Liquid Calcium For Snails

[Phaedra]

I've noticed my Mystery Snail's shell has some sort of damage to it. It looks a little like he's been banged up. Upon further research, it seems I need to add some calcium to my water for him, but as I have other critters in there (ADF, Amano Shrimp, Fancy Guppies in a 10g) I want to ensure that buying a calcium supplement won't harm the other tank mates.
I was considering Kent's Liquid Calcium, which I've read good things about, but can someone offer some other suggestions that would be safe as well?
I've recently read that you can add baking soda to the water, as well as egg shells. Are there any good links that detail how to use these properly?

Edit: I forgot to mention that he's also taken to sitting at the bottom of the tank for lengthy periods of time. I know that they do tend to do that (according to applesnail.net), but I can't help worrying. I keep thinking he's dead!

 

[three-fingers]

Unfortunately, once a snails shell is corroded, it will not fix itself, no matter how much calcium you add to the water.
What is the pH in your tank? Liquid calcium would only be a good thing for the species you have mentioned so far, since the inverts would appreciate it and the guppies like a high pH, the liquid calcium would raise it very slightly.

Baking Soda is not that great in my opinion, but it can be useful, see my post here for details how to use it properly (in the link) and why I don't like it.
Egg shells work...but a much much better option is shells from the beach - they look nicer too.

If your snails shell is corroding because your water is acidic, then adding liquid calcium will be no help, it doesn't raise the pH that much in the recommended doses so the shell will still corrode.

 

[Phaedra]

Thanks so much for the reply three-fingers.

It doesn't look to be actively corroding, more like a light dusting all over his shell.
PH, last time I checked was at 7.4, but I will check it again since it's been a while.
7.4 indicates the water isn't acidic, right?

If I were to add egg shells, what is the process for that? Boil them first? Don't boil?

Edit: I actually read your post before I wrote this one up. Since I hadn't heard anything about adding sodium bicarbonate to the water before that, I thought I would do some further research.

Edit 2: PH is showing at 7.6

 

[three-fingers]

If the pH is at 7.6, that is alkaline which is good for snails. Adding a calcium supplement would help if you wanted, I find eggs to be rubbish, but if that's all you have, just boil the shell and make sure there's no egg on it before putting it in the tank .
This light dusting, are you sure it's not just algae growing on the shell? Is there any other snails in the tank?

 

[GoldLenny]

If you don't want your water as hard or alkaline, you could also feed them calcium rich foods. A list is on this page... http/www.applesnail.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3988

You can also drop a piece of cuttlebone (like used for birds) in your tank and the snails will eat right off of it.

 

[Phaedra]

If the pH is at 7.6, that is alkaline which is good for snails. Adding a calcium supplement would help if you wanted, I find eggs to be rubbish, but if that's all you have, just boil the shell and make sure there's no egg on it before putting it in the tank .
This light dusting, are you sure it's not just algae growing on the shell? Is there any other snails in the tank?

It doesn't look like algae... The only way I can think of to describe it is it looks like I imagine it would if the cells were "drying", leaving a white dusting over his shell. Not all of his shell is affected, but most of it. It's lost all of its shine too. There are no other snails in the tank.
I'm so mad at myself, I went to the petstore yesterday specifically to get some calcium supplement and shrimp pellets. The pellets took so damned long to find that I completely spaced on the calcium!

I can only think that the culprit would be lack of calcium. Although now that I'm thinking about it, Bento did suffer a bit of shell damage when Darby (my Betta, which was in the 10g until this happened) attacked him and bit off his antenna.
I wish I had my camera, I'd take a picture for you. I've done a web search to see if I can find a picture of a similar condition, and the closest I can find doesn't allow direct linking.
Try going to google image search and typing "apple snail lack of calcium". The first image that comes up, titled "... so because Ampullariids or apple ..." looks a little like it.
Thanks for your help three-fingers, I appreciate it.

If you don't want your water as hard or alkaline, you could also feed them calcium rich foods. A list is on this page... http/www.applesnail.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3988

You can also drop a piece of cuttlebone (like used for birds) in your tank and the snails will eat right off of it.

Great link! Wow, this forum is awesome. I didn't realize applesnail.net had one!
I was looking for just such a thing yesterday! I have spinach on hand, but I'm not sure what the process for feeding him vegetables is. Should I just tuck it under some rocks in the tank, or dangle it right in front of him after blanching it?
Maybe I'll get some cuttlebone then. Thanks for the tips!

 

[three-fingers]

It doesn't look like algae... The only way I can think of to describe it is it looks like I imagine it would if the cells were "drying", leaving a white dusting over his shell. Not all of his shell is affected, but most of it. It's lost all of its shine too. There are no other snails in the tank.

Hmm, from the picture and description, It sound's like you do have acidic water .
However if the test says you don't, you probably don't . Still, may want to try it with another test kit .

Is it an old snail? If your water isn't acidic, but still doesn't contain lots of calcium, then the shell could have grown kinda weak and show symptoms like this over time.
Liquid calcium will do nothing but help, so it's worth adding, but It wont fix the appearance of your snails shell, once it's gotten like that it cant fix itself.

The reason I asked if there was another snail in the tank, is that the other snail would be cleaning your snails shell. Try taking your snail out the tank and gently wiping the shell with wet tissue, see if the white dusting maybe flakes off - worth a try I guess lol .

 

[Phaedra]

As far as I can tell, Bento isn't old. I've had him for three months or so, bought from my LFS.
At first I thought it was just "scuff" marks from when he falls off the decorations and into the gravel.
I tried wiping the shell gently and it had no effect, so apparently it's not algae or some other... thing. I should have done something for the calcium months ago. I didn't realize it was so vital for snails. Since my PH doesn't seem to be acidic, the only thing I can blame is lack of calcium and my own ignorance.
I don't mind if his shell looks strange as long as he's healthy. Poor little guy. I'm going to the pet store asap.

 

[three-fingers]

Well a lack of calcium in snails isn't something we usually have to worry about, tap water should contain enough, as long as the water isn't acidic it's not really a problem. I'm just puzzled as to where/how he's getting these marks.

 

[Phaedra]

Hmm. I didn't know that. I wonder if it has something to do with the damage to his shell from Darby biting him.

Here is an older picture of him, right after losing his antenna. You can see the damage to his shell.

Wait, I take that back! His antenna is there! And you can see the little bit of his shell in the picture (just over his right eye) where the shell is missing! Now I can't remember if this was before Darby had a snack. I know it grew back really fast and I don't remember him having that before, but I could be wrong...
Gah! I wish I had more pics!