Snail with cracked shell

[Danio8]

I've got a 20 gal tank with 2 nerites and I used to have a Mystery Snail who died recently (it was about 7 months old but it also had a crack in the shell that developed maybe a month after I got it.). Today I noticed a crack in one of my nerites. It is still active and moving around like normal. My Ph is 8.2. Should I get some sort of calcium booster? Here are pictures of the cracked Nerite and the shell of the Mystery Snail.

[Colin_T]

With a pH of 8.2 you shouldn't need to add anything to stop the shell dissolving unless the GH is 0ppm. Then you should look into a Rift Lake water conditioner used to raise the pH, GH & KH of water for African Rift Lake cichlids.

The fact 2 snails have had cracked shells in a month might suggest there is something going on in the tank that is damaging the snails or they are being mishandled by someone.

Is anyone else going into the tank?

Do you take the snails out when you clean the tank?

What fish are in the tank?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

[Danio8]

I think you might be misunderstanding a little. The mystery snail’s shell cracked about 6 months ago and the nerite’s has cracked only very recently. The crackings were maybe 5-6 months apart.

I do not take the snails out when I clean the tank

I believe the gh is normal because I got an api gh and kh test kit but I will test again later today when I am available.

[Danio8]

In the tank there are 4 zebra danios, 2 GloFish tetras and a female Platy. I know I need to add to the number of danios and tetras.

[ADsnail]

Mysteries can sometimes crack or chip because they like to climb on high places and tumble off the edge. It's a fast way to get around, and it's fun! I've seen mine do it repeatedly, like kids going back around to jump off a rock.

I haven't seen nerites do this, so there must be another reason. Perhaps a fall, or getting wedged in somewhere and maneuvering to get out?

They can repair these small cracks themselves.

[Autumnsky]

Curious for a KH reading. With that pH it should be doing well unless the calcium is too low.

Today, we just watched all 3 of my MS is one tank climb up and then release and kind of float glide down. And head towards & start climbing up again.

A hunk of plain Cuttlebone and using a calcium rich food like Hikari Crab Cuisine, and supplementing their diet with calcium rich veggies. Others have made a "snello"
jello-esque food from an assortment of things. Usually includes Rapashy.

[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by Autumnsky

Curious for a KH reading. With that pH it should be doing well unless the calcium is too low.

Today, we just watched all 3 of my MS is one tank climb up and then release and kind of float glide down. And head towards & start climbing up again.

A hunk of plain Cuttlebone and using a calcium rich food like Hikari Crab Cuisine, and supplementing their diet with calcium rich veggies. Others have made a "snello"
jello-esque food from an assortment of things. Usually includes Rapashy.

I agree with with this. Look at snail diet. The shell won’t strengthen due to minerals acting externally. The snail builds the shell from resources it takes in. If the rate of degradation exceeds the rate of repair then the shell will deteriorate.