Snail Food and Mineral Rocks

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nirbhao

Aquarium Advice Addict
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Sep 28, 2016
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Michigan, Metro Detroit
I'd like to help my snails have pretty, shiny shells. I've been reading around and am curious as to any insights about SunGrow (or any other) mineral rocks.

I've also read that Ken's earthworm sticks are great for shiny shells. The problem is that wheat gluten is the third ingredient!

Gluten doesn't hurt the snails. I'm not concerned about that. However, I lost an organ to celiac disease, and so I steer clear of gluten entirely. My critters are very spoiled and get either frozen food, fresh fruits and vegetables, or homemade stuff. So homemade it is.

My question then is what ingredients help with the shininess? Is spirulina important? Should I add straight up vitamins? Thoughts?
 
I do not know the answer you seek but I wonder about remineralizers for shrimp for example. The ones used with RO/DI water to get the specific quality of water for the critters kept.

People who have hard water usually have snails with pretty shells.

I do not know that a mineral rock is like a magic bean. Maybe it is in the eating off of it??? There are advantages of a healthy diet but adding minerals to the water should be of similar importance. Hate to spend a large chunk of $$ on the stone if not necessary. I have not used it yet but have been told Salty Shrimp is a really solid brand.

Will be interesting what develops from this topic.
 
When I first started with snails my water was too soft I could see pitting and dullness. I fed tons of high calcium foods. But until I got my ph over 7.2 and constantly kept it there or a bit higher it did not stop. Once the damage is done to the outer shell I don't think it will ever go away. The key for me was the next generation not having the demineralization occur.

Lower ph really pulls the minerals out of their shells. At least for the mystery snails. I never noticed a big impact on ramshorn or MTS.
 
My pH has averaged 7.4 since mid February, so this really is looking forward. It took some effort, but I got there!

So many people talk about earthworm sticks, though, that I feel like I must be missing something.

Fun fact: ramshorn shells are made out of chitin, so they actually won't have shell erosion in low pH water.
 
Never knew that about other snail shells!

I haven't heard about worm stick either. I need to get out more....
 
My Nerite has erosion in the inner rings circle like the beginning of its shell /center, now gone like a pinhead size, very sad, rest of the shell looks okay atm.

PH is around 6.7, sometimes less, occassionally more. kH 0-.5 naturally from the tap. NO bueno for snails. Though the RH are doing pretty well.

Interesting tidbit on the RH shells.
 
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