Cleaning Sea Shells

[mantella]

Bake, boil or something else?

 

[Man of fish]

Don't put them in your tank as they are made of calcium which will I raise your ph. And possibly give off something harmful to your fish.

 

[mantella]

Depending on the pH of the water of the house I will be moving into in September I will get either a shoal of Dwarf Pencilfish or a group of 1m2f Shelldweller cichlids. The shells will only be used if I end up with Shelldwellers. Shellies like a pH of 8.2-8.8 so a high pH is not a worry of mine (unless the shells will raise it well above 9). They also like hard water (again not a problem unless the shells will REALLY raise the hardness). FYI, I would be adding a LOT of sea shells as they will make up about half of the total decor.

Shelldweller's live in old snail shells that carpet the floor of Lake Tanganyika in Africa. The shells I am collecting are coming off a local beach (oyster and clam), and as so they are not the true natural habitat of of the shelldwellers. Rather then spend a bunch of money on shells I thought it would be better to collect some shells from a beach and buy some shells from the store to get essentially the same habitat for cheaper.

Do Shellies require snail shells (cave like) or are they OK with open shells if I stack them properly?

 

[Lufbramatt]

Shellies need snail shaped shells, size depends on the fish, smaller juvenile ones are happy in shells about an inch accross, but my larger males will only use big marine turbo shells about 3 inches accross. Use the round ones not the long tapered type as the fish can get stuck in them.

I've used a mixture of escargot snail shells and marine sourced shells for ages with no issues at all. If you have hard water already they don't dissolve much if at all so nothing to worry about. One or two of the escargot shells I've had in the tank for 2 years now look a little bit thin but the marine ones are much thicker and look exactly the same as when I dropped them in.

Gently boiling them is a good idea to get out any nasties and give them a very good rinse afterwards.

 

[Mauigirl]

I copy pasted this from cichlidrecipe.com
Not my own work , but I am researching for just the same type of fish and found this usefull.

With regards to the shells required by the Shell-Dwelling Cichlids, there are a few suggestions. Marine shells sold in pet stores for hermit crabs and saltwater aquaria are suitable. The shells of deceased freshwater apple snails and mystery snails are also acceptable. If you want a close approximation of the true Neothauma shell, empty shells of the edible snail can be purchased at premium delicatessens. Small terra-cotta flower pots and Cichlid caves will also provide the necessary cover. Should you require a decor which allows easy removal of the fish, barnacle shells are excellent. Regardless of the "shell" you choose, it is wise to clean it, boil it, and rinse it thoroughly to remove any remains of the previous occupant!

but the marine ones are much thicker and look exactly the same as when I dropped them in.

my water is 7.6ph .. even after a week between changes and with a bit of soaked bog wood (in community tank) still reads same. no other measured stats .
How hard is yours??

 

[Lufbramatt]

My tapwater comes out at pH8.2 and is very well buffered. The local landscape is chalk downland and most of the water we get comes from boreholes/underground aquifers hence being very hard indeed. All I do is use dechlor, never used any of the buffer chemicals that are commercially available and never had any problems with my Tangs

 

[Mauigirl]

My tapwater comes out at pH8.2 and is very well buffered. The local landscape is chalk downland and most of the water we get comes from boreholes/underground aquifers hence being very hard indeed. All I do is use dechlor, never used any of the buffer chemicals that are commercially available and never had any problems with my Tangs

My lord you have liquid limestone lol..
I was advised to buy my stock from a particular breeder close to me if i choose to do this, and absolutely NOT Adulterate my water at all. Sound like a good bit of advice?