Cuttlebone in a tropical aquarium - bad idea?

[Megan2022]

Hey,

So I have picked up some cuttlebone from my trip to the beach yesterday as I vaguely remember it being a good source of calcium for my nitrite snails.

Obviously it's been in salty water so is it a bad idea to put some in a tropical tank after cleaning it?

If it's not a bad idea what's the best way to clean it?

I've got African dwarf frogs and know they absorb a lot through their skin so don't want to harm them.

Thank you!

 

[MaloK]

I don't think the soaking in salt water will be of any concern, the bacteria and other things it could host might be.

I would sand the exterior a bit and boil them to disinfect completely before putting them in.

If it is for a couple snail or invertebrate, use pieces that are still big enough not to be swallowed by the frogs. and don't put much. Depending on your current PH it could harden your KH and cause rise.

ADF are on the more acidic side and prefer a lower PH, If your Nerites are doing well and don't show sign of deficiency, I would probably skip it.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have a bag of crushed coral, I have shrimp and snails in tanks and will drop a bit of this into those tanks. I have one 75 gal with a ton of plants, amano shrimp and assassin snails. It burns though the GH cmponents of which calcium is one. The plants uise the things as well. In that tank when I do a water change I add some SeaChem Equilibrium to the fertilizer mixed in a 1/2 quart of water I add as I refill the tank.

Guaranteed Analysis Amounts per 1 g
Soluble Potash (K2O)	23.0%
Calcium (Ca)	8.06%
Magnesium (Mg)	2.41%
Iron (Fe)	0.11%
Manganese (Mn)	0.06%

Derived from: potassium sulfate, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, ferric sulfate, manganese sulfate.

Thismight be more than you need because it is not just calcium. It is generally used to raise GH and/or remineralize RO water. I dose it in a smallish amount so I am not worried about a significant bump in GH.

 

[Colin_T]

Unless it still has some of the dead cuttlefish on it or it has animal or bird waste, it's fine to just rinse under tap water and add to the tank.

There is unlikely to be anything bad on it because it has been in seawater, which kills a lot of things, and sunlight also sterilises things.