Shell looks weird on my apple snail.

konstargirl

Hi. My Apple Snail Gary shell looks all weird now. He has cracks on his shell and I have no idea why. Can someone help and tell me the problem so I can fix it? Thanks. I'm assuming thathe probably doesn't have enough calcium in him so just curious.

Heres a picture of his shell how it looks so far:

bettababy

Are the cracks deep and go through the entire shell or is it surface cracking and peeling?

Have you tested GH & KH to see how hard your water is? If not, that would be something I'd consider. Also, what other animals are in the tank with the snail?

Can you please post tank stats such as water temp, how big the tank is, how often you do water changes, how much water each time, water params for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH, and also what foods the snail is getting? The more info you can offer the easier it will be to help you.

konstargirl

I don't really have a test kit of KH or GH. He;s house with 3 platies( one is a 3 mnoth old female Platy) and 2 juli cories. The temperature is currently around 74-77 degrees. I'm at school right now so I'll test for ammonia nitrite and nitrate later. IT was like that for a long time. The cracks are like infront of him as seen in the picture.

bettababy

Can you also try to get a larger, clearer picture to post? The one already in this thread is too small and blurry to really see what you're talking about.

iamntbatman

There are two types of shell erosion that are common: pitting, which is usually caused by the snail being kept in acidic water that slowly dissolves the shell from the outside, and cracking, which is usually the result of the snail not getting enough calcium to grow its shell properly. It'd be helpful to post those numbers but it certainly wouldn't hurt to offer your snail a diet more rich in calcium. You can use something like Caltrate calcium supplement pills.

konstargirl

Wel here are my test results from yesterday up to today:

Yesterday

Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

I did a 20% water change yesterday. Unfortunaly thats the best pic I can give you. If I put it on flash, the picture won't look right. Like I said, the Ph is at 7.6 and and his shell was like this since. So It probably the lack of calcium that is in the water.

Todays:

Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0.25
*Nitrate: ???

*I did not test for that one yet. My tank was running since August of last year.

konstargirl

Here are the updated results with Nitrate.

Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 20

I juist did a 22% Water change and tommrow I'm going to test it again and to see if I have to do another one. Also, I rinse the filter cartrige and a little bit of the inside today with old tank water really good. I haven't change it in 4 months.

bettababy

Are there any fish in this tank? If its just the snail in there, you could easily add a mesh bag of crushed coral to your filter, add a couple of natural seashells to the tank, or a piece of honeycomb rock. All will help raise the calcium level, but doing this will also raise hardness in the water. I warn of that because if there are fish in the tank, you will want to be sure they can handle those new conditions, and you would need to test hardness regularly. The crushed coral in the filter is the easiest to regulate because you can add more or less depending on where you need it to be.

I'm not so sure I would suggest adding the Caltrate or other calcium pills. It would be much more difficult to regulate the right amount to keep it at a safe range. That form would dissolve quickly and raise levels in the tank quickly, which is dangerous to any animals. Adjustments should be made slowly.

iamntbatman

I've used Caltrate before with no problem. It doesn't seem to raise pH or hardness that I can detect but the snails love to eat the pills as they fall apart.

konstargirl

@bettababy: I just answer that queston that if he's hoised with fish. And I said He's house with 3 platies( one is a 3 month old female Platy) and 2 juli cories.

And how I supposed to get this Crushed coral. :/