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Can i put shells i collected from a beach into my aquarium2007-11-24 23:10:43

i found some shells at a beach i was visiting and thought they would look great ontop of a bubble disk. If i cleaned them in warm water, would it be ok to add them to the tank? In the tank i have :

4 platys, 1 gourami and 1 plec

cheers :)

Answers:

Do not put shells from the beach into a fresh water tank.

I have known of people bleaching the shells with a clorox solution and them boiling them in clean water about 10 times to get the chlorine from the clorox out, but then there's the chance that you may not get it all and goodbye fish. To me it's just not worth it. They make beautiful fake shells to go in fresh water tanks. There are many places to buy them. They also sell some real shells that have been bleached by pros who know exactly how to do that.

Good luck.

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yup. definatly boil them first though

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boil them just to be on the safe side you dont want any harmful germs :[

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It's not a matter of germs, there would be no real possibility of harmful germs on the shells. You don;t want to use them though because they can and will change the pH and hardness in your tank. This will lead to problems each tie you clean your tank and do a water change. Far better to leave them out where they will not harm your fish.

MM

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I was told the opposite. That you definitely DO NOT want bleached shells in your tank. In fact, shells from the beach are GOOD for your tank and help keep the amonia levels down and also help cycle a tank faster. You DO NOT want shells that you purchased in a store (for example in a little shop in Florida while on vacation). Those will be bleached with god knows what else on them to make them look nice and shiny.