I came across an interesting thing called "Snail Jello". It seems like a good idea. Can anybody tell me if anything in it will hurt my Betta, Cory Cat, Oto Cat, or Clown Pleco? (they are all in the same tank)
Some of the bigger snail species cannot simply survive off of algae, or live plants. They need extra nutrition to stay happy and health. A popular, homemade recipe for snail food, that uses gelatin, is called snail jello. This recipe basically consists of a bunch of fresh vegetables, baby food, and calcium additives blended together, heated, and then solidified.
Basically, you want to find vegetables that are high in calcium, but low in phosphate. The calcium will help form a healthy snail shell. Phosphate encourages algae growth, so it needs to be limited. You can find lists comparing the calcium to phosphate online, at other sources. Some good ones are: collard greens, spinach, and zucchini. The baby food should just be a small jar. Look for 4% or higher calcium and low sodium/sugar. You can also add any fish food. I like to add some flakes and a bunch of veggie and catfish sinking wafers. I just scrape some calcium out of cuttlebone and add it to the mixture. Some people have had success with Jurassi- reptical powder without phosphorous. You also need a packet of gelatin, with no sugar and no coloring.
So, the process of making the snail jello: open the baby food, and pour it into a blender. Clean all your vegetables, and chop them up. Toss them into the blender as well. Use a meat cleaver or similar device and to break up the sinking wafers and then put them into the blender as well. Add one teaspoon of Jurassi-repitcal powder or some powder scraped from a cuttlebone. Turn the blender on high. Add a little bit of hot water to mixture so that the mixture gets a consistent texture. Pour the mixture into a microwavable bowl and microwave the mixture for 1-2 minutes, or until warm. Then GENTLY, SLOWLY add a little bit of gelatin and stir slowly and evenly. Repeat until all the gelatin has been used. Do this carefully and slowly to avoid forming clumps, or airbubbles. Airbubble will make the jello float, and make it inaccessible to the snails. Once the gelatin has been added, put the mixture into a Tupperware container and put it in a fridge for 2-3 hours. After 2-3 hours, take the jello out and cut it into small blocks. Now you can keep in the freeze almost indefinitely, or for up to one month in fridge. Once you are ready to fed your snails, take the jello out and let a piece thaw out before adding it to the tank. After a few hours in the tank, anything left should be removed. Keep in mind that snails are somewhat nocturnal and feed during the night.
