Can't keep snails alive

How long do snails live? Also I read msjinkzd has some wonderful recipes for the snails ( I need to search them for the snails I am getting :) I forgot what they eat so I really need to get to studying the diet so mine stay happy and healthy !
 
this one intrigued me. where does the plaster of paris go?? how do they get the food out of it? very interesting! are these like the food blocks you buy for vacation feeding? ( I used to buy a few of these when I went out of town.)



Another Calcium Feeder Recipe

Ingredients:

1600 mL of plaster of paris (Dap brand from Home Depot)
800 mL of water
1 100g container of tetra color sinking goldfish granules

Tools needed:

A large plastic pitcher
A 1L measuring cup
3 ice cube trays
A stir stick

Mix the water with the plaster until completely smooth.
Add fish food and mix evenly.
Pour into the ice cube trays. Rattle to trays to remove air bubbles. Let sit in a dry place for 2 days. Once the trays are good and solid, twist to remove the blocks. If the blocks are crumbling or breaking, they are not dry enough yet. Once they are out, cure them in a dry place for five more days (or use a food dehydrator). Once cured, they can be vacuum packed for storage. Each feeder typically lasts two weeks.

*The calcium in these feeders will buffer water to help maintain a basic pH.
 
this one intrigued me. where does the plaster of paris go?? how do they get the food out of it? very interesting! are these like the food blocks you buy for vacation feeding? ( I used to buy a few of these when I went out of town.)

Another Calcium Feeder Recipe

Ingredients:

1600 mL of plaster of paris (Dap brand from Home Depot)
800 mL of water
1 100g container of tetra color sinking goldfish granules

Tools needed:

A large plastic pitcher
A 1L measuring cup
3 ice cube trays
A stir stick

Mix the water with the plaster until completely smooth.
Add fish food and mix evenly.
Pour into the ice cube trays. Rattle to trays to remove air bubbles. Let sit in a dry place for 2 days. Once the trays are good and solid, twist to remove the blocks. If the blocks are crumbling or breaking, they are not dry enough yet. Once they are out, cure them in a dry place for five more days (or use a food dehydrator). Once cured, they can be vacuum packed for storage. Each feeder typically lasts two weeks.

*The calcium in these feeders will buffer water to help maintain a basic pH.
Click to expand...

As with normal vacation feeders, you need to watch your water quality carefully when using these. The snails will graze on the feeder and the feeder will dissolve. Its a very cheap way to supplement both food and calcium. Its important to get the home depot brand plaster as I am not sure of the safety of other brands.
 
DDeHaven II said:
I have never liked the snails from petsmart, never looked all that great. I'd much rather get them from other aquarists. Then, thats just me.

And trust me, I'm feeling the same way right now, 2 arn't doing well.
Click to expand...

I didn't really like buying them from ps either but I don't know any aquarists. There's one fish store that I originally purchased my 50G and my convicts from. But then they were the ones that told me you only have to cycle your tank for 48 hours. You can see why I don't particularly trust them.

But other than that I only know of the chain stores here. :-( I'd really like to get some apple snails when I fix my tank. I love watching these guys. I find them fasinating and some of their antics are downright funny. Like watching them try to stretch from one branch to another one that was just a little bit too far away. :-)

I'm sorry your two aren't doing well. I hope they get better.

H3D, flaring shutter:
I honestly don't think they were starving. One of them used to come to the top and I'd drop soft krill pellets in his funnel. I loved watching him take them in and munch away on them. I almost thought I might be feeding them too much. But as I said, you could literally see growth rings in their shells. And not being sarcastic but they wouldn't grow if they were starving, would they? The blue actually grew a good 1 1/2 inch before he died. But the rings were small ridges and a significantly lighter color than the original shell (meaning when I brought him home). My granddaughter has a tendency to overfeed the fish so they're getting plenty of tetracolor flakes and granules. But that also brings me to what msjinkzd told me about the water parameters. If 20ppm nitrates is too high for them, then perhaps that was where I was going wrong. It's a 20G and things can go wrong faster in a small tank than in the larger ones.

pixl8r:
how do you keep them from floating. lol mine are floating at the top of the tank but I'm going to put them in the sand to keep them down. I'm letting them float for now just to let all the air out of them.

msjinkzd:
You know, your plaster of paris reminded me that when I got my first snails I used to buy the 3 day feeding blocks for the snails. That may be why those lasted longer and laid eggs. Oh, and while I was trying to up the pH last night for the water change I read on the bottle that it precipitates out the calcium. A very big DUH there for me. Most of the "stuff" that increases pH will make the water soft. Considering I worked as a QA chem tech for 7 years you would think I would remember that. *sigh*

I appreciate everyone's feedback on this. I have no intention of giving up, I just want to do my best not to kill the poor little things.
 
I would let your ph stay stable..not use chemicals to buffer it as they are hard to maintain and a fluctuating ph can be difficult on your fish and the snails. You can supplement the calcium the snails need easily through diet or dosing marine (kent's is good) calcium in the tank (careful not to pour it on the critters directly). Stable parameters and clean water with a good balanced diet will keep snails the happiest. You are right that smaller tanks are harder to maintain. I do large volume changes at least twice a week on my tanks with inverts. Hope that you have luck with snails as they are super entertaining and rewarding when healthy!
 
msjinkzd said:
I would let your ph stay stable..not use chemicals to buffer it as they are hard to maintain and a fluctuating ph can be difficult on your fish and the snails. You can supplement the calcium the snails need easily through diet or dosing marine (kent's is good) calcium in the tank (careful not to pour it on the critters directly). Stable parameters and clean water with a good balanced diet will keep snails the happiest. You are right that smaller tanks are harder to maintain. I do large volume changes at least twice a week on my tanks with inverts. Hope that you have luck with snails as they are super entertaining and rewarding when healthy!
Click to expand...

I usually do about a 40% water change with this tank. It keeps everyone else happy. I going to keep a closer eye on the parameters, I was trying to teach my granddaughter responsibility by letting her check the water and then tell me when it needed changing. *sigh* 12 year olds. I think I may just do it every other day - not quite 40% though. I may try to get some live plants in there but that's not going to happen anytime soon. Last time I tried putting live plants in a tank the convicts kept ripping them out and they finally died.

I forgot to ask what dosage of calcium would be best - the same as the instructions on the package or different?
 
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