Healthy Happy Snail Help

[mel_20_20]

I've been having trouble keeping my ph above 6.8 and my water is pretty soft. My bridgesii needs higher ph and calcium, I have learned on this forum.

My params in my 10 gallon are good otherwise: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate barely 5 ( I have a few stems of anacharis, and 2 short sword (?) plants that I guess are soaking up the nitrates. I have no visible algae.

I put some green beans in for her, but she just cruises right over them. Once in a while she will eat a few bites of peeled nuked english pea.

She loves the wafers for bottom feeders, and I have hand fed her(actually using a long tweezer-like tool) tetra fin fish flakes (she likes the pink ones but will spit out the green ones).

The other day I fed her thawed blood worms with the tweezers, and discovered she really likes them. Sucks them in like a kid sucks up spaghetti.

I'm worried she's not getting enough calcium. How do I put eggshells in for her. Do I need to boil them longer to get the membrane out of there? Do I need to crush them up fine, or crumble them, or just drop in big pieces?

What will help keep my ph up? I'm doing about 50% water change every 7 to 10 days, and a good vacuum job at that time. I use a turkey baster to remove uneaten wafers and veggies after a day.

I've seen her use her siphon and wondered if this means my O2 level is not good. I have a hang-on-the-tank filter for 10-15 gallon, and a full tank length bubble wand. My water level is about 1 to 1.5 inches below top, so the inflow from the filter stirs things up pretty good, and creates quite a current in the tank.

Her shell is smooth on the large portion, but on the whorls there are rough areas that look analogous to
extremely dry rough skin on someone's feet, (not mine however; mine are soft as a baby's butt, hehe).

Also, the shell margin, along the front edge by her head,
has a slight scalloped effect. I'm worried that it's not growing the way it should. She's fairly large, will she keep growing? How large could she get? (I have pics of her in my album on my user profile)

Hope these aren't too many questions... Thanks for any input. I know Jinksy is one of ACs snail experts and I often pm her, but thought other noobs like me with a snail or two or three could use the info, too.

 

[Lupin]

Crushed oyster shells will help raise the pH. Place a bag of it in your filter. I wouldn't worry about the oxygen level. It is pretty normal for them to breathe on their siphon. Apple snails are amphibious animals that can live on land (as long as they are damp) and water. They are adapted to wide ranges of conditions especially oxygen-depleted waters. In our farmlands, water is often completely stagnant in rice paddies so oxygen level is often low there. The only creatures that thrive there are anabantids and Pomacea canaliculata, an invasive apple snail that causes massive plant destruction. Both have respiratory systems that enable them to survive oxygen-depleted waters. Apple snails have their own survival strategies and find a way in order to survive.

As for calcium, use Rachel's snail jello in sticky thread to make food recipes. She told me dark green vegetable matter are usually enriched with calcium so you may try that one. Cuttlefish bone is another alternative. I used Caltrate for the snail foods. As for egg shell, I haven't tried that one yet but I do believe the membrane has to be removed while leaving the egg shells weighed down to the bottom for the snails to rasp. They have teeth to rasp on anything.

Pomacea bridgesii grow no larger than a golfball usually. Pomacea canaliculata can reach a baseball size. There are other species that are even larger particularly Pomacea insularum and Pomacea haustrum at softball size. These are however voracious plant eaters, something you want to avoid anyway. Brigs fit perfectly in planted tanks cleaning up dead and decaying matter. Any pics of your snail?

 

[mel_20_20]

Thanks Lupin. I'll try Rachel's recipes and get some crushed oyster shells
Here are some pics of my snail. In the pic on the right she's on the glass. The pics are small, but if you click on them, they enlarge. I'm sure you knew that, Lupester, but I just discovered that, lol.

 

[msjinkzd]

She does have some erosion. This is not reversable however you can prevent further erosion by buffering your water. Crushed coral is another alternative. You can add a media bag of it to your filter. I would try some jello recipes, or look at the bottom feeder pellets ingredients. If you are having a hard time finding healthy things for them to eat, let me know and I can send you a sample of the pellets that I use. They have a higher calcium content and are inexpensive (kens catfish pellets or veggies sticks, both with over 16% caclium). I would be happy to send you some to try to see if your critters like them.

 

[mel_20_20]

Thanks Rach, I'd appreciate it. I'll pm you with my address. Do you think she'll be OK? I'm crazy about this sweetie. I'll check at Petsmart for the coral. The little lfs that I go to doesn't have coral or anything like that. She's got lots of tanks with lots of fish, but her other supplies are lacking.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Lupin]

I'd feed it calcium rich foods for now until you can find the crushed oyster shells or corals. Limestones and other calcerous rocks may help as well. Cuttlefish bones, egg shells or calcium pills such as Caltrate can be used for them to consume.

 

[mel_20_20]

Thanks, I think I have some calcium pills. I'll drop one or two in there tonight. Thanks Lupester. I checked out Jinksy's recipes, too. I'll try to cook up some snail cuisine in the next couple of days. I'll try to do one of her recipes with honey in it, to entice my snail to eat more.

 

[Lupin]

Honey does work. My canas were reluctant at first but finally gave in. There is still one baby snail trying to clean up the dish.:screwy:

 

[msjinkzd]

I will be home tomorrow and will drop the pellets in the mail. A calcium fortified diet will help even out that new growth. Further erosion can be prevented by buffering the water. I think you can use baking soda as well, however I have not done it so am unsure of the dosage.