# Snail shell eroding. How can I help it?



## paperlilies (Jan 18, 2016)

I have an ivory mystery snail whose shell is gradually eroding, becoming transparent. Even it's body tissue looks thinner. I have a feeling low KH has something to do with it. What can I do to help it? He is still eating, but looks very lethargic. There is also a nerite snail who appears to have a healthy shell, but he hides most of the time. 

Water parameters:
ph 7.8
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 0-10 ppm
GH 4d (68 ppm)
KH 2d (34 ppm)

Tank specifics:
10 gallon low tech 
heated to 76 degrees
Up Aquasand substrate (It buffers my TAP water, lowering the GH and KH by 2-4 degrees)

plants: 
Java fern
anubias nana petite
crypts
Christmas moss
brazlilian pennywort
duckweed

Ferts:
Flourish 1x/week
KNO3 1x/week
KH2PO4 1x/week

Inhabits:
1 male betta
40 red cherry shrimp... POPULATION BOOM! (I keep the betta well fed. They are out and active. He leaves them alone.)
2 ghost shrimp
1 mystery snail
1 nerite snail

The last picture isn't very good lighting or detail, but you get the idea.


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

It's probably a combination of low GH and not enough calcium in food. I would try adding GH booster to get close to 6-7. The cherries will probably do even better with that hardness 

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## paperlilies (Jan 18, 2016)

natemcnutty said:


> It's probably a combination of low GH and not enough calcium in food. I would try adding GH booster to get close to 6-7. The cherries will probably do even better with that hardness
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk




I have Seachem Equilibrium I could use for Gh every 2-3 days when I add Flourish. Although, I have seen good reviews for Salty Shrimp. It increases both the Gh and Kh. That may be the best option since Kh is lacking most.

Also, my TDS are usually around 250 ppm. What is the optimal range for my inhabitants?


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

paperlilies said:


> I have Seachem Equilibrium I could use for Gh every 2-3 days when I add Flourish. Although, I have seen good reviews for Salty Shrimp. It increases both the Gh and Kh. That may be the best option since Kh is lacking most.
> 
> Also, my TDS are usually around 250 ppm. What is the optimal range for my inhabitants?
> 
> ...


I honestly don't think you need anything more than Equilibrium, but you only need to dose after a water change to compensate for the water taken out. Once you run out, I'd switch to a cheap, dry GH booster.

Your KH is at the lower end but still acceptable. The buffering of your substrate will run out eventually, and then you probably won't even need to do a GH booster anymore.

As for TDS, I think 250 is at the upper end, and if you add GH booster (or equilibrium), you'll probably start pushing it a bit too high. I'll let others chime in since my cherries are kept at 160 TDS and have never pushed those upper limits. A possible workaround to that is to mix RO with your tap and then remineralize.


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## John Wong (Dec 2, 2015)

Calcium deficiency for snail

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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

yeah, feed it more high calcium foods. Your water params look fine. You might want to put a cuttlefish bone in the tank for it to munch on.


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## paperlilies (Jan 18, 2016)

I feed a variety: Ken's veggie sticks, Han Aquatics special blend for shrimp, blanched cucumber or zucchini. I think the shrimps eat up the pellets before the snail can get to it. I do see him eating blanched veggies a couple times a week, also munches on duckweed sometimes. I put a small piece of cuttlebone 3/4" long in there 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen him on it or any improvement. He may nibble when I'm not looking.

A few times last week I took him out of the tank and into a small container of tank water. Dropped a Ken's veggie stick in front of him. Once he eats it up I put him back in the tank.

I saw a snail jello or "snello" recipe online with high calcium. I could try it, but my tank is only a 10 gallon. I wouldn't want a chunk of food to fowl the water. 


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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

Adding to the suggestions kale is supposed to be a good calcium-rich food.
You can also try a little bag of crushed eggshells by the filter.


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

paperlilies said:


> I feed a variety: Ken's veggie sticks, Han Aquatics special blend for shrimp, blanched cucumber or zucchini. I think the shrimps eat up the pellets before the snail can get to it. I do see him eating blanched veggies a couple times a week, also munches on duckweed sometimes. I put a small piece of cuttlebone 3/4" long in there 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen him on it or any improvement. He may nibble when I'm not looking.
> 
> A few times last week I took him out of the tank and into a small container of tank water. Dropped a Ken's veggie stick in front of him. Once he eats it up I put him back in the tank.
> 
> ...


I think correcting the GH will do more than food. Like the cherries, they obtain calcium from the water, and no amount of calcium rich food is going to compensate for that. I have a couple mysteries in my work tank with a GH somewhere around 7, and I only give them a small chunk of zucchini once per week. Been almost 2 years, and they have nice healthy shells.


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## chappy6107 (Aug 2, 2016)

natemcnutty said:


> I only give them a small chunk of zucchini once per week. Been almost 2 years, and they have nice healthy shells.




Is zucchini the only food you feed them?


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## paperlilies (Jan 18, 2016)

chappy6107 said:


> Is zucchini the only food you feed them?




No I feed good quality shrimp/snail pellets I bought online (ken's veggie sticks and Han Aquatic's special blend). I think the snail doesn't get to it before the shrimp devour it though. I have tried cucumber also. The snail gets a chance to reach the fresh zucchini and cucumber since I leave it in for 24 hours.

I'm thinking about making "snello" or snail jello following a recipe online. But my hesitation is my tank is only 10 gallons and I'm not feeding a colony of snails. So I think it would be tricky to make small pieces small enough that won't effect the water quality.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

increase KH but your plants wont thank you for that


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## paperlilies (Jan 18, 2016)

dzega said:


> increase KH but your plants wont thank you for that




Why would it effect my plants?


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

dzega said:


> increase KH but your plants wont thank you for that


Can you please explain why he needs to raise KH. I see a pH of 7.8, well above 7, and his KH is acceptable enough to prevent large pH swings.

A snails shell erodes due to acidity and lack of calcium. Since his water is already alkaline enough, he needs to focus on calcium. Snails absorb calcium through both the water column and food intake. In the case of mysteries, food can only go so far. He needs more calcium in both the water and food.

This is why I said you should look at increasing the gH through a GH booster or remineralizer. Much of the algae and food the snail is reading should already have an ok amount, though as they get larger, supplementing like kale or zucchini is a good idea.


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## ValMM (Feb 22, 2011)

For my nerites, if there isn't a lot of algae in the tank I put them in a separate container. I change this water daily with dechlorinated water for the tank and I add a few straw-fulls of water that has ocean salt dissolved in it. The ocean salt is made of calcium and minerals that the snails can absorb and use to build up their shells. Then when I start seeing algae again, I put them back in the tank.


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