shell corrosion

[katieo80]

hello again AC! i am excited to have put some pictures up and messed with my profile. i have a new question though...

in this picture you can see karl the betta (who is an attention seeker, obviously) and archie the apple snail. i've been keeping an eye on the corrosion that seems to be on the center whorls of his shell (umbilicus?)...they don't seem to be getting worse, but i wonder...

1) is that considered significant corrosion?
2) if i fed him lots of spinach/banana/calcium rich food, would it get better?
3) should i not be worrying about this because it's normal? :)

he is otherwise active, happy and hungry. you can also see in this picture where his girlfriend salome has been munching on his shell algae farm. :) THANKS EVERYBODY...--katieo


http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/500/medium/aqua1.jpg

[Northernguy]

What is your ph ?
A high calcium diet is good!

[katieo80]

hey ng, i just checked the pH and it's right at 7.5, which should be softy for snails...i called the aquarium store too (where i fully intend to get a real test kit for all the important stuff, i know i'm bad for not having it yet, but SOON!), and they said that austin water is generally around pH 8, but that minerals in the water get absorbed quickly so the pH can go down. i might check into some buffers or something...any recommendations? thanks for reading and looking! :)