coral skeletons in tank

[ivy2dw7]

I'm currently at the beach and I'm seeing a lot of stores that are selling dead coral skeletons. I was wondering if it's safe to put this type of thing in my tank and if it is how I should go about cleaning it so that nothing on it will hurt my tank. Most of them are white/white-ish but there was one that was kind of blue. I'm not sure if they painted it or what but it'd be nice to get some feedback on what to do. I'd rather not buy something and then have it destroy my tank Thanks.

 

[jjlittle]

they are ok just make sure you boil them first for a little bit to clean them of toxins

 

[ophiura]

Well, I'm always wary of some stuff sold for souvenirs. You just don't know what they've done to it. If you found it at a beach, then you could soak it in a bleach solution and rinse rinse rinse. I guess you could give that a go.
Just remember - it will not stay nice and white, and will need to be bleached frequently to stay that way. This can weaken the coral skeleton over time and cause a lot of breakage, whereas the pieces that are now made for decor are a bit more solid and withstand that "punishment." So I wouldn't spend large amounts of money on it, personally.