Getting Shells Safe For Aquarium

[Kombat]

While on vacation last week I found a lot of nice shells on the beach and some I thought would look great in my tanks and some I want to use in a shell-dweller tank.

What the best way to make sure they are safe? Just scrub them with a brush?

What I am most curious about though is, one of the conch shells I found was still inhabited. Being the inhumane bastard that I am, I followed advice I found online on how to get the animal out of the shell. Is there any special treatment this shell would need to make it safe for my tank? I want to make sure any nasties are out since another animal has recently lived in it.

Also, what about ph? Will shells affect ph much? I only plan to put a few in each tank. It's not like I am going to make a substrate out of my shells.

Karl

 

[dzsigmond217]

Boil them in water. They can increase your pH but if you only put in a few you should be ok.
Poor little guy..couldn't you have put him back in the ocean?

 

[TylerFerretLord]

There are few parasites, if any, that can infects fresh and saltwater fish, and I doubt anything that a conch could play host to could be one of them.

I agree, scrub and boil 'till it looks clean enough.

 

[Kombat]

Boil them in water. They can increase your pH but if you only put in a few you should be ok.
Poor little guy..couldn't you have put him back in the ocean?

Trust me. I felt terrible. My wife said if boiling an invertebrate is the worse thing I ever do then I led a pretty decent life.