assassin snail / possible shell erosion

good afternoon.
I had emptied all the fish out of my 56 gallon tank, intending to close it down.
problem is, i have a bunch of rock with TONS of craters, and dozens of MIA assassin snails.
i had babies and didnt know.

now onto the issue
i am now running this tank for the snails only.
for the sake of ease, i will call it big momma, appears every now and again.. and her shell has no more black swirl, it is only white, and a large part of it, now appears to be slightly translucent.
parameters:

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
PH 6.8
KH 120
GH 150

i toss a few bloodworms in each day, everything else got moldy.

any advice?

i had never intended to raise snails, but apparently.. i am.
i could use help.

I would put a piece or two of cuttlefish bone in your filtration system. I prefer it to be last stage of the filtration. Just in case the carbon(if equipped) might reduce the effectiveness of the calcium from the CF Bone. You can buy it in most pet shop. Usually shop that sells birds. I used it on my tanks and my assassin never loose the stripes and all my ramshorn looks solid and darker.

Do not overfeed especially you know it get molds. I
MTS and Ramshorn Snails are good food.

im quite familiar with Cuttlebone i have birds.
so do i rinse it? do i need to watch out for anything?
and just place in the filter? like, on top by the bio beads?

Oh, and my friend is bringing over some pond snails tomorrow, a couple dozen, that oughtta help
right?

I too have had erosion issues with snails. From what I have learned this past year our waters are soft and acidic. A low PH of 6.8 in combination with everything else erodes shells. I have had success using a calcium/algae block. I will break a block into small pieces and put it into my tanks with snails about once a week.  I think Zoo Med makes them. These blocks also provide other nutrients to help keep snails healthy.

Oh i just noticed ur avatar was a bird. I would rinse it quick. Just in case theres dirt or insect. Yes i have hob filters and i put it in between my carbon and my biofilter. Some people anchors it down directly on their tank. And snails loves it. I am scared to do it because i have shrimps and it may be to much for them. I tried dropping a piece and within 10-15 mins. The snails and shrimp gather around and on it.

Pond snails are good as well. The first Assassination i saw from one of them. The victim (ramshorn) was 3x bigger than the assassin and the assassin just ate the ramshorn snail and left the shell clean!

Add some crushed coral. It's the pH that is eroding your snail shells.

I like to go high-tech with an issue like this - Seachem Alkaline Buffer to bump up the KH and Seachem Equilibrium to boost the GH.  I shoot for a dKH of 8 and a dGH of 8 in tanks with livebearers or snails.  This generally keeps the PH up (KH) and provides enough calcium (GH) for shells.

But in your case, both your KH and GH are pretty decent (dKH ~6.7, dGH ~8.4).  I think your only problem (like others have mentioned) is the low PH of your water - this can be bumped up with baking soda or something like Seachem Alkaline Buffer.  

Your PH being so low with a dKH of 6+ speaks to excess organic waste in the water (nitrogen cycle produces acid).  You could try thoroughly cleaning the tank, but artificially raising the KH is likely much easier and less disruptive. I don't think crushed coral will be as effective as baking soda or seachem alkaline buffer to pull the PH back up, but I don't have any direct experience modifying PH with crushed coral.

thank you for all the advice, everyone!
I really like this site, local people
PBmax - question, all I have in the tank is snails at this time, and did a 50% water change 2 weeks in a row, first because the last 2 fish were moved, and the second to replant some foliage - its a tall tank and i have short arms lol.
but, even before that the nitrates were always good, and the amount of fish to gallon ratio was fairly small.

When you say low ph is indicative of having lots of organic waste, could that mean there are ton more snails than I originally thought?

A man who helped me with tanks before was always trying to help me get my PH down.

Also- when i add the seachem, do i do it slowly? or is a jump in ph going to be ok for the inhabitants,

OH, and because this post is already random - when i do water changes, ALOT of the snails come out, and crawl along the glass. my tap ph is 7.6 could this raise in PH bringing them out because its more comfortable?

and why would the ph drop down so low right away, when tap is 7.6?

sorry for all the questions

crowsmuse wrote:
PBmax - question, all I have in the tank is snails at this time, and did a 50% water change 2 weeks in a row, first because the last 2 fish were moved, and the second to replant some foliage - its a tall tank and i have short arms lol.
but, even before that the nitrates were always good, and the amount of fish to gallon ratio was fairly small.

