I do this as a way of trying to avoid calcium issues in the inverts I have. I have pure dolomite calcium/magnesium tablets from the pharmacy. I either poke them under plants or throw them in for the inverts.
I find my snails and shrimps gravitate to it and eat the whole thing over a couple days, the snails especially.
you think this is okay? I have been doing it for a while in all my tanks.
You have to balance your snails needs against your plant/fish needs. Just keep an eye on everything. If it's all growing and working fine, then don't worry. Some plants actually prefer harder water.
thanks for the input. I was just wondering because within 30 minutes of the tabs going into their respective tanks, the shrimp and snails were on it like decepticons to an energon cube. I must note that one snail has grown a fair amount of shell since it was in my tank too.
This is a really interesting discussion for me because I lost a whole tank of snails and shrimp mysteriously a year or so ago and my current snails seem to be losing portions of their shells. I have some egg shells left over from breakfast. How should I prepare them? just wash, rinse, let dry and crumble and drop in?
Eggshells, what I did with my pigeon when he was a baby, was bake the shells then powder them into a dust. A shrimp snail breeder on another forum said she drops in calcium tabs or makes snail cookies. A couple others report they add calcium tabs to their tanks too as it (keeps the calcium out of the water) Interestingly, those tabs I dropped in last night are all gone. the shrimp and snails ate it all.
So go to a Pharmacy look for calcium/magnesium tabs (dolomite) and drop one in every now and again.
I havent given my shrimp or snails eggshells. i do have strong growth in my snails shells..they have a large menu to choose from. I need to try out egg shells.
I am watching in pure amazement tonight at my snail growing its shell.....
I took this Photo tonight as it seemed to have developed a hare lip during its last growth spurt. I took the photo below around 4 this afternoon. Now at almost 9:30 that dent is almost filled in with new shell....I am stunned. I had no idea they grew that fast.
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