Mystery Snail Losing Shell?

[newmag1659]

I have 4 mystery snails in a 5 gallon vertical with my betta, Cheesecake. Temp is about 78 degrees F, parameters are 0/0/15. pH is around 6.4. Soft water around 50 ppm.Betta is fed daily, but the tank is fully planted so I only feed the snails every 2-3 days. They get homemade snello, which has high calcium baby food, gelatin, powdered calcium carbonate, and fish flakes. They all seem to love it and their shells have improved for it, except for Truck, pictured below. She recently laid her first clutch and ever since her shell has deteriorated exponentially. Is she going to be okay? Do I need to put her down? She’s been with me for over 6 months now and I’m quite attached, but I don’t want her to suffer.

 

[Essjay]

No. I have a 9 year old nerite which looks much worse than that and it is still active in the tank.


Edit to add - see this thread https://www.fishforums.net/threads/zebra-nerite.459859/

 

[StevenF]

It is shell erosion due to acidic water. The shell of snails has too layers. There is a thin outside layer that is made of a material similar to hair for finger nails. Under that is the white shel which is mainly made of calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate will dissolve in acidic water. The outer lay protects the calcium carbonate layer. As far as I know snails cannot repair this damage. The shell will continue to deteriorate until the snail can no longer survive.

Your PH of 6.4 is not strongly acidic but it is enough to do damage. It may take years to kill the snail or it could happen very fast. Ideally you want to keep your ph as close as possible to 7 to avoid this problem. A PH level higher than 7 will not damage the calcium carbonate shell. I was able to stabilize the PH in my RO aquarium by placing empty snail shells in ny filter. The shells will react with any acids in the water and will push the PH up to 7. This will not push the PH above 7. My PH is stable at 7 all the time. Coral is also calcium carbonate and willl also work.

When plants and animals absorb nutrients the chemistry of the water changes and this can push the PH up or down. GH boosters in my experience combined with plant nutrient consumption cuases the PH to drop. Since I am using RO water I have to use a Gh booster. I have seen it drop to as low as 5. In soft water the PH can instead go up due to plant growth and potentially push the PH to about 8 or 9.