Well my clueless younger brother thinks that the ramshorns aren't pretty enough or something, so he came home from Wal-Mart one day with five Golden Apple Snails (They have trapdoors so I am not sure exactly what they are). I told him that he needed to take responsibility for his actions (He is 14) and look up how to take care of them at applesnail.net, so of course he doeasn't. So I am left to take care of them after weghing heavily on my conscience for about three days. They are all about quarter size and I have checked all of my lfs and none of them have liquid calcium, cuttlebone, or crushed coral. Eggshells are out of the question since I don't want my goldies cutting their fins on sharp edges. So would it be allright if they got all the calcium strictly from veggies, and if so how often would they need them? Are the only veggies high enough in calcium Kale and Zucchinni? I tried giving them some cucumber slices earlier today but even with a veggie clip they floated, what should I do?

Please if anyone could give me some answers, I'd greatly appreciate it!

well, apple snails in a pond would probably work out, but theyll munch down your plants....

almost all LFS(petco/petsmart) have liquid calcium, your best bet, its in the salt water section....

theyll probably avoid the veggies if they ahve other live plants to nibble--er i mean destroy!

Well, I guess I could check again this weekend for the liquid calcium. I thought as well that they would go for the plants, but they don't seem to be bothering the apanoganton (<sp?) plants (Which don't seem to be exactly thriving) and the only other plants in there are a bunch of healthy floating hyacinths which I don't think are accessible for the snails. I actually asked reasonably knowledgable employees at two lfs if they had any cuttlebone, crushed coral, liquid calcium or anything else with calcium in it for snails and felt rather foolish as they all looked at me like I was stupid and said, "Usually people are wanting to get rid of snails, not feed them." Then they gave me those white rocklike things called weekend feeders or something and said they were like 35% calcium but I am not sure if anything even ate them as they seemed to dissolve into the water. My brother is such a dork he drives me crazy .

Some people do use the feeder blocks in the water for the calcium. Smack is right though,just about all fish stores have a Saltwater Section,and the liquid Calcium would be there. I personally use Kent's. Well,if your Apple Snails are Gold Brigs,then your plants should be fine.The only time you see them eating plants,is when they don't get enough of veggies,or you have plants that are rotting.Cana's will definitely eat the plants eventually.Don't feel safe with the fact that you think the snails can't get to some of the plants because they will always find a way. What is your Normal PH reading for your Pond? If it's 7.5 or higher-then other than the high Calcium veggies,you won't even need the liquid Calcium.There are alot of different food/Veggies that you can feed the snails.I feed them something everyday with calcium in it.Even if it's Turtle Pellets.(Anotrher good Calcium source) If you cut your cukecumbers,& microwave them in a little bit of water for about 40 secs. to a minute,that should keep them from floating.

Thanks for the help Devs, these snails really grow on you, yesterday I just layed down with a snail in my hand and watched it open up its door and start sliming around my hand, it felt so neat! My PH is 7.8, thanks I will definetely check again for the liquid calcium, but I have a question about that. If it's a drop per 5 gallons and my pond is like 540 gallons then I have to put in 108 drops every day?

That's a lot of drops. You'd run out very quickly.. I don't know how it works in a colder-water (I'm assuming) pond. Usually people with snails in ponds don't care much about them.

Cuttlebone is a bird supplement. I can find cuttlebone and liquid calcium at my local Petco. I don't know if you have one (or a Petsmart) around, but that's where I go. I've got a super fish shop near me but they don't carry calcium either.

You can bury your eggshells if it comes to that. Stick them under a rock or something where they'll still dissolve but not be exposed. Oh! I just got an idea! You may be able to somehow attach them to the filter (I don't know how it is in the pond though, I'm thinking of tank filters) outflow and have the water run over them that way; dissolving them but not a danger to the goldies. *shrug*

Your brother sounds like me... I went to the store and got my first snails when I was 14 too. But then again... I took care of them.

If your normal PH for your pond is 7.8,then all I can say,is Lucky you!!! As long as it is stable at that number,you really don't need the liquid calcium. You can still feed the calcium enriched veggies/Turtle Pellets/etc. They definately do grow on you ,that's for sure! I really enjoy mine much more than I ever thought possible. Good luck,and if you can,you'll definately have to post pics of your pond & your Snail Buddies!!!!

man, water with a regualr PH of 7.8

i swear, the water here is pure acid! straight from the tap its about PH 6.0 wow....

I'm with you on that one Smack! Ours reads around 6.8 normally!

Devs, I just posted some pictures just for you on the "Your Goldfish Photos" forum. There's even one of one of the snails.

Cool!!! I'll go check them out!

must be the pittsburgh water LOL