Red Spot Nerite, Neritina semicona. Neritina species accept dry fish food and are easy to maintain.
Malaysian Trumpet Snails, Melanoides tuberculata, can reproduce en masse.
The animals reproduce quite well in the aquarium and can handle competition from other snails. The THAI TIGER SNAIL, Filopaludina sumatrensis, has not been kept in captivity with lasting success. Although the adult snails release juveniles, they usually die within a few days, and even the adult animals rarely survive longer than four weeks in the aquarium. Completely unsuitable for the aquarium is the BLUE TURBO SNAIL, Celetaia persculpta, from Lake Poso, Sulawesi. The animals do not adjust to normal freshwater aquariums—even in tanks in which the conditions of the natural habitat were replicated, these animals lasted a few weeks at most.
The Black Faunus, Faunus ater, is a hardy snail from the family Pachychilidae.
The Nubby Piano Snail, Taia naticoides, is so far the only species of the family Viviparidae that seems suitable for the aquarium.
“Pulmonata”—Pulmonates POND, RAMSHORN, and BLADDER SNAILS are often perceived as pests or threats to plants. In fact, they are ideal aquarium animals. With the exception of pond snails (Lymnaeidae) with shells larger than 0.4 inch (1 cm), they do not harm plants, but eat only dead and diseased plant tissue, algae, uneaten food, and dead animals. Dot-shaped holes in the plant leaves are caused when the snails feed on the dead tissue caused by potassium deficiency. Only very large pond snails eat living plant tissue. These snails become sexually mature within a few weeks. They are hermaphroditic and lay many eggs in a short time, breathe atmospheric oxygen, and cope well with polluted water. Their numbers depend on how
much excess feed gets into the aquarium. If you don’t want to reduce the amount of food because some fishes might not get enough, you can dispense the food over several feedings so they can consume everything quickly. Snails only eat what is left over. As a result, they keep the tank clean, reduce the risk of microbial blooms, and combat the proliferation of blue-green algae. In a snail tank, there are usually no algae problems.
AMAZONAS
TOP LEFT AND BOTTOM: M. WILSTERMANN-HILDEBRAND; THE REST: H.-G. EVERS
The Assassin Snail, Clea (Anentome) helena, helps curb snail populations.
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