Calcium for snails/shrimps

[apisto420]

Where does calcium come from? the KH and GH? how do i tell if there enough calcium in the tank?

 

[Mgamer20o0]

GH i believe is basically Magnesium and Calcium in the water added together. rain water picks up calcium as it runs over calcium rich rocks. some water companies also add both to their water. so you get a kh and gh test kit and test. api makes one.

 

[fishycat]

Calcium comes from diet. I feed my snails canned green beans, blanched deshelled peas, and slices of raw frozen/thawed zucchini. I also feed algae wafer. Another good source of food would be snello which is fortified with added calcium.

The only real concern with water is if too soft/acidic, it will erode your snails' shells. Regardless of how hard the water is, snails need to ingest calcium to build their shells.

I hope this made sense.

 

[apisto420]

Hmm so they dont get calcium from water? i know my GH is at 4, i have no idea if my foods contain calcium though, ill have to read them all..

 

[Mgamer20o0]

http://kensfish.com/ has a 30% calcium food

i believe they do get some from the water but having it in their food is better.

 

[apisto420]

Good to know. thanks.

 

[Sawyer]

you could make snail jello to add calcium to their diet http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135871

 

[fishycat]

The easiest thing that I do, is take a handful of green beans from the can we opened for dinner, lay them out on a piece of foil & freeze until solid. Then gather up the beans into a zip-loc bag for easy storage. I remove a few and let thaw slightly before dunking in the tanks.

I'm super OCD, I split open the beans & remove the seeds/peas.

I also just slice up a washed zucchini into 1/4" slices, freeze on a piece of foil and dump into a zip bag. I thaw slightly, stick with a fork and toss it into the tank. My snails (briggs, ramshorn & mts) can finish off a piece in 1 1/2 days (I wouldn't leave it in longer than that).

 

[apisto420]

So after reading almost all of my food labels, most of the flakes has calcium in them, but the question is, is this enough calcium for shrimps and snails?? would they be getting enough calcium through foods and the water??

 

[BettaFishMommy]

i would highly suggest making them snail jello. a cost effective source of calcium is crushed up Tums.

snails absorb a majority of their calcium through ingestion, and not from the water. what little they do get from the water is absorbed via their soft parts (the foot, etc).