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What’s this white stuff on my snails

Raws69

Member
Joined
5 Oct 2020
Messages
173
Location
Essex
Hi

bought a few nerties and noticed these white patches on a few of them. Anything to be concerned with? There’s two in the picture.
 

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Hi all,
noticed these white patches on a few of them. Anything to be concerned with?
It is shell erosion. Snails can only make <"new shell material at the mantle">, once new whorls have grown in front of that shell portion the snail can't repair it. If you have soft water (or your pH drops below pH7 during CO2 injection) then it will get worse and eventually kill the snail.

If you have hard water, where the pH <"never drops below pH7">, then it will remain the same and not get any worse.

cheers Darrel
 
don’t know if these ones do it, but its not uncommon to steal CaCO3 from other snails shells when they come across them, if it is deficient itself. People keeping giant land snails stick in things like cuttle bone to try and stop it
 
Hi all,

It is shell erosion. Snails can only make <"new shell material at the mantle">, once new whorls have grown in front of that shell portion the snail can't repair it. If you have soft water (or your pH drops below pH7 during CO2 injection) then it will get worse and eventually kill the snail.

If you have hard water, where the pH <"never drops below pH7">, then it will remain the same and not get any worse.

cheers Darrel
So how do people keep snails and run high tech tanks with co2? I’m in Essex with hard water, but recent co2 profile in my other tank shows drop to 6.7 (achieving the 1 point drop from 7.7)
 
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