These cute multi-colored snails are very popular all over the world. Ampoules in the aquarium became familiar to the inhabitants of the Russian lovers of the "water kingdom." This mollusk arrived in our region from South America (Amazon basin). In addition, this species is common in many tropical countries.
Ampoules, the maintenance and care of which are extremely simple, have appeared in Europe recently. This happened at the beginning of the 20th century. Nevertheless, they quickly gained popularity among aquarists. This is due to the large size, bright beautiful colors and ease of maintenance of such snails.
Spread
Aquarium snail ampoule, a photo of which can be seen today in all publications for lovers of aquatic inhabitants, is quite widespread in nature. In some areas, people even have to struggle with the growth of its population, since an excessive amount of such mollusks harms the wetland ecosystem. These snails displace other gastropod mollusks from their habitat . And since ampularia are omnivorous, they pose a danger to crops, in particular rice. For example, in the EU countries there is a ban on their import and distribution.
Color
This species of mollusks is distinguished by a huge variety of shell colors. Many representatives are yellow in color, but other, most diverse colors are common. Among them:
- blue (blue);
- pink;
- pearl;
- pink;
- white
- tomato;
- black
- brown individuals.
We will present you the most common of them.
Yellow ampoule
This is perhaps the most common type of mollusk to date. Ampularia, the breeding of which is often practiced by aquarists, has more than a hundred species. When keeping snails of various colors in one aquarium, you can create a beautiful colorful picture. But it must be remembered that in order for yellow snails to reproduce normally, there should be no more than one individual per 10 liters of water.
Ampouleuria yellow perfectly survives in a regular aquarium with fish. It is compatible with various species of fish, however, it must be borne in mind that some of them can pinch the mollusks for a mustache. This primarily concerns the fish that feed on these cute creatures. Therefore, it will be safer to keep these snails with non-aggressive fish.
Ampularia blue
Among the brightest representatives of this species of mollusks, blue ampullariums are especially distinguished. The gray-blue shell and the darker torso do not look boring at all against the background of yellow, marble, purple or pink snails. Such an individual has its own exotic charm and grace of an unusual creature, as if it came to us from another planet.
In nature, ampulariums feed mainly on plant foods, and in aquariums, blue snails prefer protein ones - bloodworms, minced meat, tubule, and dry food for aquarium fish. Of plant components, they enjoy consuming salad leaves. Periodically, you can add semolina scalded with boiling water to the diet. If you feed blue ampoule with plant-based food only, it will become sterile.
Sizes of the ampoule
These snails often grow very impressive - up to 9 cm. There are even real giants, the size of which significantly exceeds the specified value.
Their lifespan depends on quality care (mainly nutrition) and the temperature of the water in the aquarium. With its relatively low values (18-20 ° C), the snail can survive 2-3 years, but it will become inactive due to a slow metabolism. At 25-28 ° C the snail will live with you for only a year or a year and a half, but at it it will grow rapidly, multiply intensively, and will be highly active.
Snails ampullaria: maintenance and care
Despite the fact that this species of mollusks gets along well with fish, it is better to keep them in a separate aquarium. The fact is that not only some species of fish, but also other animals, for example, red-eared turtles, eat even adult snails, not to mention caviar and offspring.
Snails ampullaria, the maintenance and care of which are quite simple, can live in a not very large aquarium (30 liters), but this is provided that you have one such pet. But since they do not contain ampoules individually, 3-4 individuals will need a more spacious capacity - one hundred liters.
It is necessary to know the owners who already have ampoules: their reproduction should be under their control. Otherwise, an infinite number of mollusks will soon appear in the aquarium. In addition, care should be taken to ensure that no dead snails remain in the water.
You need to cover the aquarium with a lid, because if your pets don’t like something in their new house, they will crawl out and go for a walk. In such a situation, it is necessary to find out what triggered their escape, and eliminate the existing inconvenience.
