Dried Coral

[OceanGoddess]

Hi,
I recently went to the beach and found some coral pieces off the sea shore. They were soft when wet but when I let them air dry they got firm and hard. I was wondering if it would be safe to keep them in a tropical fish tank???
Thanks.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

As it is? No.

Coral will slowly breakdown in your freshwater tank, releasing Calcium Carbonate into the water increasing the pH. The coral could also contain bacteria or chemicals that you don't want in your tank.

Sometimes real shells can be coated with an aquarium safe epoxy resin to prevent a similar breakdown/mineral leeching, but that may be difficult to do with coral since it tends to be much more porus (i.e. difficult to completely seal) and the epoxy may create an unattractive/unnatural shine or glaze look.

 

[Danno]

Slather on marine epoxy to create a complete seal and you should be fine.

 

[OceanGoddess]

Thanks for the info.