Sea Shell

[ArroWanaWhitey]

I have a sea shell that i got out of the ocean and i want to put it into my freshwater tank. Is this safe? will the originally salt water shell damage the freshwater fish. Its a dried shell and hasnt been in the water for a few years so idk if the salt is on it or... heres some photos

thanks

 

[PaulasPets]

I would say it's safe to use. Just clean it in some boiling water.

Paula

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I wouldn't it looks like some organism built itself on the shell then died. If that is the case then you will have calcium leaking into your tank which can kill your fish.

 

[mr.dark-saint]

Looks like a good sized scallop shell. How big is the tank and what kinds of fish do you have in there? The shell will release a bit of calcium and raise the hardness in the water. Calcium release will not kill fish on it's own . It's a slow release and if it's a big enough tank it won't even registar on a test (say 20 gallon tank) even if not the fish will adjust.

Salt will wash off. Where is everyone getting this mis-information? Second person worried about salt of all things.

If it were me I'd hose it off and a once over with a brush and in it goes .

 

[raptorrex]

Looks like a good sized scallop shell. How big is the tank and what kinds of fish do you have in there? The shell will release a bit of calcium and raise the hardness in the water. Calcium release will not kill fish on it's own . It's a slow release and if it's a big enough tank it won't even registar on a test (say 20 gallon tank) even if not the fish will adjust.

Salt will wash off. Where is everyone getting this mis-information? Second person worried about salt of all things.

If it were me I'd hose it off and a once over with a brush and in it goes .

lol you beat me to it bit too much paranoia about what you can put in the tank. there is a good link http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=55806 there you go! remember the same, on the whole, goes for shells as for rocks

 

[eschaton]

I just put a few shells into my tank the other week...manly to try and fix a low PH. If your PH is 7.5ish now be prepared for slightly alkaline water as time passes. Shouldn't be any other major issues.