Safest way to get pH up - Mystery Snails

I'm in the process of cycling a tank (and finally starting to see the beginnings of a positive result!) and I've hit another bump in the road. I'm finally in control of my nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia levels, and since I've been using a bio bacteria booster (Fluval Cycle) to help the cycle, I decided to switch from prime to amquel plus last week because the bottle specifically says it doesn't harm beneficial bacteria. I used it for two days in a row, and it honestly seems to have helped...but it crashed my pH. I was at around 7.5 before and I'm down to somewhere around 6.8. Lesson learned...back to prime. My local pet store doesn't carry crushed coral, so I can either order it from amazon or I can pick it up next Thursday at a pet store out of town (going to make an airport trip, so it's on the way). Even amazon will take two or three days to get it to me. Is there anything I can use in the meantime, other than just doing water changes to get it back up? I put a cuttlebone in my tank tonight and I'm still planning on buying the crushed coral, just hoping there is something I can do for a few days until I can get it here.

Short version: My pH dropped and I can't get crushed coral for a couple days. Is there anything I can do before then? I want my little guys healthy.

 

Egg shells are a viable alternative, just clean the egg out of them, break them up, and put them in a media bag.

 

I actually saved a bunch today! Should I still boil them first just to make sure they're safe? I usually boil them, powder them in the blender, and add to my snail jello.

 

Or limestone. You can see if your local farm supply has tiny chips of it for chickens. That and crushed oyster shells should be there.

Another option is to call your local landscape supply and get limestone from them. There are decorative choices but 1/2" road base will do just as well.

OR, and this is probably the easiest option, add in some baking soda

 

I live in Florida, three miles from the beach...but I'm nervous to add oyster shells because I'm afraid of possible contaminates. I know the shells from the pet store came from similar places, so I don't know why I feel so strange about it.

I like the baking soda idea...but is that something you can safely add to a tank of four snails? Is there an amount per gallon? (10g tank) Or would I need to add it into separate water, wait, and then do a water change? Never heard of that, but since it dissolves I feel like that could work quickly.

 

I've used baking soda with snails before as an emergency measure to correct pH. Better than having an acidic environment I should think!

 

I've used baking soda with snails before as an emergency measure to correct pH. Better than having an acidic environment I should think!

This is kinda what I was thinking, since it's 1am here and everything is closed. I don't want them to sit like that overnight if I can help it, and especially not for a few days. They all seem to have such nice shells and I really don't want to ruin that while waiting for shipping.

 

I'd go for the egg shells personally, but yes, I'd boil them. There's a ratio that's safe for baking soda as long as it's not ongoing, but I honestly don't remember what it is and it always scared me to do, which is why I would go for the shells.

 

Since I have the eggshells ready, I'm going to do that now and see if it helps. I did a water change too, which hopefully will raise it some - the pH in my water is snail-friendly. If I don't see an improvement, I'll check back. Thanks for all the help!

 

Keep us posted! Also, do you happen to have a kit to test GH and KH currently? If not, you may want to pick one up when time allows, since that is likely why the pH crashed. How are the little guys doing in their new home?

 

So far, so good! Everyone is active and they go to town on cucumbers and snail jello - they'll be trying broccolI tomorrow, I just got some today

I have the API master test kit, but it doesn't do GH and KH. I'll check amazon and see about buying one.

When I woke up this morning, I didn't have any improvement in pH and my most outgoing snail looked like he was starting to make some stress slime so I took a long drive to a pet store out of the area and picked up some crushed coral. I've got about a half cup of it in a media bag in their tank now, just playing the waiting game to see if I'll end up needing to add more. My big guy isn't sliming anymore, but the coral has only been in a few hours so my levels are still low.

 

Yep, it's a game of finding the right amount for the tank. Glad to hear there's no more slime

 

I ended up having to double the amount of crushed coral I originally put in, so it's just sitting on the bottom of the tank in a filter sock. I'm checking my pH on and off to make sure I didn't overdo it. I'm almost back to a 7, so I still want a gradual rise but at least they aren't in acidic water now.

After sliming most of the morning, my big guy hid in his shell all day. Finally came back out a little bit ago and he's active again. I'm so relieved.

 

Yay! So happy to hear it. I personally ended up just giving up on keeping the coral separate and mixed it in with the substrate for my tanks (well, for one it's the entire substrate).

I'd love to see pics of them happily exploring the new home

 

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I can't offer any real advice, but if it helps you are in good company regarding the Amquel/Prime issue. I used to used Amquel and also suffered a huge pH crash which killed my betta. Afterwards I did some research and found this was an issue that others had suffered as well. Since switching to Prime, I've not had any problems even though my source water is not exactly optimal for a fish tank. I also use crushed coral as a buffer and while it has raised my pH but not the GH/KH, I am confident that I won't suffer another crash. It's just something I must always be aware of and regularly monitor. I would highly recommend you purchase a GH/KH API test kit - it will help you to fine-tune your ratio of crushed coral and also provides a wealth of information as to the 'health' of your tank. To be forewarned is to be forearmed - best to be able to take steps to control what you can and not be blindsided down the road. I'm glad your little mystery snail dude or dudette is active again.

 

I have a really low tap ph around 6. My test kit won't register any lower. Perfect for the discus I used to keep. However, after replacing my tank for a smaller (35 gallon) I have decided to keep a small collection of tanganikan cichlids. This is the complete opposite side of the ph spectrum and so far its goin great. I have used a substrate called "aragamax" its boosted my ph to 8 and held it so far. I ll combine this with cichlid salts and eather perfect ph or bicarbonate soda at a measure of 1 ml per 1.5 gallon during water changes. Just some things ive learned.

 

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I can't offer any real advice, but if it helps you are in good company regarding the Amquel/Prime issue. I used to used Amquel and also suffered a huge pH crash which killed my betta. Afterwards I did some research and found this was an issue that others had suffered as well. Since switching to Prime, I've not had any problems even though my source water is not exactly optimal for a fish tank. I also use crushed coral as a buffer and while it has raised my pH but not the GH/KH, I am confident that I won't suffer another crash. It's just something I must always be aware of and regularly monitor. I would highly recommend you purchase a GH/KH API test kit - it will help you to fine-tune your ratio of crushed coral and also provides a wealth of information as to the 'health' of your tank. To be forewarned is to be forearmed - best to be able to take steps to control what you can and not be blindsided down the road. I'm glad your little mystery snail dude or dudette is active again.

Thanks! I'm on 'vacation' after my shift ends on Thursday so I'll be going out of town to pick my long distance boyfriend up from the airport. The town with the airport has a few specialized fish stores we're going to, and I've got a little list of items I want to find if I can. I have the GH/KH kit on my amazon saved list in case I don't find it there.

(And off topic, I've seen all kinds of pictures from one particular store and I am SO excited. Locally, most of our pet stores are chains and fairly generic. I'm hoping to add about two other plants to my tank and maybe some kind of little cave or tunnel shaped decoration. Plus, they specialize in exotic fish and critters so it'll be like a mini-aquarium trip.)

 

Just to mention before you find something you really love, be prepared to take the cave/tunnel out depending on the size of the entrance... they can and will get stuck. So something they can play in now, then you may need to take it out once they get bigger, and the put it back once they're big enough that they can no longer even attempt to get inside.

My oldest recently managed to completely wedge herself into my spider wood, and has suffered some damage that I'm hoping she will heal up as a result. (I had to put decent pressure on her shell to get her lose and have now wedged a rock in there to prevent it from happening again...)