Melanoides granifera
Melanoides granifera naturally inhabits freshwater and brackish water bodies located in Southeast Asia. Gradually the range of distribution of these snails is expanding and they can already be found in the waters of Africa and Australia. This is facilitated by a fairly high survivability of snails and their rapid adaptation to new habitats. Usually snails live at depths of up to 1 meter.
Melanoides granifera has a shell of light brown or dark brown color, in the upper part taking a darker, almost black, coloration. The shell is decorated with small convex bands of dark brown coloration. The shape of the shell is cone-shaped. The size of the shell is up to 2 cm in length and up to 1.5 cm in diameter. The shell is spiral-shaped, with 5-7 turns. The body of the snail is gray with light gray mottling. In case of danger, the body of the snail completely hides in the shell, closing the entrance to it with a kind of lid. Males are larger than females.
Melanoides granifera breathes with gills, absorbing dissolved oxygen in the water, so these snails do not need to crawl to the surface of the water for a breath of atmospheric air.
Melanoides granifera have a sedate lifestyle and quietly crawl around decorations and plants even during the day. In general, these snails are very hardy and tolerate drastic changes in their habitat quite easily. Do not keep these snails in a common aquarium with fish that feed on invertebrates. Aquarium plants snails do not cause damage.
Water parameters: temperature 22-28° C, hardness dH 10-25°, acidity pH 5,0-8,5. In softer water snail shell begins to deteriorate. It is desirable to use sand as a soil. It should be noted that granifera are a kind of indicator of water quality in the aquarium and if they began to leave the ground and crawl out to the surface of the water, then apparently the ground is too polluted, and the water is old.
Melanoides granifera feed on uneaten fish food remains, acidified eggs, detritus, decomposed leaves of plants. Snails do not need to be specially fed, they find their own food in the aquarium.
Reproduction
Melanoides granifera snail viviparous. Special measures for breeding snails do not need to produce. Females are able to reproduce offspring without males.
Usually the population of snails in one aquarium can be said to be self-regulating, the population size does not exceed the maximum allowable. An excessive number of snails can provoke only constant overfeeding. Very good results in controlling the number of granifera gives the placement of them in the aquarium snail Helena, which feeds on them.
Life expectancy Melanoides granifera in aquarium conditions is about 3 years.
