My snails shell is dissolving ?

**rivermonster** · 07-02-2013, 09:37 PM

I have a blue mystery snail in my community tank and just in the last week or so his shell seems to be becoming pitted,brittle,and discolored.he seems as active as always but looks pretty rough. I picked him up to see better and I was afraid I would break him ! I looked at some other posts to see if any one else had seen that too. Is it maybe a calcium deficiency ? or is it a disease ? My chinese algae eaters sometimes like to "clean" him.would that cause any problem? the white mystery snail that I have in there also doesnt look like that unless its harder to tell because its so light colored already.

**jaysee** · 07-02-2013, 09:40 PM

Get some cuttlebone at the pet store - in the bird section. It floats so you will have to weigh it down some how. That will help with the calcium.

**Flyby Stardancer** · 07-02-2013, 10:37 PM

Also, what's your water chemistry like? Is the pH at or below 7? Soft water? Those could also be contributing factors.

**fishmommie** · 07-02-2013, 11:17 PM

you could also feed your snail foods high in calcium - check out this link for calcium rich foods.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aqua...ad.php?t=71890

**rivermonster** · 07-04-2013, 11:06 PM

thank u for replies ! I tested my water and It reads 25 and 1.0 nitrite,150 hard,30 alk.ph 6.8. Its hard to type out the readings.All the fish and the snails seem healthy...but now the blue snail has a hole in his shell. Will a piece of cuttle bone affect the water any ?

**~firefly~** · 07-04-2013, 11:10 PM

If you have ammonia and nitrite readings your tanks is not cycled! Emergency. Lots of large water changes every day to keep ammonia below 0.25. Your fish won't be healthy for long in water like yours.

**fishmommie** · 07-05-2013, 12:15 AM

++ to firefly. You need to keep both ammonia and nitrites at .25 while cycling and do daily W/C until your ammonia and nitrites read 0 and your nitrates are 10 -20 or you're going to lose your fish AND your snails.

as for the snail - that hole in the shell will eventually fill in - not as thick but it will grow over any exposed area. add the cuttle fish bone (it's not a fix but a preventative for future shell issues) and consider feeding from the list of foods in the link on my earlier post.

**birdman1275** · 11-24-2013, 04:54 AM

i use calcium carbonate purchased in a 2 gallon bucket at a local pool store, pool people will use it to raise the PH in their hot tubs and pools, i dissolve some in some tank water every time i do a water change and dump it in to keep my snails and shrimps helathy. i find that its easier than using cuttle bone and a two gallon bucket cost about 10 bucks and will last me for years, also its not as unsightly as a cuttle bone lying in my tank as its just dissolved calcium carbonate, the same as one would buy from seachum in a bottle.

good luck hope your snail gets better.

**fishmommie** · 11-24-2013, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by birdman1275

i use calcium carbonate purchased in a 2 gallon bucket at a local pool store, pool people will use it to raise the PH in their hot tubs and pools, i dissolve some in some tank water every time i do a water change and dump it in to keep my snails and shrimps helathy.

I love keeping snails in my tanks as well and always worry about their shells. I agree with you about the cuttle bone. always little white particles floating in the water.
but I'm curious as to how the addition of the calcium carbonate affects the PH in your tank. what does your PH run and does it cause any instability in your ph levels? Thanks

**birdman1275** · 11-25-2013, 07:55 PM

sorry im getting my calciums mixed up, calcium chloride not calcium carbonate. calcium carbonate raises KH and PH, calcium chloride raises my calcium levels, if you could find calcium sulfate that works as well.

it raises my PH level a bit but not much, i use a small amount a little less than 1/4 teaspoon with a 5 gallon water change but i may be cutting down on the calcium supplementing because where i live now the water has a higher GH than where i was before. i'll test my water and let you know where my levels are at.

A lot of reefers will use it to help their corals and inverts in their salt water tanks, so i figured it would have the same benefits for my freshwater inverts, so far so good, been dosing for with it now for about 2 years of course not as much as one would need in a reef tank but my shrimp and snails are all really healthy as are my fish and plants.