Seashells?

E

emmaS

AC Members
Nov 6, 2006
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Hi. For the empty tank, my sister gave me gravel and decorations. She also gave me a bag of seashells. Since the shells are the same shade/sizeish, it's obvious she bought the shells for her aquarium, which makes me think they are fine for an aquarium.

Now I have some shells I've collected from a visit to the beach. Can I add these shells to my freshwater tank or are the shells from the beach not good?
 
Hi,

A while back I added some seashells to my tank (don't have them any more) and it seemed to be fine. But before you add them rinse, rinse, and rinse! Also bleach them a little. Make sure there is no sharp edges on them because your fish could hurt themselves.

Cory Lover
 
I wouldn't take the chance putting seashells in a freshwater tank...They'll end up raising you Ph and your alk. They'll very slowly decompose leaching calcium into your tank. If you're keeping tetras in that tank, they prefer a lower Ph and softer water.
 
African cichlids are about the only freshwater fish I can think of that the shells would be tolerated in the freshwater tank. They do tend to raise the PH quite a bit in a freshwater aquarium which is what you do not want for freshwater fish.

Marinemom
 
Okay, thanks. I don't plan to have chiclids so I will keep them out. They're pretty though. Maybe I can arrange them outside my tank to make it look more beachy. The gravel she gave me is very sandy and stoney in color so she must've been going for a surf look w/ her tank--maybe a seaside cliff motif.
 
If you were keeping soft-water fish like african cichlids, then you could add the shells.
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african cichlids are HARD water fish, not soft. i'm sure you meant that, eh?
 
liv2padl said:
african cichlids are HARD water fish, not soft. i'm sure you meant that, eh?
Click to expand...

Agreed with liv2padl. However agree with the school of thought says the
majority of tropical fish can live in pH values 6.5 to 8 and are very good at
acclimatising to higher pH values. It is where breeding is concerned that the
pH becomes crutial.
 
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