Preparing ocean shells for freshwater tank.

[b.greene]

Can someone tell me the best way to clean beach shells found in Florida for a freshwater tank?
Also, my water is quite hard naturally. I think I remember hearing the shells make the water even harder. Is this right? My Tanganyican shell dwellers had babies last month and they are needing some new shells to live in.
Thanks!

 

[Reefscape]

Simply boiling them will kill off any parsites or bacteria....

 

[bettabrat]

Can someone tell me the best way to clean beach shells found in Florida for a freshwater tank?
Also, my water is quite hard naturally. I think I remember hearing the shells make the water even harder. Is this right? My Tanganyican shell dwellers had babies last month and they are needing some new shells to live in.
Thanks!

That is correct, I lost a couple loaches simply due to not knowing that. So as long as the fish you add can tolerate hard water you should be all set.