Snail Care: Cracks in Shell

[Bosemani_vh]

Hello! I'm new to the forum, so please advise if this post belongs elsewhere or I'm missing any post etiquette/info!

Tank Specs:
- 150 gal
- pH 7.8
- Calcium Hardness 150 ppm*
- Water Temp 80° F
- Tank age: many years old and cycled
- Ammonia 0
- Nitrites 0
- Nitrates 10

* NOTE I used my hot tub water test kit to get the exact Calcium hardness ppm. My GH/KH kit is expired. Planning to grab one this afternoon though. Generally my water is fairy hard though and I have some rock hardscape in the tank.

Snail Breed: Purple Mystery Snail
I'm pretty new to caring for snails. I only adopted this Snail back at the end of May, so I'm not sure what's helpful share outside of the fact that it's an adult snail roughly 1in diameter.

Diet: I feel a variety of frozen and flake food for my other fish, for which I'm sure the snail snacks on, however I specifically feed the following to supplement the snail's diet:
- Algea wafers (Hikari brand)
- Vacation fish feeders (I think Aqeon brand, but can double check. I'd read that many of these have supplemental calcium for snails, so I found a brand that had mostly whole ingredients and included calcium)

Ailment/Problem:
My snail has started to develop cracks in its shell that makes the front quarter inch of the shell near the mantel appear wrinkled. (See photo attachment)

My initial assessment would have been low pH or low Calcium based on my research, but these parameters seem to be fine.

Is my pH potentially too high? Other thoughts? Appreciate any guidance or ideas you can share!!

 

[Colin_T]

The pH can cause the shell to dissolve and break up if the pH is too low (below 7.0). However, your pH is above 7.0 and that is fine, so the pH isn't causing this.

Calcium shouldn't be the issue.

Has anyone been handling the snail and dropped it?
Is there anywhere in the tank it might have dropped and landed on a rock or got caught under a rock?
What fish are in the tank?

 

[Bosemani_vh]

It's a large 150 gal tank, so there are certainly places that it could have fallen a fair distance. I'd written that off given most reports I had seen of falls appeared to result in one or two large cracks vs a lot of small cracks, but that's definitely a possibility.

Tank mates include bosemani rainbows, corys, cherry bars, and plecos. On the more aggressive end, I have --

- BGK, he's definitely large enough to eat the snail, but I've had him for years and he's well trained on frozen food. Never had an issue with him bothering other fish that are definitely small enough for him to eat. Still totally possible, but I expect low likelihood.

- Striped Raphael, he's also large enough to eat the snail, but again, I've had him for years and he's never bothered other small prey in the tank and has historically been content with frozen foods.

- Gold Gourami, not large enough to eat the snail, but are know to be bullies, but with having large bosemani in the tank, he tends to school with them and really doesn't display any aggression at all.

- Golden Algae Eater, so this seems to be the most likely culprit if anyone is bothering the snail. I've never had issues with him bothering anyone, but my understanding is that Golden Algae eaters get more aggressive over time. He's definitely a full sized adult, and I've had him 3 or 4 years now. I did catch him sucking on the snail's shell briefly yesterday. I initially thought that might not have anything to do with the cracks, as I'm not quite sure how he would have caused that type of damage, but the snail itself is totally intact and unharmed. It's just the shell that has damage.

I have another tank I can move the snail to though if the Golden Algae Eater is going to be a problem.

Edit: grammatical errors

 

[Bosemani_vh]

Here are a few additional photo angles from this morning

 

[Bosemani_vh]

The rest of the shell and operculum seem to all look healthy.

My understanding is that snails grow their shell from their Mantle, and it seems reasonable to assume that the part of the shell that appears damage is the part of the shell that's been grown since entering my tank (~60 days ago). Which really made me think it has to do with the tank conditions.

I can't find anything other than the small blurb in the attachment, but anyone have experience with too much calcium causing issues with shell development?

 

[Colin_T]

I never had problems with snails in my Rift Lake or rainbowfish tanks. The Rift Lake tanks had a GH over 350ppm and a pH around 8.5. The rainbowfish tanks had a GH around 250ppm and a H close to 8.0. Snails thrived in all those tanks.

 

[Ram419]

I have the same issue with my mystery snails. Colin_T appears to have higher pH. My pH stays around 7.6. I wonder if it's because of our lower pH.

 

[FranciscoB]

That is not a Mystery snail (family Viviparidae). Instead, that is an Apple snail, family Ampullariidae. Related but quite different.
Those are not cracks on the shell. Those are cracks on the peristracum (a layer of mostly organic material, conchyolin, which covers the shell, and of course is also produced by the snails mantle). Very soft, low pH makes erosion of the shell worse, but you have nothing to worry. No supplements needed.

 

[Colin_T]

I have the same issue with my mystery snails. Colin_T appears to have higher pH. My pH stays around 7.6. I wonder if it's because of our lower pH.

The pH only affects snail shells if the pH is below 7.0. Then the acid water starts to dissolve the shell. At a pH above 7.0, the shells won't dissolve.

 

[Bosemani_vh]

That is not a Mystery snail (family Viviparidae). Instead, that is an Apple snail, family Ampullariidae. Related but quite different.
Those are not cracks on the shell. Those are cracks on the peristracum (a layer of mostly organic material, conchyolin, which covers the shell, and of course is also produced by the snails mantle). Very soft, low pH makes erosion of the shell worse, but you have nothing to worry. No supplements needed.

Thanks, FranciscoB! I had only just heard of the term Apple Snail looking around this site the past couple of day, but hadn't looked into it extensively.

If I understand correctly, Apple Snail (Ampullariidae) is a family of snail, of which the Mystery Snail is a species within.

Seems as though they have a lot of commonalities, such has having lungs, operculums, etc.

The differences include:
- size: mystery snails (1-1.5 in) vs Apple snails (3-6 in)
- color: mystery (dark colors) vs Apple (lighter colors)
- diet: mystery (omnivore) vs Apple (predominantly herbivore)

Seems as though while my snail is still within 1.5 inches, the purple coloring likely makes it another species within the Apple snail family. Is that correct? Are there other identifiers to be looking for?

Also even when searching for Purple Apple Snail, I get almost all references for Purple Mystery Snails. That said, the care overview states the average size is 3 inches, which my research automatically disqualifies it from being a Mystery Snail.

That said, I also see that most Apple Snails are not legal to sell/keep in the US (where I live). I'm wondering if this misinformation about Purple Apples Snails is intentional to avoid scrutiny of local conservation laws... I'll take my tin foil hat off now