How to add calcium and magnesium proportionately to snail tank

[mommy2girls!]

My snails shells are eroding. Babies die for no reason it would seem. Tested for calcium and magnesium. Well I have a mere 40mg calcium and zero magnesium. That’s a big problem. I’m pretty sure cuttlebone and eggshells don’t hold enough magnesium for that to help. Crushed coral has too much salt for snails. I have about 4 eggshells worth of powder, 3 cuttlebones and about 1/8 cup of crushed coral already in tank. It raised it from somewhere around 20 mg calcium but did nothing for magnesium. I tried equilibrium by adding tiniest amounts per day to build up a little at a time but within first 3 days had a massive baby die off. I’m talking hundreds. I’m not completely positive it was the cause though. I’m also not using fertilizers either because it seemed to kill snails too. Is there a product that can raise both calcium and magnesium?
I do feed high calcium foods but it’s not enough.
my ph is 7.5 gh 7 kh 5
Strange thing is that my fish tank now has some snails also with the same exact parameters and they are not incurring shell damage. That tank has mopani though and the snails there stay on it. Maybe there’s something in the wood helping them?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Look into SeaChem Equilibrium"

Guaranteed Analysis Amounts per 1 g
Soluble Potash (K2O)	23.0%
Calcium (Ca)	8.06%
Magnesium (Mg)	2.41%
Iron (Fe)	0.11%
Manganese (Mn)	0.06%

https://www.seachem.com/equilibrium.php

I use in planted tanks where I also have shrimp and snails so the total demand for a lot of the above is helpful. I am not using it to raise GH and I underdose it.

 

[mommy2girls!]

How much would you suggest using on a 10 gallon tank? Instructions say 1.5 tsp
my experience: I started at 1/4 tsp and worked up to 3/4 tsp. That raised my gh to 7. My tap gh is 2 and kh 0. After all the babies died within the first week of using it I started not treating water changes and eventually diluting it back out. I had other issues at the time like consistent .5 ammonia because my cycle crashed so I don’t know if the equilibrium was the problem with the babies dying. I’ve been able to hold my gh at 7 using cuttlebone, eggshells, and a bit of crushed aragonite. I just got the calcium test because I was sure I had enough calcium with all that stuff. Plus they eat spinach, broccoli, green beans, etc. I also give them a tums tablet split in 6 pieces to share every other day. Well I was obviously wrong. I threw out the equilibrium because I thought it had killed my babies but I’m willing to get a new bottle if you think it’s safe.
my tetra tank also shows only 40mg calcium and zero magnesium. Would it be safe to add equilibrium there also? How much do you underdose?
Thank you so much for all your help

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The reason I began using the equilibrium is I notice the plants which had grown a lot were not doing as well. Considering I had a lot of amano shrimp and even more assassin snails in the tank I just assume I needed to up the mineral content a bit. I was correct in that assumption. However, I actually do it by eye. The directions say 1 tablespoon (which is 3 teaspoons) as below.

"To raise mineral content/general hardness (GH) by 1 meq/L (3 dH), add 16 g (1 tablespoon) for every 80 L (20 US gallons) when setting up an aquarium or when making water changes (add to new water)."

My best guess is that I am adding about 1/4 teaspoon (or less) to my 75 gal. tank. It is much less in smaller tanks. Bear in mind that I am not using Equilibrium to raise the GH or KH per se, I am trying to boost some of the parameters involved a bit. I actually use the back end of one of my large tweezers to scoop a small amount from the bottle and add it to the liguid fertilizer mix I normally add to a tank as I am refilling it.

I use a 4 and a 1 cup Pyrex measuring cups for mixing the ferts in water and I just add a bit of the Equilibrium. It is the last thing I add and stir well. But after adding the ferts to the tank. I almost always see a small spot of the powder which precipitated out and is a white dot on the bottom of the cup.

So, I suggest you start with a very small amount in a 10 gal. The smallest tank I add it to is 15 gal. Start with a very small amount and monitor how things go between weekly water changes. You do not need much. Make sure it is well diluted with tank water before you add it. It is better to add too little rather than too much. It is easy to decide you need a bit more the next time than having to remove too much after it was added.

I also have some veggie sticks with added calcium I feed occasionally and I have crushed coral I sprinkle into a tank now and then.But my cories like the sticks as well and it is a pile on for who gets what.
https://kensfish.com/collections/ke...ns-premium-mini-vegetable-sticks-with-calcium

If you get a 1/4 poun of the sticks you can freeze them and take out a bit into a container from which you feed until it needs to be refilled from the what you froze. I have a lot of tanks and fish and I buy in larger amounts and freeze all my food to maintain freshness to the extent possible.

 

[mommy2girls!]

4/20 I added 2 additional crushed eggshells. Parameters remained the same. Ph 7.4 gh 7 kh 5 Ca 50mg Mg zero.
4/22 I added equilibrium using a 1 drop measuring spoon. 1 drop = 1/64tsp
4/23 parameters testing exact same values. I’m going to add another 1 drop spoon today.
I figure since it’s such a small amount it’s being so diluted that I won’t get a measurement yet. I’m going slow and easy because I’m scared to hurt the snails. I saw one dying after adding the first bit but it could have been coincidence.
the bladders are doing very poorly and the hornwort is dying pretty quickly now. The ramshorn seem to be fine though.
at what point do I stop adding equilibrium to the tank and only treat for water change?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Calcium is not real water soluble. Adding it to a tank is not a fast process. How much it will dissolved is dependent on the acidity of water.

Adding slowly is a good idea as if the hardness is changed by too much too fast it can be a problem. But too slow can also matter. You should see mg rising.

