Dead / Outgrown Snail Shells

stoneagedinosaur

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Hi folks

I have (what seems like) 100s of baby apple snails. They're doing a great job of keeping the tank clean. :good:

However, there are quite a few old snail shells lying at the bottom of the tank where they have either outgrown them or the assassin snails have got lucky. I actually quite like seeing the snail shells in there - they add a bit of interest to the substrate.

Question is - do they affect any of the water parameters? Do they break down and change stuff?
 
Snails shells are made mainly of calcium carbonate, with small amounts of various proteins and minerals, aquatic snail's shells have a thin layer of protein (Periostracum) on the outside to protect them from dissolving/decaying in the water, however this will slowly come of when the snail leaves its shell for whatever reason then the shell will start dissolving, raising your waters hardness as the calcium carbonate dissolves. You may find that you have problems in the long term.
 
Snails dont leave their shells, the shells extend as the snail grows. A empty shell means the snail has died or, as you said, been eaten.
 
the volume of water in the tank will be too great for the shells to affect anything
 

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