BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Snails & bettas - question re: calcium supplements

Hi all,

I'm new to the wonderful world of snails. Just got a gold apple snail the other day to keep my betta, Earl, company in his 2 gallon bowl.

Where I live, the water is quite soft. My ph is naturally 7.2. I hear anything lower than a ph of 7.0 for a snail is a bad thing.

Anyway, if anyone has a snail, how do they give them calcium supplements? Do you just dissolve an oyster calcium tablet in the bowl where they live? Is the betta harmed by this? Any ideas?

I have had hard water so I don't know about calcuim supplements. You mght want to drop a self-feeder block in there from time to time. Those are made from calcium and are designed to go in fish tanks. I actually use them for my bottom feeders as treats anyway.

Ooooo....good idea Jilly, thanks!

Did some research at applesnail.net. Man oh man, are they ever NUTS about their snails! And a font of useful information to boot! Gleaned some good info from their forums on my question re: calcium supplementation for my new snail, Sluggo.

Here's some info I got:

There is a difference between adding calcium carbonate vs. just calcium. Calcium carbonate will add calcium, plus will boost your PH (snails like more alkaloid water, which makes sense). Just calcium will add calcium, and will not affect your PH levels. Kent Marine Liquid Calcium is good for calcium carbonate (which I just bought today - I'll letcha know how it goes).

Got some good feeding tips too. Apparently, a good idea is to get a bunch of veggies and fruits which are high in calcium (i.e. spinach (though there is some controversy there - apparently there's some chemical in spinach which "binds" the calcium, making it inavailable for bio absorption), kale (very high in calcium), and various fruits), wash the veggies and fruits (duh), stick 'em all in a tupperware container, add about 3 inches of aquarium water, then plop your snails in and let 'em chow down to their hearts content. Over-feeding is apparently not much of an issue with snails. This method both keeps your aquarium water from fouling, and keeps fish away from your snail so they can eat in peace.

I'll try this out this weekend and will letcha know what happens!

Huh, I never thought of that. That is pretty cool. I want to see your Tupperware O Snails at play!

I just put my lettuce in a clippee and let my carrots sink to the bottom (doesn't last long enough to foul the water!), but then again, my snails have their own tank with just two goldfish to provide variety (goldfish don't bother snails).

Well, tried that Snail Salad trick - Sluggo seemed to enjoy it immensely! I gave him a variety of kale, spinach and fresh dill weed (also rich in calcium), blanched it all, and put it in a little tupperware container with a couple of inches of aquarium water. Popped Sluggo in, and he munched away for a few hours while I cleaned his and Earl's bowl (no, it doesn't take me that long to clean a fish bowl.....just wanted to give him lots of feeding time <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />).

After that, I just plopped him back into his and Earl's bowl.

What a great idea Jk ! They must have thought they died and went to heaven..(if snails can think that is..)

Neat-o! I am going to have to do that one. I love snails - watching them glide around the tank is so peaceful.

I wonder how snails would do with Dart frogs ?? It might be fun to have a big land snail in the tank with them..but then, I don't want worries of the snail sneaking up on the frog while he's sleeping and eating the poor thing !

Don't laugh..check this out..!

surprising video

whoa! that was creepy, creepy creepy! brrrrrr!