small rivers and streams of Malaysia, and snails of the second species are found in fresh Singapore waters.

In addition to these species, melania snail Melanoides turricula is also known, but at the moment scientists come to the conclusion that it is only subspecies Melanoides tuberculata.

Despite their diversity, all melania have a conical shell. The mollusk can easily close the mouth of the shell with a lime lid. It is such a cover that helps to preserve the microclimate necessary for the mollusk, and a favorable outcome when exposed to harmful environmental factors. But it is worth noting that melania is quite tenacious and can withstand sufficiently high temperatures and high salinity of water.

Characteristics of Melanoides tuberculata

Aquarium owners are still more familiar with Melanoides tuberculata. Melania's snails have settled in the aquarium for a long time. How they get inside is still a mystery to many. The most important version is the transportation of these creatures with plants and animals brought from other countries. It is almost impossible to stop such a migration, since the newly born snails are so small that it is difficult to see them even with a magnifying glass.

According to its structure, the shell of this type of snail is elongated, its length reaches 35 mm, and its width is 7 mm. The characteristic color for the snail is gray, mixed with various shades of olive, green and brown.

The curls at the mouth of the spiral are distinguished by a special contrast, they are more saturated in color. Here you can consider the bright burgundy strokes, which are individual for each mollusk. Such snails are rarely found on the surface, more often they live in the ground.

The difference between Melanoides tuberculata and Melanoides granifera

Melanoides granifera is more one kind of beautiful aquarium creatures. As a rule, these snails differ from their relatives by their greater attractiveness. Their color includes brown and gray tones, which makes them stand out well against the background of other snails.

Snails of this species like a warmer habitat, are capricious in choosing the soil for habitat, but can live without it at all. Most often this species is found in sand, because due to the sufficiently large diameter of the shell in another soil, it is quite difficult for snails to move. These snails are not timid and spend enough time on the surface, they can often be seen on rocks and driftwood. Also, these snails are particularly slow, which is expressed both in reproduction, and in movement, and even in adaptation.