What water hardness for nerites?

S

SidtheMonkey

Hey, I'm really a woman.
Mar 26, 2010
333
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Outside Seattle, WA
So Blitzen & China are chugging calmly around my tank.....had them only a few days.

We have very soft water here in the PAc NW and it easily gets quite acidic, low pH. It's about 7.2 now.

Altho I've always kept fish that were happy in that, I think the snails might be different. And I've also kept a bit of calcium carbonate in my filter box to help stabilize the water somewhat.

But what is the preferred hardness for these snails? What will be harmful?

And I add salt to the tank, currently only about 3 teaspoons per 5.5 gal tank.

Tank: 2 zebra nerites, 1 betta, 5 pygmy cories, planted
 
FYI, pH of 7.2 in not acidic at all. It is just slightly basic/alkaline. I would not change any at this time. CaCO3 in filter should be enough for nerites unless want to go thru massive testing equipments.
 
Sorry, I know 7.2 is above neutral. I should have clarified...it's a pretty new tank. Generally, tanks here with our soft water, tend to get more acidic as they age, esp those with plants and bogwood.

But water changes are quick and easy with this small tank and it would be nice to be able to keep it at least neutral.

Thanks for the info.
 
another FIY, most bottom dwellers (cat fish, corrys, loaches) dont like salt in the water.
if u want to keep the water at 7-8 ph, try adding coral fragments. also, most rocks used in cyclid tanks will keep the water hardness high
 
I'm on well water not too far from Seattle and my ph is about 8 out of the tap. It seems to settle down to about 7.8, but that's as low as my tanks get without CO2 or RO water added. Granted, my GH and KH are fairly low at 3 and 4 respectively, but the PH stays up.
 
pbmax said:
I'm on well water not too far from Seattle and my ph is about 8 out of the tap. It seems to settle down to about 7.8, but that's as low as my tanks get without CO2 or RO water added. Granted, my GH and KH are fairly low at 3 and 4 respectively, but the PH stays up.
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Interesting, I have a well but only use it to water the pastures. The house was hooked up to a local water assn before I bought it and so far that seems about on par with what we had in Seattle and the burbs.

I do know that in Seattle/burbs, if there were stray snails, their shells eventually turned white and pitted, I figured it was because the water was too soft.
 
Maybe it's a Seattle / north-end thing? :) I do see the pitting and white coloration of snail shells in my co2-controlled tank that sits at a ph of 7. Otherwise, my snails seem to do fine. If I recall correctly, Seattle gets their water from above-ground sources. Down here I believe we get most of ours from wells, even the municipalities. That would definitely explain the difference in hardness, even if our water is on the soft end for well-water.

Have you measured your degrees of GH and KH yet? You should probably get a test kit for these, especially if you're attempting to adjust them.
 
I would just add a handful of crushed coral into one of the filters. That ought to keep the pH buffered.
 
BioHazard said:
I would just add a handful of crushed coral into one of the filters. That ought to keep the pH buffered.
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That's what I've done....pretty much always have here because our water is so soft....otherwise it's hard to stabilize it.
 
pbmax said:
Maybe it's a Seattle / north-end thing? :) I do see the pitting and white coloration of snail shells in my co2-controlled tank that sits at a ph of 7. Otherwise, my snails seem to do fine. If I recall correctly, Seattle gets their water from above-ground sources. Down here I believe we get most of ours from wells, even the municipalities. That would definitely explain the difference in hardness, even if our water is on the soft end for well-water.

Have you measured your degrees of GH and KH yet? You should probably get a test kit for these, especially if you're attempting to adjust them.
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I have no idea where my tap water comes from, lol. I'm in a rural area NE of Seattle and get my water from a small local water association.

I do test the GH & KH, I'll have to write them down next time I test. They were mid-range last time I checked. I've always kept fish that like soft water, so I've never had to worry about that much.
 
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