calcium deficiency
Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:50 pm
what can i feed or put into my snail tank to get more calcium into them since their shells are a little thin...
Loaches Online Forum
Welcome to the Loaches Online Forum
http://li46-224.members.linode.com/
calcium deficiency
http://li46-224.members.linode.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21337
Page 1 of 1
Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:57 am
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.
Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:51 am
I've always read that limestone will leech calcium into the water. Where i'm at there is plenty of limestone hence we have pretty hard water as all the bedrock is limestone.
Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 11:27 am
i don't live in a limestone area so our water is soft (hurrah for not having to constantly buy new kettles and such)
i'm probably not feeding them enough then since i was feeding them too much and i had a little (ha...) population explosion...
i'm probably not feeding them enough then since i was feeding them too much and i had a little (ha...) population explosion...
Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 12:16 pm
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.Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 3:43 am
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.
Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 7:45 pm
thanks for the advice! found more eggs at the back of the tank so hopefully i can sort out issues while they're still protected!! 