When you say low ph is indicative of having lots of organic waste, could that mean there are ton more snails than I originally thought?

Driftwood can cause this, so can certain substrates (amazonia, etc.), and so can excess fish food, a lot of fish or invertebrates dying, things like that.  Lots of snails means overfeeding.  As Cory often mentions, it's more important to focus on what you're putting into the tank than what is already in there.  In this case the "damage" was done a while back and whatever it is that's pulling the PH down is likely in the substrate.  It'll process out eventually, but until it does it'll pull the PH down.

A man who helped me with tanks before was always trying to help me get my PH down.

Also- when i add the seachem, do i do it slowly? or is a jump in ph going to be ok for the inhabitants,

Follow the directions on the container.  That said, it's always best to ramp up slowly when modifying your water.  I've found shrimp to be particularly sensitive to changes in GH, though not KH as much.

OH, and because this post is already random - when i do water changes, ALOT of the snails come out, and crawl along the glass. my tap ph is 7.6 could this raise in PH bringing them out because its more comfortable?

My mystery snails do this as well after water changes now that I'm on city water as opposed to untreated well water (they switched us a few weeks ago).  I use prime when I do water changes so I'm pretty sure it's safe for them, but something in the water must not be terribly comfortable for them at first.  They settle down by the next day.  I don't know why this happens; maybe someone else can chime in?

and why would the ph drop down so low right away, when tap is 7.6?

sorry for all the questions

This happens because the acids in the water overcome the buffering capacity (bicarbonates) of the new water to a certain extent.

Yeah, shame on you for asking questions...    We're all here to learn, help others, and enjoy our hobby. Kudos to you for trying to improve the quality of life of your snails!  

thank you so much!
fish are such new territory for me.
Birds were a life changer, but once i got them down, easy
fish.. seems like that changes every day and also based on who you talk to.. what to do, whats happening.. it is scary.

I also add prime to all water, I do over add, usually too, as per instructed by a friend.
he says its safe with prime, just not with other water additives.

ok so the overfeeding, that raises an age old debate for me.
i understand overfeeding when it comes to nuisance snails, is that the same for assassins?
also - i was feeding once a day (told it was too much - to do once every 3 days) is that true?

then i read to feed only what i could SEE them eat in 3 minutes. which i do for the fish, but i cant do for the snails (scared me a little when someone said that if they are starving they will eat each other?)

i wasnt sure what to feed the snails so i tried everything.
they didnt touch anything that i put in there, and it molded up, i woule vacuum out twice a week.
until i used the blood worms, i drop about 8-10 in now.

for my algae eaters, i drop the wafers in, they usually don't find them right away.
the shrimp find them first, i worry a little that the pleccos aren't eating enough.

crowsmuse wrote:
ok so the overfeeding, that raises an age old debate for me.
i understand overfeeding when it comes to nuisance snails, is that the same for assassins?
also - i was feeding once a day (told it was too much - to do once every 3 days) is that true?

Assassin snails will not explode in numbers due to over-feeding if that's what you're asking. They're not terribly fast breeders, so that's not a worry, but you should always try to limit food in order to improve water quality. This is sometimes easier than others. I tend to over-feed in tanks where I have fry - sometimes this causes PH drops that I have to deal with.

then i read to feed only what i could SEE them eat in 3 minutes. which i do for the fish, but i cant do for the snails (scared me a little when someone said that if they are starving they will eat each other?)

i wasnt sure what to feed the snails so i tried everything.
they didnt touch anything that i put in there, and it molded up, i woule vacuum out twice a week.
until i used the blood worms, i drop about 8-10 in now.

Yes, snails are more difficult here. I feed red ramshorn snails and Ken's veggie sticks with calcium in the tank where I have the most assassins; I imagine the shrimp get most of the veggie sticks. I rarely see my assassins, so I can't comment on what they prefer more than others.