Something is wrong with my Nerite's shell

[JemZ]

It's gotten worse and worse over the past couple of days, I'm assuming it's some type of mineral deficiency?

 

[Sgooosh]

yes, get a cuttlebone and wash it and put it in, get crushed coral, marble chips/limestone chips, not sure about this but egg shell
any of these work, personally i'd go with cuttlebone+coral+limestone
get your carbonate levels high

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Does it look fuzzy?

 

[Sgooosh]

Does it look fuzzy?

if it's fuzzy its algae and that's fine, just brush it off in a container

 

[JemZ]

Does it look fuzzy?

I just felt it and it feels hard, a very similar consistency to the mineral buildup around the edges of the tank

 

[JemZ]

yes, get a cuttlebone and wash it and put it in, get crushed coral, marble chips/limestone chips, not sure about this but egg shell
any of these work, personally i'd go with cuttlebone+coral+limestone
get your carbonate levels high

Will these work with a platy in there?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I just felt it and it feels hard, a very similar consistency to the mineral buildup around the edges of the tank

Does it look like someone chipped off the color of the shell? Or is it just on the surface?

 

[JemZ]

Does it look like someone chipped off the color of the shell? Or is it just on the surface?

On the surface, it feels almost like mineral buildup

 

[Utar]

You should always know two water parameters, your water source, and your aquarium water. If you have a low kh then that is bad news for snails are any other type of invertebrate that needs calcium for making shells. kh is the measure of free calcium in your water, so it would help to know the kh of your water.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

On the surface, it feels almost like mineral buildup

If it’s mineral build up, it’s possible he went above the water line for a while and the water dried and left a calcium deposit. I catch mine going above the water line all the time.

 

[JemZ]

You should always know two water parameters, your water source, and your aquarium water. If you have a low kh then that is bad news for snails are any other type of invertebrate that needs calcium for making shells. kh is the measure of free calcium in your water, so it would help to know the kh of your water.

I don't have test kit that reads for kh.....I will look into one

 

[JemZ]

If it’s mineral build up, it’s possible he went above the water line for a while and the water dried and left a calcium deposit. I catch mine going above the water line all the time.

I think it could be this also, he usually goes out of the water to poop, usually under the filter or anywhere on the side. Good deduction skills PK!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I think it could be this also, he usually goes out of the water to poop, usually under the filter or anywhere on the side. Good deduction skills PK!

Glad we figured it out!

 

[Essjay]

kh is the measure of free calcium in your water, so it would help to know the kh of your water.

GH is the measure of calcium and magnesium, KH is the measure of carbonate. To be strictly accurate, KH is the measure of the buffering capacity in the water but as carbonate is the main buffer found in tap water KH is in paractice the amount of carbonate. It gets confusing as the unit is "mg/l calcium carbonate" but it isn't actually measuring calcium carbonate, just how much acid it takes to drop the pH to 4.5.

If the platies in the tank are healthy you probably have hard water as they are hard water fish. If you do have hard water, it won't be mineral deficiency.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

you probably have hard water

Which would explain why the water left so much calcium on its shell, after it dried.