TheEssigs

Ok here is the deal, right....

so a snail needs a ph on the high side to maintain a healthy shell....

so if you put a decent size snail in 10g of 7.0 water, will it eventually begin to lower the ph?

I ask because my snail just grew some new shell and within that weeks time, the ph droped from 7.0 to 6.6?

Is it possible? Or is something else going on? All water parameters are normal (0) with a slight nitrate reading somewhere between API 0-5.0.

Wolfgang8810

sounds like a coincadence. but i do know that snails also need water with a higher kh to maintain healthy shells.

sirdarksol

It doesn't seem like the snail would lower the pH (except by producing waste, which your numbers would suggest you've got under control). The reason snails need a higher pH is that the lower pH would eat away at the calcium in the shell. It's true that they do get minerals from hard water, and these minerals provide a buffer, but I think that, week to week, they really pull a minimal amount from the water.