Periodically, the ampoule comes out to breathe air, therefore, between the lid of the aquarium and the surface of the water it is necessary to leave free space. It is very interesting to watch the tricks of colorful beauties. They look very funny, especially when there are several individuals in the aquarium. At first, the snail gains air, pops up, then exhales, and falls to the bottom with noise.
Often, newcomers, when they first saw such tricks, are scared, afraid that they believe that the unfortunate creatures gave up their spirit and fell dead to the bottom. This is not so, just the "stag" breathed air and went to rest.
Water requirements
Experienced aquarists know how undemanding water ampoules are. Maintenance and care, as well as their breeding, are possible in much worse conditions than other aquatic inhabitants require. It is quite enough for the aquarium owner to follow the simple rules of replacing water and filtering it.
Particular attention should be paid to the shell of a snail. So that it is not only not destroyed, but also updated, calcium is needed. If the aquarium has too soft water, then limestone, sea shells, and small marble are added to it. It’s even easier to make up for the calcium deficiency by buying a drug from the pet store that increases the hardness of the water.
Feeding
Despite the fact that the ampoule, the photo that you can see in this article, is an unpretentious creature, certain feeding rules must be observed. This is important for the normal development of the mollusk, its active reproduction. In addition, the quality of feed is directly related to its lifespan. So what to feed the ampullarium with? These representatives of gastropod mollusks with the same appetite eat almost any food. Ampoules are remarkable in that they eat up the remnants of food for their neighbors.
Despite the fact that in vivo snails prefer plant food, in captivity their diet is recommended to be diversified. Ampouleurs will never give up food of animal origin:
- bloodworm;
- earthworms;
- daphnia;
- tubule maker.
Nevertheless, vegetables and greens should be the basis of snail feed:
- zucchini;
- cabbage and lettuce leaves;
- cucumber;
- pumpkin;
- carrot;
Before feeding, vegetables should be slightly boiled, and greens should be scalded with boiling water. Do not forget to remove the remains of vegetables in a timely manner from the tank so that the water does not deteriorate. The aforementioned products are not limited to the ampullar diet. They gladly enjoy granular feed, boiled yolk, white bread, duckweed, bananas. Meanwhile, do not let your pets eat everything. It is necessary to observe the vitamin-mineral balance in feeding.
Breeding
Only an experienced specialist can distinguish a male from a female, even in sexually mature ampullarium. Reproduction of these snails usually occurs when 4-5 individuals live in the same aquarium. In such a company usually heterosexual snails are usually found.
When the female creates the clutch, her eggs are almost white, with a slight yellow tint. Then the eggs become harder and turn off-white. Most often, the female lays eggs before sunrise, where the place was well heated by the backlight. Because of this, often when the owner turns on the backlight in the morning, the masonry can die from the heat.
If you want to save caviar and wait for the offspring, the eggs should be cut off immediately from the glass and put them on a piece of polystyrene or on algae.
Ampularia: breeding
To breed snails of this species can, like aquarium fish. They reach puberty by 15 months. To breed an ampoule, you need to prepare the aquarium, creating in it a 10-15 centimeter air gap. To do this, it is necessary to drain part of the water and cover the container with glass. Water temperature - + 26 - 28 degrees.
Females of the ampullarium lay eggs in the form of a bunch on the wall of the aquarium or on a covered glass. It matures 7-15 days, and the process of leaving the offspring takes 5 days.
It is very important to protect the eggs from drying out, since with a lack of moisture the clutch dies. Two weeks later, juveniles emerge from it, which gets into the water of the aquarium. Newborn snails should be heavily fed. First, they are given soaked and mashed dry food for fish, gammarus, daphnia boiled yolk, scraped meat (beef). Then they are gradually transferred to adult feed, and when the kids grow to 5 mm, they can be seated in other aquariums.
These are the funny creatures of the snail ampullaria. Maintaining and caring for them is not a big deal, and with their presence they will diversify your aquarium and will give you considerable pleasure in observing them.