Saturday, January 21, 2012

Are sea shells after boiling and rinsing safe to put in a fresh water aquarium ?

i have a freshwater fish tank and i recently got some shells from the beach. i took them home, boiled, and rinsed them before placing them in the tank. what are the chances of contamination? how can i test for salt?

Are sea shells after boiling and rinsing safe to put in a fresh water aquarium ?
Sea shells by the sea shore eh? Sea shells and corals will raise the PH levels in your tank, this can be good or this can be bad, depending on type of fish you keep! Your everyday tetras or barbs (community fish) prefer PH levels in the mid range, Discus like softer water conditions, but Africans love high PH levels, so crushed corals and sea shells from your sea shore are fine! As for testing for salt, don't worry about it, if any is present at all it will be in the smallest quantity and pose no threat to your tank. Your on the right track when boiling and cleaning(no soap!!!) your findings before placing them in your tank! Good Luck!
Reply:The salt should be fine, but they may raise your ph in the tank.
Reply:if you are a good aquarium owner and change 20% of your water weekly the little bit of salt and calcium released from the shell will be negligible.
Reply:you should be fine. boiled water is the best decontaminent unless you want to spend a lot of money on some super duper EPA oil cleanup type quality product.
Reply:No matter what you do with your sea-shells they will always release calcium in your freshwater which in the long run will raise the Ph of your tank and make the water hard. This sometimes could suit some of your fish. If you are keeping livebearers, Puffers, Scats, Monos, gobies, etc then you should be fine. But you're keeping Cichlids, tetras, etc you should avoid sea-shells.
Reply:Should not be a problem unless you are covering a major portion of tank bottom.
Reply:What the others have said is true, however I would not take the chance myself. That is only my opinion. Decorations are a lot easier to replace then Fish. Good luck.


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