Malayan Live Bearing Snails

This interesting species of snail is relatively small in length and rarely grows past three centimeters, or a little over an inch. The

Malayan live bearing snail features long, sharp, tube or cone-like shells and also has some distinct advantages. They can dig deep down into the sand to search for food, which keeps it loose and aerated and it also allows them to find food that the other snails cannot.

Malayan live bearing snails are aquatic, meaning they are able to breathe through gills, and are active during the nighttime hours. These nocturnal creatures stay hidden beneath the sand for the majority of the day and then feed at night. The unsuspecting aquarist may get a shock if they happen to walk past the tank in the middle of the night and discover them all clinging to the walls. Malayan live bearing snails give live birth to their young, as their name indicates, and also tend to reproduce rapidly. However, even in large numbers these snails don’t seem to harm or disturb plant life and are considered beneficial to planted tanks. Unlike a lot of species of snails, the Malayan are not plant eaters, unless the plants have already died, in which case they are great for keeping tanks cleaner and also helping to maintain the water quality.

The scientific name of the Malayan live bearing snail is Melanoides tuberculata and it is also known by the following names; Malaysian live bearing snail, Malaysian Trumpet snail, Malayan Trumpet snail and the Malayan Burrowing snail. The tuberculata portion of its name refers to the tube-like shape of the shell. Believed to have originated in Malaysia, this snail can now be found quite readily and in nearly all tropical regions.

While most species of snails tend to fare best in hard water with higher levels of alkaline, the Malayan live bearing snail doesn’t seem to be too bothered by water that is a bit softer. Normally this type of snail prefers water with a PH level of 5.0 to 8.5. If PH levels drop too low, it is possible that the shells of the snail may actually begin to dissolve or even grow improperly. They also should be in water temperature that ranges from 22 degrees Celsius, or about 72 Fahrenheit, to 32 degrees Celsius or around 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Malayan live bearing snail, although helpful to aquariums, can also quickly overrun a tank that contains a steady supply of too much food. The simple solution to that problem is reducing the amount of food in the tank and also physically removing the snails from the tank walls early in the mornings before there is light.