Mystery Snail Calcium

[NeptunesMom]

I know some of you give your mystery snails calcium. How do you do this? What do you use?

[shellieca]

Oh I LOVE my snails!! I do 2 things, I bought liquid calcium which I add once a week or when I think about it & once a week I feed them a veggie like cucumber, zucchini, or kale. Some people put cuttle bone in the tank.

[Maddybelle]

I add crushed oyster shell to their tank (okay, they're technically overwintering in a wastebasket) plus the food I feed them has added calcium. Beautiful, seamless shells!

[NeptunesMom]

Is is okay to put cuttlebone in with bettas? My Charlie's shell has gone black and white (which he is supposed to be golden). Can I put crushed oyster shell into the tank with my betta? What do you feed them? Mine have always just eaten the live plants in my tank. They will not eat waffers.

[Maddybelle]

Cuttlebone has a nasty tendency to rot and grow fungus, so I wouldn't use it. Charlie's problem sounds quite odd: could you post a picture? As long as you keep an eye on the pH, crushed oyster shell should be fine in with a betta. I just mix it in with the regular substrate. I feed mine guinea pig pellets and veggie sticks I got off of Aquabid, I forget the name of the seller. Mine aren't too fond of algae wafers, either.

[NeptunesMom]

Here is a picture. The very front of his shell (by the hole he goes into) is very white. And then the circle swirly part is white too. There is still some yellow, but there is black streaks (like veins) running all over the shell. They are everywhere. He keeps chilling upside down, and I keep thinking he's dead. I take him out and sniff him, and he doesn't smell dead. Then I put him somewhere and he moves. But, each time I look in there he is still upside down, just in a different location. I did see him eating on the moss ball a few days ago (something I've never seen before). It was only briefly, and then he went back into his shell upside down.

[Maddybelle]

The white around the lip of his shell is new growth, the white on his spire is erosion. As for the black bits, I'm thinking that its just accumulation of debris/algae in grooves in his shell. The laying upside down all the time isn't good: mystery snails only eat live plants when they're starving, and being upside down and drawn inside the shell like that is a sign of stress. I'd get that boy some boiled zucchini pronto!

[NeptunesMom]

Everything I read on mystery snails said they eat vegetation. That is all I have been feeding him for almost a year now since he won't eat the waffers. What is the difference between zucchini and plants? Is it just that it is boiled? Should I be offering him boiled vegetables? There is a winter storm right now, but I have spinach in the fridge can he eat that? I can probably have my mom drive me to the store later tonight in her truck if necessary.

Should I remove him from the 10 g tank? I have a 2.5 g quarantine tank I could put him into that until he is acting better?

[Mandy Pandy]

Mine likes Spinach! :D

[Maddybelle]

They'll eat dead or dying vegetation: their mouth parts are too weak to eat healthy, tougher leaves unless they really have to. There are other species in the same family that will eat any plant you put in front of them. These usually get huge and don't come in different colors. Boiled veggies are great snail food! I'd go ahead and move him to the 2.5 and get just a pinch of the spinach for him. He'll probably be okay until the storm is over. =)