White tip to assassin shell

[marnold00]

Hey,

One of my assassins has a white tip to it's shell. It was like that when I got it (only I think it's getting better now). The two assassins were free from my LFS, and both came from the same tank. One of them is spotless, but this dude has a white tip to its shell. Wondering if it was due to being in water that's too soft? They're now in water thats pH7.4 and GH/KH around 8. As I say, I believe it's getting better - and he is growing! Just wondering! They've done a terrific job with the pond snails I love these two guys, only the one with the white tip more because he's always active.

 

[nic1]

He needs more calcium to harden his shell. I feed my snails a calcium block called 'premium mineral block' from Aqualibra from eBay- it doesn't change the water parameters and is made from naturally occurring calcium, you can buy the right size blocks for your water volume.
They do need hard water to draw in the minerals, in soft water they need a supplement, I have soft water and use these and my snails are doing fine now. Before I got the blocks my snails where a sorry patchy white mess, they crawled all over these blocks when I first used them and they have grown much faster than before although the damaged shell is still whitish, the new growth is fine.

 

[marnold00]

Thought that was the case. As i say, theyre both growing nicely and the one in the pic is looking better than when i got them just intrigued!

 

[thrujenseyes]

He needs more calcium to harden his shell. I feed my snails a calcium block called 'premium mineral block' from Aqualibra from eBay- it doesn't change the water parameters and is made from naturally occurring calcium, you can buy the right size blocks for your water volume.
They do need hard water to draw in the minerals, in soft water they need a supplement, I have soft water and use these and my snails are doing fine now. Before I got the blocks my snails where a sorry patchy white mess, they crawled all over these blocks when I first used them and they have grown much faster than before although the damaged shell is still whitish, the new growth is fine.

Reading this makes me happy that they can survive and thrive after having the spots.
My nerite has a white tip also and it was from soft water that I was unaware I had (my home softner needed calcium and I only realized after my tank went bonkers).
My water is now back to normal with ph and hardness up.
I'm glad to know my snail can now thrive

 

[marnold00]

He (or she?) has doubled in size since ive had him, and the shell just looks healthier. When he was new it was very chalk like in colour. Ill have a look to see if i can find a pic.

Its still white now but nowhere near severe

 

[marnold00]

Im gonna test the waters with a couple of malaysian trumpet snails... Theyre meant to be good for the tank - just hoping my assassins dont start eating them until they reproduce...... Although that sounds really cruel

 

[StevenF]

The white tip is shell erosion due to very soft water and or acidic water. GH is a measure of calcium and magnesium in the water. You gh is high enough that your water and PH is neutral so it should get any worse. Although I don't think it will ever fully disappear.

I think the only way you could get trumpet snails to last long enough to reproduce is to put divider in the tank so that the assassin snails cannot reach the MTS. if the divider is a metal screen the MTS can do their business and the young can spread out. That might give the MTS time to establish. note there is no way to determine the sex of the snails so there is no way to insure you get one male and female. Buying 4 would insure you get at least one female.