calcium ideas

J

jamiya0727

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Oct 16, 2007
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I am setting up a new tank and I want to be sure my snails will have enough calcium. I remember reading several suggestions, but I can't find them now!

If I bury a bird cuttle bone in the gravel, will that help? It is only a 12-gallon tank, so will that be too much? Is there a better way? Will I have to replace the cuttle bone at intervals?

What is the ideal pH for snails? I am also going to add a few guppies to the tank, so conditions have to be okay for them as well.
 
There is a tendency cuttlefish bone will rot eventually. Just plaster of Paris pucks. An inch block can last you 2-3 weeks and even longer if your water is not that acidic nor have too many snails that nibble them gradually.

Ideal pH for snails should be 7.4 and higher. The higher the pH, the better. My pH is 8.0 for snails.
 
More info:

The tank obviously is not cycled, but the pH is reading around 7.8. Using a strip that you dip in the water, I get a TH (hardness) reading of around 100ppm. Using GH and KH tests from API (the liquid drops kind), I get a KH of 89.5ppm and GH of 161.1ppm. What should they be for healthy snails? Or just don't worry about the readings and use the plaster of paris pucks? I haven't made those yet - the recipe looks hard and I need to find the plaster of paris.
 
The recipe isn't hard. All I did was mix water and plaster of Paris. The mix is then placed on ice cube trays and I leave them to dry under direct sunlight. Make sure the area is not too humid as the blocks become prone to molds and mildew in the process. I kept the blocks in the freezer to avoid that though. You seem on right track. You could increase the KH a bit by adding limestones or crushed corals thus maintaining the pH that way.
 
My husband thinks the big rock I put in is limestone (back right corner of tank). I'll test again after it has had time to settle and see if it made a difference.

new-tank.jpg
 
Well......should I plunk a couple snails in? It's been running for 24 hours. It has to be better than the non-cycled tiny tank full of baby snails, right?

Jamiya
 
jamiya0727 said:
Well......should I plunk a couple snails in? It's been running for 24 hours. It has to be better than the non-cycled tiny tank full of baby snails, right?

Jamiya
Click to expand...
I don't see anything wrong with your setup. Go for it.
 
u could always use tums but my snails didnt bother with it an also maybe some veg with high calcium content. or u could try bakin soda an add that to every water change also algea wafers have calcium in them too
 
i use crushed oyster shells in all my snail tanks. the fish store sells it in a small box for 4.99 for less than a pound I buy it at the feed store where they sell chicken food and such for .25 cents a pound its the same stuff. just rinse well and your good to go.
 
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