Care
The Bumblebee Horn Snail is a small member of the Nerite algae-eating group of snails, and has an attractive black and yellow pattern with random protruding "horns" over the shell. These snails are great for planted community aquaria, where no predatory fish are present (i.e. loaches, pufferfish etc). Despite their diminutive size, these little gastropods are amazingly efficient algae grazers and so are a real benefit to the aquarist. Your prized plants, such as slow growing Anubias species, will benefit from the snails gentle grazing habits as they will help to prevent the build up of otherwise difficult-to-remove algae from their leaves. Only dead or decaying plant matter will be eaten. The water should be moderately hard and alkaline to allow for healthy shell development. In softer water, where the calcium concentration will be lower, the snails will be very prone deterioration of the shell. It is best to maintain a water line slightly lower than is usual (about the same gap as the height of the largest snail will be sufficient) to allow them to move in and out of the water if they choose. However, do ensure that the coverslides are kept tightly shut and any small gaps plugged, as these snails are excellent escape artists. Ensure that the tank is well filtered and that regular partial water changes are carried out, at the same time vacuuming the substrate to ensure that the mulm that can accumulate from the snails waste products is removed. In the wild, Bumblebee Horn Snails inhabit waters with a moderate flow, so do ensure that there are areas of good water movement within their aquarium. Be very careful when handling these snails as the spiky "horns" can pierce the skin. Never use treatments containing copper when snails are present.
Feeding
These snails feed primarily on algae and biofilm. In the absence of such foodstuffs, the snails will usually feed on algae wafers, sinking pellets and slices of vegetables. Some aquarists like to culture algae on rocks and cobbles in a separate aquarium (often on a windowsill) so that they can switch these rocks on a rotational basis with rocks from the tank that has been cleaned of algae by the snails. This provides an ongoing source of natural greenfoods, should the snails not take to the provision of prepared foods.
Breeding
Breeding these beautiful snails is sadly next to impossible as the eggs will not hatch in freshwater (although some aquarists may see this as a positive as their tanks will not become overrun with these snails!). Trails of white eggs may be laid on any hard surfaces around the aquarium, but they will not be able to hatch into veligers (snail larvae) unless they are in brackish water. The larvae then require an abundance of minute foodstuffs such as phytoplankton and microalgae to survive to snail stage.
