I just read the snail article and had a couple of questions about cuttlebone. Will a small piece have the capacity to change the ph very much? Also, the fact that plecos munch on it... Is that ok? Or is is even good for them? Any extra treat for my plecos would be nice, so I'm curious
cuttlebone
- Thread starter Holly9937
- Start date
all I know is that a cuttlebone is a very good source of calcium. I'm not sure what it'll do to you water, but you can get a bucket of water and place a cuttlebone in and test the water after to see changes.
I prefer to add kents liquid calcium (about 1drop per 5g of water, a couple times a week depending on how many snails and if they're breeding). Cuttle bone by itself doesn't change the ph much, but I find it gets slimy after while and can cause a PH crash (NOT good for snails). I also offer my snails weekend feeders for the calcium. (but those things would NEVER go in a fish only tank!) I have powdered the cuttle bone before and added it that way, then nothing to get slimy.
Emily
Emily
I keep 2-3 cuttle bones in my canister to boost the Ca levels in my 65g - without supplemental Ca my plants get 'the twisties'. I have noticed that it causes some gooey mulm-like buildup on the floss, but doesn't seem to harm anything or affect pH.