Little Helena snail predator

Arriving home to my friend, I saw a very beautiful sight - on a background of green grass, small snails with a ribbed yellow-black shell sailed. "This is a snail helen" - a friend introduced me to her new tenants. "It is also called the" biline snail ", you probably figured out why." Of course - the coloring Beeline. And another friend told me what ...

She's special, this baby

What is remarkable about these snails brought to our country from Indonesia? Yes, everything is very simple. Freshwater snails Helen, though not great, but real predators. They do not eat vegetable food, they do not clean microalga from the walls of the aquarium. These crumbs feed exclusively on animal feed, and, if easier, other snails: pellets, melanias, gnawing algae, snail shells and other species of snails that are smaller than helen itself. They will not clean the bottom, eating dead parts of plants, but they will eat the dead fish or shrimp with pleasure. The main goals for which the aquarists produce helen - to reduce the number of strongly sprouting coils, soil snails, etc., sanitary cleaning of the aquarium. In addition, the helix snail is very decorative due to its bright coloration. If you plant several helium in the aquarium, do not wait for the immediate result to reduce the number of other snails. A small predator needs time to do its work, the results of which will be visible in 1.5-2 months.

How to eat helena

It is very interesting to observe the process of feeding a small helena. There are two outgrowths on the head of the snail: one is a "hand", with which it feels the space and by means of which it locates the victim, and the other - the stigma, she shoots them lightly at the victim's body and, in fact, eats it. The helen snail clearly determines which victim is in its teeth and which is not. She will never attack an ampularia or a neurinum, not only because she is bigger than Helena, but also because the body of a large cochlea is snug against the shell. Helena just can not get to it. If such a snail for an aquarium, like helen, all live food has run out, do not worry. This meat-eater can eat ice cream moth, shrimp pellets, glueing tablets for catfish and even chicken mince, so delicious for helen. In addition, the catch of helen can become fish young and caviar. Therefore, it should not be run into a spawning aquarium.

And how do the Helen multiply?

Though helenas and different-sexed snails, it is impossible to determine the sex of a particular individual. This can be done only during the breeding season. At this time, a couple of enamored snails crawl along the aquarium. On one fine day, you will be able to spot a small white almost square egg somewhere in a corner or on the wall. At a time, this snail lays only one. After hatching the newborn snail helen burrows into the ground, where it lives until it reaches a size of 3 mm. Then the young snail crawls to the surface and from this moment begins to hunt for smaller snails. An age suitable for reproduction, a snail reaches in 6 months.