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Offspring of the snails?
Hi guys something seems wrong with my snail. Please help!
Attachment 44224
Please take notice of the shell.
Also, my tank have small snail running around, is there anything I can do about it?
Thanks in advance guys.
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Offspring of the snails?
Bean + Kurt
Quite common I think. My nerites also have such chipped off shells and most of their horns are long gone. Maybe it's the low ph (supposed yours is a shrimp tank) that's the cause.
will the snail die without the shell?Originally Posted by popimac
hmmm i only have 1 snail in my tank, can they self reproduce?
Yeah, if the water parameters are very acidic with relatively low calcium levels, the snail shells will tend to erode and dissolve over time. The whitish erosion areas are usually at the oldest part of the shell which is the middle part like in your photo. Can also see the rest of the shell is mostly pitted too.
It may not die immediately but it may be more susceptible to illness, disease or parasites/predators.
The horned nerite snail in your photo have specific genders and the females can lay unfertilized white eggs in the tank (even without another male snail), but the eggs need brackish water to hatch, so in your case the eggs will not hatch in freshwater conditions.
The other tiny snails you see in your tank are probably another species of snail, most likely pond snails or ramshorn snails that hitchhiked in with recently added plants.
Shell erosion is more common especially in CO2 injected tanks since its more 'acidic'.
To supplement calcium, one common practice is to place cuttlefish bones in the tank.
Hi Suzerolt, what's cuttlefish bone and where can we buy from? Thanks
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Cuttlefish as in the regular squid/cuttlefish from the market. The centre spine is the "bone".
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Thanks for the quick reply
So just rinse the centre spine and drop it directly into the tank?
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Some folks may use other calcium powder or supplements, but this method is what I read on the internet & have done before.
I just microwave for like 20s (or boil), wash/rinse, then drop into the tank.
Do google it.
I haven't tried cuttlefish bone... but i put those mineral rocks in my planted tanks (ie. BorneoWild Minerock). The mineral rocks are mainly for the shrimps but it seems to also help the few nerite snails i keep in those tanks too, the rate of their shell erosion seems to be much slower (even with Co2 injection), in fact i notice their shell still stay nice and shiny for a longer period of time. I've observed the snails will occasionally sit on the mineral rocks and munch on it, so thats probably how they supplement their daily calcium/mineral requirements.
The cuttlefish bone method mentioned by Suzerolt would also work the same way.
Another alternative is to put any type of shells in the tank or put coral chips. Do take note that these measures will increase pH, which might make the tank less conducive for your shrimps.
Hmmm.. So it's the Ph issue. Thanks guys!
Ya because I'm keeping shrimp I don't think it's a good idea for shell stuff in the tank..
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