Hello, I have a few questions on snails. My daughters each have a 5 gallon tank with a single male betta and we add a few snails to each tank. Mystery snails and zebra. Should we be feeding anything to the snails besides the algae they eat of the tank walls and plants? Also on of the zebra snails has white spots that developed less than a week after getting it, is there something wrong with it, or is that normal?

Thanks!

Don't add too many snails to each tank as they are excellent algae eaters and you don't want them to run out of food - that and snails poop a lot, so they mess up the water, lol.

You can drop in an algae wafer for them, and they also eat left over fish food. Zebra snails are herbivores though, so will probably only eat the algae, algae wafers and if you blanch some chunks of zucchini and weigh them down, they will devour those! Just take the zucchini out of the tank before it starts to fall apart. I'm sure the Mystery snails will like zucchini too.

As for the white spots.... Zebra snails leave little sesame seed looking single eggs all over the place. Is that what you mean, or do you mean the snail itself has white spots on it? If the spots are on the snail, where are they - on the shell or the body?

Snails need a fairly high pH, so if your pH isn't high enough, you can add crushed coral to the filter to raise it, or, once a month break off a chunk of cuttle bone (like what you would give a bird) and put that in the tank. (May have to weigh it down or bury it in the gravel a bit.) It dissolves and raises the pH and the snails will also munch on it, which helps with their calcium needs. (Not enough pH/calcium in the water will cause their shells to erode and they will die.)

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Thanks so much for the reply. I have never had snails before so this info is very helpful. I will go to get some crushed coral today. I do have soft water due to having a water softener system on our house. I hope the coral will help. Thanks again!

Hi, i went to Petco and they recommended Calcium Booster by Instant Ocean. They said it is fine to use. It only lists Concentrated Calcium Chloride under ingredients. Is this safe to use in a freshwater aquarium?

Thanks!

Usually chemicals aren't good for pH... it just causes more trouble than it helps. I'd really go with the crushed coral substrate they sell, put some in a nylon stocking and put that in the filter. Monitor pH so you know if/when you ever need to change it and add more.

A piece of cuttle bone with the crushed coral will help too.

If anyone else has any tips for raising pH, I'd love to hear them as well!

Do you know what your pH is?

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