cuttle fish as a calcium supplement for apple snails.

hi Dirk

i have an apple snail that has recently laid eggs twice and whose shell is going white, i suspect this is from a calcium deficiency, coupled with the stress of egg laying, as many sites mention that they need calcium supplements too grow properly. i researched it and some sites recommend using cuttlefish as a supplement for terrestrial snails, i was wondering if i can use the same for my apple snail. the snail is in a 250L community tank with danios,platys,mollies, cories and a betta, would the cuttlefish affect them adversly? ill be buying one from a pet store and it should be fine if i wash it, maybe with boiling water? one site did mention that it would affect the pH of the tank, is this true?

i have no idea what my pH levels are in my tank and have never used a test kit on any of my tanks as i find the kits in the pet shops expensive, could i use the kit my mom uses on our ponds?

one question leading to another here, i have watersprites in my tank and am finding that they are sending out roots on some of the leaves. why is this? and is it a normal trait for this plant? im not really complaing as i get new plantlets but the leaves below the roots look unhealthy and ugly. is this some sort of survival mechanism due to lack of nutrients? lastly is it possible to split amazon swords as one would split agapanthus? meaning a few leaves with some roots attached? im currently fertilizing daily with Bio-Elite aquarium plant grow and monthly with tetra plantamin. the tank is a new setup and has been running about a month with inhabitants for about 3 weeks.

thanks Bronwyn

 

Hi Bronwyn,

In principle cuttlefish shells do add calcium, but apple snails will not eat the cuttle fish shell. You need to add calcium to the water, although Pretoria does have some calcium in the water as it is. You could add some shells to your filter which will dissolve as calcium carbonate into the water. This would influence the pH in the upward direction. You could also add my plant fertilizer as this does add a considerable amount of soluble calcium directly to the water. My plant fertilizer does NOT influence the pH.

You could try the kit that your mom uses to check the pH.

Water sprites normally produces roots from the leaves and produce small plants on the leaves in order to multiply. This is PERFECTLY normal.

Only, if you have two distinct growth points on sword can you split them. If you just split a plant that has one growth point from which is pushes leaves then it will die.

My experience with Bio-ELite plant ferts as well as plantamin only is that this is insufficient as an effective plant fertilizer. You need a balanced fertilizer such as is contained in my Dirk secret drops fertilizer. Contact me by PM if you would like me to send you some.

Kind regards,

Dirk