"Altum" wrote in message
. net...
Bill Stock wrote:
I've got two snails on the bottom of the tank that lost most of the
colour in their shells. I don't know if they were sucked out of their
shells by someone or if they died from a lack of minerals? Is the loss of
colour an indication of a mineral problem or would they lose their colour
after dying anyway? I suppose the Excel might have done them in too, but
the other smaller snails seem OK. (So far).

Excel kills snails??? Is that why I have such problems with mystery
snails taking strolls out of the tank? My ramshorns seem fine but that
would explain a lot.

My ramshorn snails get light stripes on their shells if they run low on
minerals.

I thought I remembered a post by Elaine talking about Snails and Excel, but
a search did not find it. But I did see a couple of posts by Richard stating
that it would NOT harm Snails. So I guess I'll have to drag out the KH/GH
test kits tomorrow. Failing that, I'll form a line up and ask the remaining
Snails to identify the guilty party. Likely a Cherry Barb, as the SAEs have
never shown much interest in the non-veg food.