Breeding Shrimp - Three (3) Reasons Snails are Essential
Like 4 Dislike 0 Published on 27 Jul 2016
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So, I wanted to do a video talking about one of my secret weapons when it comes to having a successful freshwater shrimp tank. If you are looking to care for and to breed freshwater shrimp, this video is a great foundation to start from.
Freshwater snails for the aquarium include rabbit snails, Malaysian trumpet snails, ramshorn snails and many more. Snails are essential to any shrimp aquarium for three primary reason:
1. Cycling
Shrimp are so tiny and produce little to no waste. The issue involving this fact is that the biological filtration needs ammonia to thrive and live. With out a source of ammonia, a shrimp tank will quickly go back through the cycling process.
Snails are an essential tool to help keep the biological filtration (bacteria) alive by produce an adequate amount of waste (which causes ammonia).
2. Clean up Crew and Poop Maker
Many of us shrimp hobbyists are notorious for overfeeding our shrimp. This can cause a multitude of issues include: ammonia spikes, shrimp eating fouled food and unwanted aquarium pests (planaria, hydra, etc.). Snails will gladly eat excess food that we may have overfed and prevent these previous problems.
Poop makers! What I mean by this is snails will poop. In their poop, I believe, is bacteria that will aid the shrimp in digestion. The poop will also provide a secondary source of food. Shrimp sometimes will not eat certain food but can graze on the digested remains of those same foods. It all works together for a healthy shrimp tank!
3. Gas Eliminators
I know what you're thinking since we just talked about poop makers but NO! haha Snails burrow in nature and find themselves deep into the substrate of the tank in not time. Since most shrimp tanks can not be siphon due to the amount of baby shrimp and type of gravel, snails are needed. Overtime, gas pockets will develop under the substrate due to debris gather up. If these pockets are released into the water, it can be extremely toxic to shrimp. Snails will burrow into the substrate, turn it and stir it up. This fact will cause these gas pockets not to form at all. The constant moving of the gravel will almost eliminate the chance of a toxic air pocket to occur.
I hope you enjoy this video and that someone learned a little something from it! Have a great week shrimp keepers and keep on shrimping :)