Aquarium Snail Types, Benefits, Care & Maintenance!

Almost every aquarist who keeps fish in his aquarium will try to create conditions suitable for their fishes as well as also to make this small ecosystem beautiful. Very often, aquarium snails adapted to life in an aquarium act as scenery. And it is justified.

Today in pet stores you can see their great variety: various shapes, colors, and sizes. Besides, these mollusks are very useful for the aquarium. The care and maintenance of most freshwater snail species will not cause difficulty even for a beginner.

There are many varieties of aquarium snails with a shell, living in freshwater. Here we are mentioning different types of aquarium snails!

Let’s Begin!

Apple Snail

Apple snails are also known as Ampullariidae. This species can often be seen in amateur aquariums, this snail is lovely, reaches a size of up to 15 cm, quite unpretentious. Apple snails are yellow with wide dark stripes on the shell.

Apple Snails must be kept in a closed aquarium, as they can crawl out of it, and when they are out of the water they die. Another condition is that air space must remain in the aquarium. These aquarium snails breathe atmospheric air and oxygen dissolved in water.

These snails live up to 4 years if the condition of the aquarium is good. The water temperature should be 17-30 degrees, and the hardness and acidity for it do not matter. They feed on the remains of fish food or algae.

Get along with live-bearing small fish and catfish. You should not settle with predatory fish, as predators can easily destroy them.

Reproduction: The female lays eggs on the walls of the aquarium, and after about 3 weeks babies come out of them, which, under good conditions, grow rapidly. Apple snails breed all year round.

Benefits: They are necessary for large aquariums, As they feed on excess feeds of the aquarium and keep the aquarium clean.

Physa Snail

Small yellow or brown aquarium snails with a pointed shell. They reproduce very actively, in a short time they can completely populate the aquarium.

Water temperature should not be lower than 20 degrees, hardness 8-18, otherwise, the shell will begin to collapse. Physa snails do require some moderate care to keep them healthy and happy.

Benefits: Snails of this genus are very useful for the aquarium: they absorb bacterial films, green plaque on the walls of the aquarium, as well as residual food.

Ramshorn Snail

Ramshorn snail has a brown shell, rounded in a spiral shape. Its size is about 3 cm. This species reproduces incredibly quickly, it can live without food for a long time, surviving even in polluted water.

They feed on leftovers or aquatic plants. Like many species, they belong to the category whose conditions do not cause any trouble.

Reproduction: They are hermaphrodites – the presence of cells of both sexes in one snail. The life cycle is 3-4 years.

Benefits: Very useful for the aquarium, as they eat bacterial films that form on the surface of the water.

Nerite Snail

Nerite snails are very beautiful aquarium snails, the color of the shell can vary from black to olive. Often with dark or golden stripes, for example, like a tiger snail. This makes it a noticeable decoration in the aquarium.

Reproduction: To ripen eggs, water must be salty. In freshwater, although they lay eggs, babies are not excreted from it. The water temperature should not be lower than 24 degrees and medium hardness to keep the shell.

Water needs to be changed regularly. These snails can not tolerate a lack of food. Caring for them in the process of reproduction is not at all simple, but the result is worth the effort.

Benefits: Nerite Snails feed on algae and can destroy a fairly decent number of plants. These snails are very useful in overgrown aquariums, where it is necessary to reduce the number of plants.

Malaysian Trumpet Snail

Malaysian trumpet snails are widely distributed among aquarists. They have a conical shell of gray or green color, darker stripes are located along with the shell. Their sizes are only 3-3.5cm.

They are practically not visible in the aquarium, since they live mainly at the bottom, digging into the ground, so their condition of keeping is fairly simple, although they are of great use.

Reproduction: Belonging to live-bearing individuals, They have a high reproduction rate. You should be attentive to them, in the absence of control, there will be an incredibly large number of them.

Benefits: Malaysian trumpet snails remove food residues from the soil and carry out its drainage.

Tylomelania Snail

These aquarium snails are striking in their beauty and unusualness. The shell has a bizarre shape, many color options, and the body of the snail can have various shades and even have some colored blotches.

Tylomelania snail is quite capricious in the aquarium. They do not tolerate the presence of other species of mollusks next to them. Comfortable water temperature – 20-32 degrees, with high acidity.

This species has a very good appetite, they eat a lot, and if there is not enough food, they will begin to eat aquarium plants. Since tylomelania is large enough, it needs more space for life.

The aquarium should be spacious and with the presence of secluded places – representatives of this species prefer hiding from bright light.

Reproduction: Tylomelania snail refers to dioecious and viviparous. But only one egg is born and only one snail is born.

General Principles of Care and Maintenance of Aquarium Snails

1. Snails should be purchased only at pet stores. Under no circumstances, you should catch the snails from ponds and place them into the aquarium. You can invite an infection that may react and give infections to all the inhabitants of the aquarium.
2. The aquarium should be equipped with a lid. Many snails can crawl out of it, and when they are in the air for a long time they die.
3. It is necessary to maintain temperature conditions, water hardness, and acidity following the requirements for each type of snail. Many species, with a decrease in water hardness, may start losing their shells.
4. You need to feed the snails regularly with a sufficient amount of food, otherwise, they will start to eat the plants and ruin the appearance of your aquarium.
5. You should also carefully monitor their reproduction. Some species reproduce quickly enough and can overpopulate the aquarium, thereby spoiling the aesthetic appearance.
6. When choosing such pets for your aquarium, pay attention not only to their appearance, but also to the requirements for the maintenance, and you also need to weigh how useful they will be for your aquarium, whether they will cause unnecessary trouble.