angel eyes
Member
to make a long story short, a friend of mine picked up some seashells of the beach in the south pacific, can i use these to decorate my fish only saltwater tank? or will some of the old sand inside the shells be dangerous?
to decorate or not to decorate w real stuff
- Thread starter angel eyes
- Start date
ktwheet
Member
I recommend against it. I bought sea shells to put in mine and have regretted it ever since. All they do it collect detrius and make my tank look bad. I am trying to phase them out, but now that all my live rock and everything is in there, I can't seem to get rid of them. The one good thing about them was when I had a sand sifting goby in my tank. He used them to build himself a castle in the middle of my tank. He had like six entrances and it was ten inches tall. VERY cool. But since he committed suicide, all the shells do is collect dirt.
mr . salty
Active Member
Couldnt you just boil in water to sterilise, Then put into the tank. Would curing in saltwater grow whatever is in the stuff, then you would be introducing possible bad stuff to your tank? Just a thought. STEVE
broomer5
Active Member
Agree with Mr.Salty - Toss them in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes.
I have several "nice" small seashells in my tank, and figure if you keep it to a minimum, would be okay. Most of mine are just flat shells, would think that the coiled up ones like snail or those huge conk (sp) shells may harbor some nasty stuff inside, but boiling should take care of it. Seashells are just part of natural system, and will slowly breakdown over time and add a little calcium to the water.
Broomer
I have several "nice" small seashells in my tank, and figure if you keep it to a minimum, would be okay. Most of mine are just flat shells, would think that the coiled up ones like snail or those huge conk (sp) shells may harbor some nasty stuff inside, but boiling should take care of it. Seashells are just part of natural system, and will slowly breakdown over time and add a little calcium to the water.
Broomer
angel eyes
Member
thanks for the advise and infor!
mr . salty
Active Member
I have two large conch shells I got off the beach when I was at Grand Cayman. I cleaned one up and put it in my tank, my tang loves to sleep in it. He's there by 10 oclock every night.And comes out every morning. STEVE
angel eyes
Member
Mr.salty, when you say cleaned them up, did you mean that you simply boiled them or did you just scrap out the old sand?
mr . salty
Active Member
I did try to clean it up first. Whatever didnt come out was sterilised when I boiled it. Worked great. STEVE