You can raise mg bit not caby adding Epsom salt which is magnesium sulfate. Go slow with it if you decide to add it. When I was simulating dry and rainy seasons to trigger plecos to spawn I used a mic of crushed coral and Epsom plus a smal pinch of baking soda. I had to run crushed coral in a filter for 24 hours to gert even a mild bump i ca, but the Epsom moved TDS up pretty quickly. The baking sod if used in more than small amounts will tend to drive the pH towards about 8.2 which I did not want.

With the Epsom I could add it and see the effect immediately with my TDS meter or if I tested GH. Epsom is available at any pharmacy and often in super markets. Target sells it. It is cheap and hard to find in small amounts. I bought mine many years ago and have most of it left. You can get a pound or two for $4 or so.

 

[mommy2girls!]

24 hrs after the second drop of equilibrium I have a raise in ph to 7.8 and a raise in calcium to 60mg. Kh is still 5 and gh is still 7 and magnesium is still zero.
Btw I added a few crumbs of equilibrium directly to the magnesium test to see if it was working and it is.
at this rate seems like if I add one more drop spoon my ph will be 8. Is that ok? I do have 2 neons in there to eat up the worms that appeared. They are swimming around pecking like chickens
I think I may have epsom in the cupboard. I’ll check when I get home.

 

[mommy2girls!]

Wait is epsom salt ok for snails?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Epsom is magnesium sulfate- i.e basically magnesium. In fw tanks most of GH is magnesium and calcium. Snails etc, need magnesium.

Bones and shells are mostly calcium carbonate, so this is the most impoprtant but it is not the only mineral needed for healthy snails and shrimp. Here are a few quotes on this subject.

How to Set Up an Aquarium for Nerite Snails

Given its small size, a nerite snail can live in a nano tank as small as 2-3 gallons within a wide range of tropical temperatures. Because many of them come from brackish water environments, they prefer freshwater setups with higher pH above 7.0 and lots of minerals. If you have soft tap water and notice your snails are getting cracked or eroded shells, increase the minerals in their water and food to keep the damage from progressing. We like to use crushed coral in our substrate and filter media to buffer up the pH. Then we add Wonder Shells or Seachem Equilibrium as mineral supplements that provide calcium, magnesium, and other trace elements.

from https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/nerite-snail-care

Importance of Calcium for Shrimp, Crayfish, and Crabs

Shrimp, crayfish, and crabs have external skeletons (exoskeletons or shells) that limit the extent of their growth. The only way for them to grow is to molt. The process of shedding their old shell is called molting.

Due to the fact that shrimp molt pretty often (from every few days for baby shrimp to once per month for adult shrimp), they require a lot of minerals to reconstruct new exoskeletons. Therefore, our job is to provide all the necessary minerals for them to make and reinforce their shells.

In one of my articles (Aquarium: Molting Process and Metabolism of the Dwarf Shrimp), I referred to the studies about shrimp exoskeleton main components. According to the researches, about 30-50% of shrimp shells is calcium carbonate. That is a lot!

Note: Like fish, shrimp can absorb calcium from the water and the diet. If there is enough calcium in the water, they will obtain the majority of their calcium through their gills. At the same time, calcium in the diet will cover the deficiency of minerals in the water. Ideally, these two sources of calcium should be in your tank all the time.

Another important thing that many shrimp keepers forget (or do not know) is that you also need to provide your shrimp with Magnesium. The point is that Magnesium keeps the calcium in a dissolved state and helps calcium absorption. That is why there must be a balance between Calcium and Magnesium (ratio 3:1).

from https://aquariumbreeder.com/how-to-supplement-shrimp-and-snails-with-calcium/

 

[mommy2girls!]

Ok. I had a mini panic attack. I know they need magnesium in order to better process calcium just like people need vitamin d for the same reason. I just heard salt and stopped thinking rationally lol
I think I’m going to hang back on adding epsom for now. First because I don’t have it. Second today I did a 3 gal wc on the snails to clean up the hornwort needles that had fallen and some snail poo. I ran 3 gallons fresh water and test gh to get my starting point. I then calculated how much equilibrium I would need to raise my gh from 2 to the current level of 8 in the tank. I added 3/4 tsp of equilibrium and mixed periodically for the next hour and then tested the bucket. Since it was reading 8gh I went ahead and drained 3 gal from the tank and added in the fresh. Retested the gh and it dropped back to 7. I added another drop measuring to some tank water and poured it in also. That should have brought gh back to 8. Everyone in tank are moving around normally.
after the water change calcium dropped from 60mg/l to 40 with maybe a trace of magnesium. The Mg test isn’t super green at the beginning of test like before. Since the test isn’t sensitive enough I simply understand that it’s not enough Mg not necessarily an amount.
I think I lost the calcium from the dissolved eggshells and cuttlebone. So I’m not going to add anymore of that so that I can get a grip on the equilibrium for now.
In January I had tried equilibrium and the snails died at gh7. So far this time around I haven’t seen any negative effects. I’m starting to think that it wasn’t the equilibrium that did them in.
I’m also thinking I must be missing quite a few nutrients needed by the plants. Seems like my water is so soft that it’s barren. Tap is now measuring 6.8 ph 2gh 0kh 0Mg and 0-20mg Ca.
Duckweed is turning white/yellow tint. Anubias new leaves small and curled. Snails have begun to eat the weakened new leaves. The hornwort is rapidly dying. My tetra tank is showing these shortages too now. I’m thinking about trying the flourish that’s still in my fridge again. On the bottle it also says it contains the Ca and Mg that I’m desperately chasing. I will wait until tomorrow though because if something happens to the snails I won’t know if it was the wc or the ferts.
sooo…thanks for listening. Hopefully someone else will read this and learn too