adding calcium for snails?

fishmom3

fishmom3

AC Members
Jun 2, 2006
5
0
0
Massachusetts
Hi,
I have a 46 gallon freshwater tank that's doing great. I have a question about the snails I have. I've just lost a small apple snail (Blizzare). :( I found him with a big hole in his shell and he was partially eaten. When I took him out of the tank, his shell just crumbled away in my hand. I have 2 left and I don't want to lose them. But I don't want to add anything that'll hurt my fish. I've read about adding calcium with a liquid calcium, crushed oystershells, eggshells, crushed coral skeleton. I also know my water ph is too acid but I don't know how to change it. It is at 6.2. I do a 20-30% water change every week. I started adding PH UP but stopped because I didn't know enough about it. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd really appreciate some advice. Thanks.
 
We've been getting a lot of questions about this one recently. Yes, your acidic water is likely the cause of the shell erosion. One of our moderators has written the following article on basic snail care:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50705&page=1&pp=15

From it, I glean that adding some crushed coral (a common substrate for marine aquaria) will not only raise pH, but also add some hardness to your water. In addition, some folks find it helpful to add liquid calcium drops, also for marine aquaria (useful for coral development). Others suggest dropping a cuttlebone in there, the kind used for caged birds to chew on, and letting the snails graze on that. I suppose the cuttlebone would also start to dissolve into the water, thereby increasing calcium in there as well.

Please DO NOT use chemical pH altering solutions. They are notorious for being ineffective because the ambient conditions in your source water will naturally resist the change. Your pH will only be increased temporarily, but due to the chemistry of your water, swing back to where it naturally wants to be. In the end, the fluctuation in pH is much worse for your aquarium inhabitants. From what I've heard, the crushed coral answer may work better. I don't know about this one firsthand, because I've always lived with very hard and alkaline water.

Hope that helps!
 
Thanks so much. I'm going to the store to buy some calcium drops and a cuttlebone and coral. Also, I read another report about high calcium foods for snails. This isn't mine, I don't know how it works but I'm willing to try:
amt. of calcium per 110g serving:
Dill Week (208mg)
Turnip Greens (190mg)
Collards (145mg)
Parsley (138mg)
Kale (135mg)
Watercress (120mg)
Beet Greens (119mg)
Chinese Cabbage (105mg)
Mustard Greens (103mg)
Chicory Greens (100mg)
Spinach (99mg)
Leaf Lettuce (68mg)
Cilantro (67mg)
Broccoli (48mg)
Cabbage (47mg)
Romaine Lettuce (36mg)
Seedless Raisins (49mg)
Orange (40mg)
Kiwi (26mg)
Lemon, no peel (26mg)
This is only a partial list written by tmtpowers. It has the highest calcium containing foods.
Again, thanks.
 
I was just going to suggest talking with tmtpowers. She and I have been working together on those two issues (Ca, pH) for her snails :)

While I don't currently own snails (my loaches quickly consume any of them before it even becomes an issue), I will start to breed them to feed my loaches and dwarf puffers. But like I said, I am "blessed" with alkaline (pH = 8.0) and hard (GH = 250 ppm, KH = 143 ppm) water. So if anything, I had the opposite concern, that my water was too hard for my fish. But I was reassured by senior members on this forum that a stable pH was much better than adding chemicals to try to force it to change.

BTW, tmtpowers, what was the moderators' sage advice?

Who knew kiwi and lemon would be OK sources of calcium??? In your case, fishmom3, you might want to skip out on tart foods like that, as they are acidic.

Congratulations, to both of you ladies, for being conscientious snail parents. :p:
 
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uhhh, probably not. it probably contains all kinds of food-grade additives (dyes, flavorings, coloring, preservatives, etc.) that wouldn't be good for your fishies. it would produce CO2 for your plants, tho :)
 
plah831 said:
uhhh, probably not. it probably contains all kinds of food-grade additives (dyes, flavorings, coloring, preservatives, etc.) that wouldn't be good for your fishies. it would produce CO2 for your plants, tho :)
Click to expand...

wait a second, i think it might have been mentioned for plants because of the co2 fizz. haha thanks for clearing that up.
 
Just an FYI, Crushed coral in your filter will increase both KH and GH (calcium) you need the Kh increase pretty badly (This will bring your pH up)

I'd do some crushed coral right away personally. The crushed coral will dissolve at a rate dependant on pH. In other words, with a low pH (6.2) it will dissolve pretty quickly, with a hgiher pH it dissolves slower. It will quit dissolving at about 7.6-7.8 which is a really nice levrel for snails. If crushed coral won't dissolve at that level, snails shells aren't likely to either.


And not that it matters, but I'm not a moderator on this site ;)
Dave
 
Thanks to everyone!
I went out and bought some cilantro and parsley at a health food store that were grown organically so there'd be no pesticides. I boilded 3 rubber bands for 10 minutes and then tied the veggies to a stainless steel spoon to sink them. My big yellow snail, Glint, went right to them and ate them for about 1/2 an hour. My other snail, Dorian gray, got to them the next day. Both seem to love them. I have a question about the coral. Do you have to put it in the filter in order for it to work? What happens if you just add it to the tank? Will it hurt the fish? Thanks for all your help with my little guys.
 
That's fine, too. Some folks just put it in a filter media bag or some pantyhose and bury it in their gravel or plop it in the tank. This way might be slower, though, than putting it in your filter because of less flow and less surface area exposed to the water.
 
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