Recently it has come to light (thanks Ken!) that the peat I have been using for the last few years in my snail tanks may, in fact, be acidic, which could be why my snails often have white 'worn away' patches on their shells. Although I'm sure the peat has not harmed the snails themselves (they all seem happy and healthy!) I have decided to give chipped bark a trial run.

This week (from 1 April 2000) I have changed over to some rainforest substrate from PetsMart. It's a lot more expensive than the peat (about £8 for the 'large' bag, which nicely covers two of my big tanks), but I am hoping that instead of chucking it out when I clean the snails, I will be able to wash it clean and re-use it. Things I will be looking out for over the coming weeks are:

• Does it help with the mite problem, ie can they (the mites) survive and breed as well in it?
  
• Does it go mouldy, and does it hold the damp conditions well?
  
• Do the snails like it? Do they bury? Do they seem 'happy'? Are they laying eggs?
  
• Will my baby fulica/tigers grow up with better shells?
  
• Is it easy to clean and re-use?
  
• Does it keep the snails and tank cleaner - ie no peat stuck on their shells, the water bowls etc etc
  
• Is it hygenic? ie can I remove food/eggs easily without loosing too much substrate?

As and when I have answers to the above, I will update this page, so pop back soon! If you have any comments on this, please let me know .. I'll try to post any advice/experiences people want to share on this page!

January 2002

Well isn't this the most out of date update in history! ;-) Basically I have gone back to peat, I went back a few months after starting the bark, and the answers to my questions above are as follows:

• Does it help with the mite problem, ie can they (the mites) survive and breed as well in it? It did help with the mites, I have to admit.
  
• Does it go mouldy, and does it hold the damp conditions well? Not so much mouldy, but the water tended to 'pool' underneath, and it started to pong a bit!
  
• Do the snails like it? Do they bury? Do they seem 'happy'? Are they laying eggs? Yes, they did lay eggs, but not very well, they couldn't bury so easily, and the eggs seemed to lack the support/moisture/warmth that the peat supplied.
  
• Will my baby fulica/tigers grow up with better shells? Not too sure, didn't seem to make an awful lot of difference.
  
• Is it easy to clean and re-use? One word ... No!
  
• Does it keep the snails and tank cleaner - ie no peat stuck on their shells, the water bowls etc etc Snails were slightly cleaner, but not by much really!
  
• Is it hygenic? ie can I remove food/eggs easily without loosing too much substrate? Nope, big pain in the bum, and very expensive stuff to throw away!

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Text and photos © copyright Annette K Goodman, 2000/01/02/03/04. Any part of this information may be printed off and used by individuals for non-profit purposes only, as long as the appropriate acknowledgement of authorship is noted.