Apple snail problem

My apple snails shells are slowly but suely losing there protective shell... It eroding away... Whats going on?

I've read that soft water or low pH can do that. Snails rely on a calcium level in the water and either the soft water or low pH will take away from available calcium to buffer against it, robbing the snails from any calcium to keep their shells.

Check your water hardness I would think, it's probably soft water. My guess is to add CaCo3or some limestone rock/gravel in the tank to help. good luck!

Go to a local landscape store and find a nice decorative piece of either limestone or marble. The snails will consume what calcium they need by scrapping the surface of the rock. Now it will slowly raise the hardness and pH of your tank, so make sure your other inhabinants can handle it.

Absolutely lacking in calcium !! Either buy some snail food with calcium , make some your self , or buy and add liquid calcium to the water .

Okay does home depo or lowes sale limestone? And this added calcium liquid sounds interesting, by some chance would petco or petsmsart carry it?

Petco and petsmart should carry it . If not go to a Marine aquarium shop.

Thank you all.... I have read about my apple snail issue, I even put old shells in there with them, I thought the shells would put calcium into the water... But anyway, I'm going to get some limestone and some of this liquid calcium you speak of... Thanks again :D

mind you, you wont need a lot of the limestone to buffer you tank.

as for your tap water, is it municipal tap water or from a well? you can usually look up on your local water company's website ad see you tap water quality.

I’ve heard this before & think maybe it could be a species thing. I have kept them with a number of plants: Crypts, Valls, Bolbitis & JavaFerns, Anubias, Swords, etc., etc. for almost 3 years & they only seem interested in the dead/dying plant material, algae, & fish food, so have been good janitors for me. I’ve really enjoyed watching the behaviors & the different color combinations that have resulted from breeding, so kind of hate to see them get a bad rep, but I know others have had different experiences. The Riccia was the first they’ve bothered in my tank. There are different species that look very much alike, and some are voracious plant eaters. I pulled the below from an online source, maybe it explains the different experiences? Or maybe they’re just not interested in the types of plants I’ve kept. I’d be interested in any additional feedback.
Thanks!
Stacie

The apple snails are popular aquarium-pets because of their attractive appearance and size. When taken good care of some apple snail species can reach a large size (15 cm / 6 inch diameter in case of Pomacea maculata, sometimes faulty referred to as Ampullarius gigas). Apple snails are in fact the biggest living freshwater snails on earth. The most common apple snail in aquarium shops is Pomacea diffusa (spike-topped apple snail). This species comes in different colours from brown to albino or yellow and even blue, with or without banding. The body of these snails also shows great variation from black to yellow and grey. Another common apple snail is Pomacea canaliculata, this snail is bigger, rounder and is more likely to eat your plants, which makes it less suitable for most aquaria. These snails also come in different shell and body colours. The Giant ramshorn snail, Marisa cornuarietis, although not always recognized as an apple snail due to its discoidal shape, also ranks the popular aquatic pets.