Help my Snail pls

[Luvi]

My Gold Inca Snail is losing its shell right at the edges. The edges are now a brownish transparent stuff. My tank is new and I did not feed it anything assuming it would have eat the algae in the tank. I tried buying the sinking tablet for it but it didn't eat it. My water used to have low alkalinity (low buffering capacity), I have just added a buffer and now it is in the ideal range. Could the alakalinity be the problem? I tested the pH, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and hardness were all ok.

I tried to find articles for growing healthy snail but there is nothing except for invertabates which were mostly targeted for corals. For it to be healthy does it needs calcuim, magnesium, iodine, trace element and vitamin?? I am guessing if the shell of my snail isn't doing well it needs calcuim additives? Please advice, appreciated!

 

[Lotus]

Some buffers are phosphate based, which won't help your snail.

A lot of people add a small piece of cuttlebone to the tank to help increase calcium. (the stuff they give to budgies; available at any pet store for a dollar or two).

If you want to know all about snails, you can visit www.applesnail.net.

 

[Luvi]

Thanks Lotus, I learned something from that site.

I am guessing it could be lack of Calcuim in my tank. And that site suggested crushed egg shell could work too. I may try it. Also I found most test kit in the market that test Calcuim is for marine water, is there any that test freshwater?

It could be lack of food too. Cause I think my snail is pretty active probably in search of food most of the time, I may try to put more plants in so that more dead and soft plants are available as food..

The above are just my assumptions, please correct me if I am wrong, thanks.

 

[ilovebillwillia]

i crush eggshell with a mortar and pestal to a fine sand (not quite powder) my snails love itim not sure it necessary but i tried for powder couldnt grind that fine. with the sand consistancy they seem happy and ive seen major new shell growth in two weeks

 

[Luvi]

i crush eggshell with a mortar and pestal to a fine sand (not quite powder) my snails love it ...with the sand consistancy they seem happy and ive seen major new shell growth in two weeks

Thanks ilovebillwillia -
Does the snail actually eat the crushed eggshell? Or is the eggshell just used for releasing Calcium in the tank?

 

[angel51431]

Hmm, how about a seashell or few to add calcium to the water? I keep a couple of crushed seashell pieces in my filter so that the water keeps running through them as they release calcium. I mainly do it to keep the hardness higher in the tank because I'm otherwise prone to very soft water.

But I do have a very large snail population - that I'm trying to do something about - and they have very healthy shells for the most part.

 

[Luvi]

Thanks Angel,

Good idea about putting shells in the filter, I may try that too. I think I do need to add some calcium immediately as I think the snail is getting worst. I have read in a site that says Apple Snail do need Calcium rich water...

 

[timisu87]

Guys, do snails eat cucumbers?

 

[ilovebillwillia]

dont know if they "eat" it or it dissipates into the water, but it seems to work..lol..also not sure about the cucumbers but mine LOVE the algae tablets i toss in for the plecos.

 

[Luvi]

Gee- mine is definitely a picky eater!! The fish food doesn't work. But he is so cute though and I want to save him. I never thought of keeping a snail is harder than a fish! Also, I also have a hard time identifying if it is growing new shell or loosing top golden coat of the old shell.

 

[Lubbinloaches]

Yup, my snails will eat cucumber. As for calcium I've used both cuttlebone and eggshell. I don't know if one works better than the other, but I find eggshell easier to use. Cuttlebone is a little harder to use because it always wants to float. Maybe Angel's filter idea would work for it though. I should give it a try.

 

[Luvi]

Thank you all for the good suggestions. I have ordered some trace elements solutions for freshwater tank fishes and plants, and they contain Calcium. I hope that would work too. Will see.

 

[Valorie]

My snails love shrimp pellets. They eat the algae disks I throw in but they go absolutely nuts for the shrimp pellets. They are made by Wardley and sink down to the bottom when I throw them in. The other thing they really like is my amphibian food for my frogs. It floats and they will climb to the top of the tank and grab them and eat them up. My snail was so happy in my tank it laid eggs. I now have many snails and am waiting for the weather to warm up to give some to people who have decorative ponds. They are lots of fun to watch. My daughter recently got her own five-gallon tank for her room and has already picked out two of the small snails to go in there when its ready. I hope your snail gets better. I haven't had any problems with shells, but I have really hard water here.

 

[DarkElf_Mairead]

Ok so what about some ground up calcium pills? Would it be ok for the fish to 'breathe' in that stuff if it's in the water? And because I have marbles in my aquarium instead of rocks, would like a half egg shell work? Would the snail eat off that?

 

[GIS Guy]

Just tested my water

My ramshorn's shell is dissolving. Last night I went to the LFS and bought a cuttlebone, calcium test and KH/GH test. This morning I tested the water. Not to my surprise the tests came back as:

Calcium -- 1 drop = 20 ppm (very very low)
KH/GH -- 1 drop = <50 ppm (low for tetras)

No wonder the snail is not doing well. I am hoping the cuttlebone will make a significant improvement.

Opinions

 

[DarkElf_Mairead]

I never could get my cuttlebones to dissolve, but it might have been the brand or something. BTW, I have a dog a lot like that GIS Guy

 

[GIS Guy]

I never could get my cuttlebones to dissolve, but it might have been the brand or something. BTW, I have a dog a lot like that GIS Guy

I have checked the cuttlebone today. It seems to be getting soft. But still floats. I am hoping that by tomorrow morning the snail will eat it or whatever.

Off topic...but he is a yellow lab, his name is Geo and will be 2 years old this coming January 2006.

 

[littlecobra1977]

an easy solution to all your problems. get some yellow squash and blanch it for a few minutes. cut into cubes and store in freezer for easy access. drop 1 or 2 in every other day. also get some liquid calcium from kents. works wonders. the cuttle bone will eventually either disolve or rot and smell real bad. get some crushed coral and mix it with your sand or gravel but rinse it well before adding it to your tank. just look at www.applesnail.net under snail care and we give loads of info on the well being of the snails.

 

[GIS Guy]

The apple snail website is exactly what I needed. I finally sat down and read much of it. Hopefully now that I am armed with knowledge, my snail will continue living safely and happily.

 

[GIS Guy]

Snail Behavior

The snail that I have, ramshorn, seems to be intelligent. I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen: The ramshorn works his way to the waterline each morning when I come in to feed the fish. I have been keeping this particular snail for several months and just about every day he comes to the top of the tank to be fed, and I feed him each morning. Is it possible for snails to be "trained"?

Thoughts??