FishProfiles.com Message Forums |
faq | etiquette | register | my account | search | mailbox |
![]() | Shell Hardening? |
Inkling![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Fish Addict Posts: 689 Kudos: 498 Votes: 11 Registered: 07-Dec-2005 ![]() ![]() | Is there a good way to harden apple snail shells? I noticed mine was getting a little thin. ![]() ![]() |
![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
illustrae![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Fish Addict Posts: 820 Kudos: 876 Registered: 04-May-2005 ![]() ![]() | Add a half dose of marine calcium supplement to the water with each water change (Kent makes a good one, but any LFS that has a section for reef aquariums should have this stuff on hand. Some marine Iodine wouldn't hurt either, but only use 1/4 to 1/2 the dose recommended on the bottle) Feeding foods high in calcium will help, too, such as shrimp pellets, crab cuisine pellets, and leafy greens like broccoli and kale. What kind of fish do you keep your snail with (if any)? If your fish can tolerate it, you might consider buffering your water with limestone or crushed coral to harden the water and raise the Ph. Soft acidic water will actually slowly eat away a snails shell and you may notice eroded spots where this is happening. Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean... |
![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Inkling![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Fish Addict Posts: 689 Kudos: 498 Votes: 11 Registered: 07-Dec-2005 ![]() ![]() | I have a betta. Occassionally I breed them in there. They don't really pay attention to the snails though. I used distilled water and that is probubly why. I had no idea! Thanks for the help! ![]() ![]() |
![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Fallout![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Moderator Communications Specialist Posts: 6416 Kudos: 4053 Votes: 742 Registered: 29-Jul-2000 | In addition to what illustrae stated, using a reclaim chemistry (kent R/O right) or similar will also go miles for the betta, too. Use of distilled/reverse osmosis water should be limited to topping off a tank to compensate for evaporation. Otherwise, use the reclaim ![]() |
![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Inkling![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Fish Addict Posts: 689 Kudos: 498 Votes: 11 Registered: 07-Dec-2005 ![]() ![]() | ah! Will do. ![]() ....Snails are harder than they look ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
moondog![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Moderator The Hobnob-lin Posts: 2676 Kudos: 1038 Votes: 4366 Registered: 30-Sep-2002 ![]() ![]() | do you know the hardness and ph of your normal and tank water? normal water will probably be higher hardness than the tank if you have a big snail. my apples drain the tank to nothing and then some if i don't keep the hardness up. i just put crushed coral in the substrate "That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman |
![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
sham![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3369 Kudos: 2782 Votes: 98 Registered: 21-Apr-2004 ![]() ![]() | You should not use distilled water by itself in a tank unless you have some really softwater fish to breed and you also really know what your doing. High quality distilled water is nearly pure h2o with no buffers which can not only let the ph drop below 5 but also create an unstable ph that changes frequently and straight distilled water has no minerals to build snail shells out of. It's also not that great for most fish either mostly due to ph issues. You should either mix distilled water with your tapwater or buy reclaim powders. A very simple one is kent's ro right.http://www.kentmarine.com/freshwater/ror.html It contains everything you need to turn pure water back into good aquarium water without all the junk you find in tapwater. For the health of applesnails you want a ph of at least 7 or the water is actually acidic enough it will dissolve their shells. Also having more general hardness minerals(gh) makes sure they have available materials to build a shell. To increase just calcium you can add kent's liquid marine calcium like was mentioned before. There are other ways to add calcium but most are less accurate and will usually raise the ph up near 8.0. |
![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() | |
Jump to: |
The views expressed on this page are the implied opinions of their respective authors.
Under no circumstances do the comments on this page represent the opinions of the staff of FishProfiles.com.
FishProfiles.com Forums, version 11.0
Mazeguy Smilies