Sea Shells?

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Snailguy101

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I wan't to know if I can put sea shells I think from ocean? In my freashwater tank With A fancy Tail goldfish and a bubble eyed goldfish? Can I if so does it affect nitrate or ammonia or anything like that thanks in advance
 
Shells will spike pH up to 8.2 or higher and with rocks from the yard, you don't know what kind of chemicals have been sprayed on them. The higher pH is, the more toxic ammonia gets and Goldfish prefer a lower pH between 6.5.-7.5 and they produce a lot of ammonia. Oh, and goldfish are coldwater so you'll have better answers down in the Coldwater section. :)
 
Shells will spike pH up to 8.2 or higher
There are many variables involved and it's impossible to predict the shells affect until we know the initial parameters of the tank, not to mention how many and how large shells are involved.
 
True but over time, shells will raise pH quite high and even smaller amounts will bump the pH up above acceptable levels. Besides it's not really worth the risk, don't you think?
 
Teelie, I think the point of freddyk post was to point out that know one knows exactly what the PH level would be, and since we don't even know his nitial parameters the PH could already be that high for all we know...
 
It may be that high but putting shells in there will prevent attempts to lower it later on. The point I'm making is sea shells in any freshwater tank excepting African Cichlids and a few other isolated groups is just not a good idea.
 
goldfish prefer a high ph. they can indeed tolerate a wide range but they do prefer it at the higher end and over 7.5 up to well over 8. They also like the water to be hard so are on a par with african cichlids.
as for the shells, you need to see what ph the tank is at already and the size of it, but as far as i can tell as long as they are soaked for a while then i see no problems as long as theres not too many as a fluctuating ph isnt a good thing.
As for the rocks a good test is to put some vinegar on it and if it sizzles then you cant use it. If its fine then put it into a bucket and pour boiling water on it. Do this for a couple of days and scrub it well.

just noticed that you have the bubble eye in there. If you put a sone or shells in, make sure they dont have anything pointed to catch the bubbles on.
 
I'm going to go ahead and say that I think the shels could do not but good fo the goldfish, assuming that the tank is cycled. Goldfish really do like higher pH i'm not sure where the 6.5 figure came from but carp generally live in muddy areas were the high Surface area of the mineral rich mud leads to a higher pH. The calcium carbonate rich shesl might send the pH as high as 8.4 wich is a little high but better on the whole than 7, they won't go past 8.4 and will probably stop well short of that. Good luck with the tank.
 
ive had shells in mine in the past with no ill becoming the fish ,the gravel in my pond is from a beach,as long as all is well washed to remove any salt deposits there fine,rocks on the other hand differ ,1 you need to know the type of rock ie limestone and sandstone will breakdown in the water 2 you dont know what the rock containes ie if there porus they will have soaked up all sorts of nastys,stick with hard stone like flint or quarts ,i collect mine from the beach and just give them a good soaking ,theres very little chance of contamination due to the salt killing off the nastys,just make sure you rinse out all the little sea beasties first
 
hi all

a question of my own. I always heard that shells did not actually raise ph just hardened the water and made the ph more steady. There for easier to raise and keep at a higher level. Is this not true? I had a brackish tank with crushed coral and our water ph is so low I raised the ph for every water change then once it was in the tank it stayed put at 8.0
 

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