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Mystery snail shells degrading

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Smilecentaur

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I have some mystery snails where the shells are dissolving into the water from what I can tell it is most apparent on my white one (attached photos). Does anyone know the fastest way to help the snails regain their shells? The tank they are currently housed in is planted, there are 4 mystery snails in it and small shrimps. I am having the most issue raising my PH as my water seems to be too soft currently and I do not know the best way to approach it. I'm open to diet change suggestions as well.

Tank Parameters:
20 Gal
PH- 6
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate - 20-40ppm (color was hard to tell difference in test kit)
KH- 1 degree
GH- 5 degree

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!
 

Attachments

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itiwhetu said:
Have you another tank. I have kept these guys in soft water before but they do start to loose their shells. The water needs to be closer to pH 7.
Click to expand...
also need a looot of crushed coral, or cuttlebone, mine seems to degrade if i dont have enough cuttle
 
I have multiple tanks but they all seem to be having issues with keeping the PH up.
itiwhetu said:
Have you another tank. I have kept these guys in soft water before but they do start to loose their shells. The water needs to be closer to pH 7.
Click to expand...
I have a 110 gallon that I just tested and it has a PH of 7.2 but I removed them from that tank because that was the tank that was eating their shells.
110 parameters
PH-7.2
Ammonia-0ppm
Nitrite-0ppm
Nitrate-40ppm
KH- 1
GH- 3
 
Sgooosh said:
also need a looot of crushed coral, or cuttlebone, mine seems to degrade if i dont have enough cuttle
Click to expand...
I have a cuttlebone in both the 110 and the 20 they are currently in but it doesn't seem to be helping.
 
The calcium in shell only dissolves in acid water so to avoid the problem you want your water as close to a PH of 7 as possible or just above it. Unfortunately fish food fertilizers and anything else you treat your water with can affect the PH. IN my tank plant growth consumes nutrients in the fertilizer leaving excess sulfates from the water which pushes the PH down. I resolved this situation in my tank by adding a sea shell to my filter media. it react with excess acid in the water helping to keep the PH very close to 7. It is important to put it in the filter. The high flow though the filter will insure it comes in contact with all the water rapidly. Just leaving a shell on the substrate will not have much if any noticeable effect on the PH. Once the PH reaches 7 you could add a small amount of backing soda to boost the PH up a little bit above 7 to stop the erosion.

Unfortunately there is no way to revers the damage. The snail shell is like your finger nails and hair. It is dead the snail living in it cannot repair it.
 
StevenF said:
The calcium in shell only dissolves in acid water so to avoid the problem you want your water as close to a PH of 7 as possible or just above it. Unfortunately fish food fertilizers and anything else you treat your water with can affect the PH. IN my tank plant growth consumes nutrients in the fertilizer leaving excess sulfates from the water which pushes the PH down. I resolved this situation in my tank by adding a sea shell to my filter media. it react with excess acid in the water helping to keep the PH very close to 7. It is important to put it in the filter. The high flow though the filter will insure it comes in contact with all the water rapidly. Just leaving a shell on the substrate will not have much if any noticeable effect on the PH. Once the PH reaches 7 you could add a small amount of backing soda to boost the PH up a little bit above 7 to stop the erosion.

Unfortunately there is no way to revers the damage. The snail shell is like your finger nails and hair. It is dead the snail living in it cannot repair it.
Click to expand...
What kind of seashell? I don't have a very large filter for this tank would crushed coral in it work instead?
 
I add slow dissolving calcium tablets, the ones meant for turtles, wonder shells, as well as cuttlefish bone. There are also minerals you can add to water before putting it into the tank. The one I use is gh+ by SaltyShrimp, I think.
 
Smilecentaur said:
What kind of seashell? I don't have a very large filter for this tank would crushed coral in it work instead?
Click to expand...
any type of sea shell. The shell is mostly solid calcium carbonate. crushed coral and fresh water shells are also mostly calcium carbonate and should work. not during filter maintenance examine the shell/ crushed coral for erosion. Eventually it will erode away and will have to be replaced.

Circus said:
The one I use is gh+ by SaltyShrimp, I think.
Click to expand...
Gh boosters such as salty shrimp, Seachem Equilibrium will add calcium and magnesium to the water but they are made of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium sulfate, and magnesium sulfate. These dissolve easily in water but they don't have the PH buffering capacity of a shells or crushed coral. Also as plant and animals consume the calcium and magnesium from the GH booster excess chloride and sulfate will be left behind in the water and will push the PH Down below 7 and possibly below 6. I have used GH boosters in the past nd did see my PH drop well below 6 and I used the Shell in the filter to keep the PH at 7.
 
StevenF said:
any type of sea shell. The shell is mostly solid calcium carbonate. crushed coral and fresh water shells are also mostly calcium carbonate and should work. not during filter maintenance examine the shell/ crushed coral for erosion. Eventually it will erode away and will have to be replaced.


Gh boosters such as salty shrimp, Seachem Equilibrium will add calcium and magnesium to the water but they are made of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium sulfate, and magnesium sulfate. These dissolve easily in water but they don't have the PH buffering capacity of a shells or crushed coral. Also as plant and animals consume the calcium and magnesium from the GH booster excess chloride and sulfate will be left behind in the water and will push the PH Down below 7 and possibly below 6. I have used GH boosters in the past nd did see my PH drop well below 6 and I used the Shell in the filter to keep the PH at 7.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the advice, I got some crushed coral and my ph has increased to 6.4 along with my kh to 2.
 
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