calcium deficiency
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calcium deficiency
what can i feed or put into my snail tank to get more calcium into them since their shells are a little thin...
moo
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palaeodave
- Posts: 1370
- Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:25 am
- Location: London/York
I'd have thought the water in Northern Ireland is fairly hard and alkaline (correct me if I'm wrong), so thin shells probably means they just aren't getting enough to eat. Cucumber and courgette go down well with mine and they'll also clean up any algae wafers they come across.
"Science is a lot like sex. Sometimes something useful comes of it, but that’s not the reason we’re doing it" ー R Feynman
Send some snails my way, my loaches would love to have them as tankmates 
. I had a nice snail population going in my 20g until i added in some Skunk botias. that was a big mistake as they wiped out my population which i would gather up and throw in to the 90g whenever i could catch them when they came up towards the top of the tank. I'd pluck a half dozen out and throw into the 90g. Don't know who got to them but they never lasted long as i have 7 yoyos, 5 zebras and 5 clowns and a bunch of kuhlis.
. I had a nice snail population going in my 20g until i added in some Skunk botias. that was a big mistake as they wiped out my population which i would gather up and throw in to the 90g whenever i could catch them when they came up towards the top of the tank. I'd pluck a half dozen out and throw into the 90g. Don't know who got to them but they never lasted long as i have 7 yoyos, 5 zebras and 5 clowns and a bunch of kuhlis.GH is a measure of calcium and magnesium. If this is low, then the snails may lack calcium.
If the pH is rather low (on the acidic side of neutral) then the acidic water may be eroding their shells. Also test the KH. If the KH is low, then the pH will usually be low.
Two things to try, depending on the problem:
Add a cuttlebone to the tank. Some snails may eat it directly, and it will dissolve, adding minerals to the tank.
Raise the GH with minerals designed for this. Seachem Equilibrium is one such product. I do not know what might be available in Ireland, though.
Raise the KH with baking soda (Bicarbonate of soda). This will in turn raise the pH.
If your fish will not handle either of these options, then set up 2 tanks. One for your soft water fish, but not for snails, and the other for hard water fish, and keep the snails in this tank.
If the pH is rather low (on the acidic side of neutral) then the acidic water may be eroding their shells. Also test the KH. If the KH is low, then the pH will usually be low.
Two things to try, depending on the problem:
Add a cuttlebone to the tank. Some snails may eat it directly, and it will dissolve, adding minerals to the tank.
Raise the GH with minerals designed for this. Seachem Equilibrium is one such product. I do not know what might be available in Ireland, though.
Raise the KH with baking soda (Bicarbonate of soda). This will in turn raise the pH.
If your fish will not handle either of these options, then set up 2 tanks. One for your soft water fish, but not for snails, and the other for hard water fish, and keep the snails in this tank.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.
Happy fish keeping!
Happy fish keeping!
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