I purchased 4 gold mystery snails about 3 weeks ago to add to my my 10 gallon aquarium community. They looked healthy when I bought them, but I have recently noticed that their shells are starting to pit and turn whitish at the center (where the spiral is). I've read that you can add cuttlebone or oyster shells to the tank to let the calcium leach into the water, but I've also read that some people use antacid tablets. This is certainly easier since I have plenty on hand, but another concern is if this is safe for the fish in the tank as well? (I noted that the websites that said they use antacid tablets for their snails only have snails in the tank... no other critters). Do the snails actually eat the calcium, or does it just have to be present in the water to keep their shells healthy?

Also, I've noticed that those weekend feeder tablets have calcium sulfate as the first ingredient. I know this is safe for fish, so would that help my snails if I kept one in the tank?

Thanks in advance for any feedback and suggestions. I want to do whatever I can to keep my snails healthy and happy.

(Great website and forum by the way! Its been a lot of help! :) )

I have oyster shells in my tank with my apple snail but his shell is still degrading. Most antacid tablets are mostly calcium carbonate (although others may contain other things). If that were all that was in the pills, they probably would be safe to add. The thing is, they add a ton of other things. We'd have to go down the list and figure out which were and weren't a concern. For this reason, it's easier to add things that only contain calcium carbonate or other calcium sources such as oyster shell, coral/shell gravel (sold as substrate for marine tanks), and cuttle bone. The calcium is absorbed by the snail. By being bathed in calcium, it gets absorbed somewhere along the line but truthfully, I don't know how exactly. They don't have to eat it. I'm not sure how advantageous long term use of calcium sulfate would be. If the fish eat the food portions, then at least that part would be ok. A lot of vacation feeders are made of plaster of Paris. I don't think using one of those feeders would hurt things. I'm not sure what would become of the excess sulfate over time. Carbonate (from calcium carbonate) is used in many biological processes by animals and bacteria so it would be put to good use.

Thanks for the feedback, Robyn. I'll check to see if I can find some oyster shells and put them in a mesh bag and either put them in the tank or in with the filter (depends on if it fits). I'll probably also get a cuttle bone and put it in the aquarium as well, unless you think that'd be overdoing it... if there is such a thing?

Could pH have something to do with shell degradation? Up until this point, I've never tested the water because I've never had a problem through many years of having aquariums. I guess I have the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. I'll certainly test it and remedy it if necessary if a lower or higher than 'normal' pH can contribute to shell health.

Thanks again!

If you monitor your pH and hardness, you can find out how much influence the oyster shells and/or cuttlebone are having. You don't want the pH above say 8-8.5 really or the hardness super hard. A low pH means the water is acidic. Acid leaches calcium out of shells and bones. It also can literally eat the shell. This is why phosphoric acid in sodas is said to be so bad because it literally eats our teeth and bones. If your pH is below 6-6.5, it's too acidic for snails. In fact, snails prefer it in the pH 7-8 range.

Thanks for your quick reply, Robyn. I got a testing kit today, and it shows my water being soft (GH scale is from 0-300ppm, and my water is @75ppm), low alkalinity (KH scale is from 0-300, and mine is ~0ppm), and a pH of about 6.2. So, as far as I can understand things, the low pH is probably the main contributor to the deteriorating shells? If that's true, I should get something to gradually creep the pH to a more alkaline level of 7.4 or so, right? Hopefully adding the cuttle bone will increase the hardness a bit, so I'll keep testing until it goes up. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again,
~Shannon

Yes, your water is too acidic and soft to please snails. You can add "pH up" solutions which may be sodium hydroxide or other bases. You can add baking soda to increase the pH and temporary hardness some. And of course, over time in an acidic, soft water source, oyster shell, cuttle bone, coral, etc. will let out calcium and other things to increase the pH and hardness. It's a combination of the slightly acidic water and low calcium and hardness levels that harm the snails' shells.

I'll gradually add the pH increaser until the water more hospitable for my snails (the bottle says to not increase by more than .5 per day). Hopefully now they won't end up shell-less! Thanks so much for your help!! I'll let ya know how things go.

~Shannon :)

Its been almost a month, so as promised, I'm giving an update on the states of my snail shells...

I've used a pH increaser as needed to keep the pH between 7.4 and 7.8 or so. I've also added cuttlebone to both my filter and inside the aquarium itself. The total hardness has been reading soft to hard on the scale (75-150ppm) - most often on the harder side. The total alkalinity has been reading moderate to ideal (80-120ppm) - most often on the more ideal range.

However, the shells on my snails are still degrading... seemingly at a fast rate (or maybe its just because I'm keeping a very close eye now). One of the females has an especially pathetic looking shell, and has now completely lost the pointed part of her shell (the "whorl"). What am I doing wrong? Is there anything else I can do to at least slow down this process? Are my water quality readings still not suitable for shell health?

I've read that its possible to carefully use super glue to fill in the bigger craters, and to spread it around in order to protect the rest of the shell from degrading further. Is it okay to do that... to sort of "polyurethane" the shells? I've inspected the shells pretty much every week, and the places that're degraded seem to have calcified and I don't see any part of the snails' bodies through the holes. I understand that superglue is toxic while wet, but non-toxic when dried.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
~Shannon

It may be that the deterioration is left over from before. It may take a while to reverse it. It's one thing to stop further deterioration and another to recalcify the holes that were already there. See if applesnail.net has any info on this topic. Your water should be ok now from what you've said. There are many factors involved so it may be hard to figure out what is the most vital next now that the hardness and pH are okay. Perhaps diet will help. Try feeding high calcium foods like kale.

I wouldn't risk using glue on the snails because it could be toxic. While apple snails can be out of water for a short time, they have to stay damp during that time. If there's a snail that is really bad, you might risk trying it by drying the area of the shell well (keep the body of the snail wet though), putting in the glue, and waiting for it to set before putting the snail back. Be sure not to put it into any holes where you can see flesh through it.

I was having the same problem with my apple snail. Proper pH 7.4-7.8 was suggested to me for long term fixes, but things were repairing very slowly. I started adding green vegetables like lettuce, zuchinni and kale to the tank and began getting faster results. The snail sails all over the tank now, I assume searching for more veggies and all of its new growth is full and healthy.

the tap water in my airia is quite alkaline so I dont have a problem with my snails(7.2-2.4) :)

by the way I made a mistack with the ph(7.2-7.4