I'd really appreciate advice whether these calcium blocks would be acceptable as a remedy. They are cheaper than the Dennerle sticks. Calcium - Mineral Blocks For - Rabbit Snail - Lobster - Aquarium Shrimp Dwarf | eBay
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My ramshorn snail shells turning white
- Thread starter MrClockOff
- Start date
Simon Cole
Member
They look like they are going to take a while to dissolve. I think your snails would benefit from a bit more zinc and vitamins in their diet, and that you might need something a bit quicker. I used to chuck in some bee pollen so that everything gets a bit dusted. Spirulina also sounds good. I must confess, I used to eat a lot of the bee pollen. I rate it very highly and would not keep snails without it.
PARAGUAY
Member
Any room for a small low energy tank . Can be not too big for snails and a few plants cheap light . Would be a nice little project
I had some bee pollen from a friend for my Long Covid and gave most of it to my shrimps. They adored it. I hadn't realised that contained those minerals. I have spirulina powder and grains. I've been adding it to my Nano in the hope that my sparkling gourami fry would eat it as I don't have the knack of making infusoria – I also have moss in there and hope that there's enough "critters" for the fry. It's good to know that the spirulina is also helping the shrimps. I will add some to my community tank for the nerve snails. And I will get some more bee pollen; it's rather lovely watching it sink slowly in the tank, like yellow snow. I also dose APF plant food so I was surprised the ramshorns did so badly, after having been an infestation. Thanks for the advice, very helpful.
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Simon Cole
Member
Pollen is one of those things that I used to just chuck in some of my unmanaged glass-bottom tanks. Before long I had copepods going up the glass, some sort of freshwater chamber limpet (Ferrissia (Pettancylus) clessiniana, possibly), and a complete colony of tubifex worms that all appeared out of nowhere! I was over the moon. It was like Christmas. Who thinks you can grow tubifex in the bottom of a tank.
I found that the key to growing daphnia is to get a few in some buckets and add spirulina powder, letting it sit on the surface and sink over time. So I think with infusoria, you might as well try collecting some muddy plant roots from the garden, this should be crawling with the critters - try this with some rainwater, spirulina and a source of sugar to see whether you get a culture; I would even try bee pollen, but the key is to avoid chemical contaminants and wet unmanaged soil is a great place for them. Underneath an apple tree on damp ground there should be an abundance. The green vegetable methods probably doesn't work because they are bleached and washed, and especially due to the persistence of insecticides in commercial plant leaves.
I'm not sure what sprucing powder is?
Pollen is beyond super-food. It is so packed full of vitamins and minerals, the results are unbelievable. It feeds everything at the bottom of the food chain and this works it's way up to larger organisms, but my fish eat it sometimes too. I'll even add it to the water just to get a strong balance of beneficial bacteria. It's like what they say about gum disease in humans, if you have enough of the right guys, they devour and outcompete the bad microbes. I rarely get sick fish and my filters probably benefit. To a snail, it must be like going on a performance superfood diet. They are going to love it. It should have lots of zinc to help their shell growth.
I found that the key to growing daphnia is to get a few in some buckets and add spirulina powder, letting it sit on the surface and sink over time. So I think with infusoria, you might as well try collecting some muddy plant roots from the garden, this should be crawling with the critters - try this with some rainwater, spirulina and a source of sugar to see whether you get a culture; I would even try bee pollen, but the key is to avoid chemical contaminants and wet unmanaged soil is a great place for them. Underneath an apple tree on damp ground there should be an abundance. The green vegetable methods probably doesn't work because they are bleached and washed, and especially due to the persistence of insecticides in commercial plant leaves.
I'm not sure what sprucing powder is?
Pollen is beyond super-food. It is so packed full of vitamins and minerals, the results are unbelievable. It feeds everything at the bottom of the food chain and this works it's way up to larger organisms, but my fish eat it sometimes too. I'll even add it to the water just to get a strong balance of beneficial bacteria. It's like what they say about gum disease in humans, if you have enough of the right guys, they devour and outcompete the bad microbes. I rarely get sick fish and my filters probably benefit. To a snail, it must be like going on a performance superfood diet. They are going to love it. It should have lots of zinc to help their shell growth.
Simon Cole
Member
That's quite funny. When I googled it I got a dried powder from the tips of spruce trees of Nordic forests used as a detox, or the dried powder of brassica sprouts which I think must have been a failed translation.
Did you know that magnesium behaves in a funny way when with calcium levels because both cations compete and can displace one-another. I do think a good snail diet is the way to go. Hon he hon.
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Karmicnull
Member
@Simon Cole how much be pollen do you add? I'm now adding a few granules a couple of times a week in my 75L soft water tank to help the snails, but I have no sense of whether that's too much or not enough.
Simon Cole
Member
That's wonderful. I would say that if you took either a 5p coin or a penny and used that to scoop out the granules in small pile than you would be somewhere close to the sweet spot. If you have a measure for a 1/4 heaped teaspoon, then it's a wee bit less. It doesn't matter that much whether it is just a few granules or a big pinch, my experience is that the whole aquarium ecosystem springs to life and the wackiest things start growing and thriving. In addition to several species of copepods, tubifex and limpets, I achieved good populations of daphnia, nematodes and something ciliated swimming through the water column. It was bonkers. You want it to just lightly dust your rocks, plant leaves and substrate in a few patches somewhere in your aquarium for your snails to find. It will also end up in the slime that your sails are feeding from. If you can get it to sink and form a patch on a glass-bottomed tank or use a glass feeding dish then that is fairly ideal, but some will sink between substrate granules and feed other living things. If you find that it is not settling where then snails can find it and you wanted to ensure they consumed it directly, then I would be tempted to get a tub, fill it shallow with some aquarium water, add lots of slate and put in on a window sill (because the days are getting longer). Then put in a teaspoon of pollen and let that get absorbed into the algal slime. Then lean that slate against the back pane of your aquarium glass for the snails to feed from. You could also try rubbing it into some cucumber or avocado and see whether they find it. Nevertheless, even if disappears and it looks as if your snails haven't found it, it is still adding vitamins and minerals to your whole tank microbial community, and as this works it's way up the food chain, your snails will get more nutrition.
Blanched nettle tops also have loads of zinc and other minerals and I always collect the flower tops for use with invertebrates. They are ideal for shrimp and a lot cheaper than boiled broccoli, which is something else I really rate. You can pack your freezer full of nettle tops and flowers. Roll then into little balls after they have blanched and add them to your freezer. If you find a big patch to harvest then it is food for months or even years. Good for humans too.
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Karmicnull
Member
Perfect, thanks! I have 1/4 down to 1/64 - one of the many unexpected aquarium related purchases I've made over the last couple of years.
It already is 😀 . Nettle tips, sweet potatoes and courgettes...
