how to clean shells and driftwood?

M

mdrew

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Dec 23, 2010
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how to clean shells and driftwood?

I am in Vancover visiting family and found a beautiful peice of driftwood down at the beach in addition to a bunch of beautiful shells that I would love to put in my aquarium. They are from saltwater and my aquarium is freshwater. What can i do to make these shells compatible? fish are angels and gbr. It has been suggested to me that I boil the shells and bake the driftwood in my oven, will that work?

Thank you
 
I would scrub the shells with a nylon brush then boil them to be safe. For the driftwood use a pressure washer or a wire brush to remove anything loose (bark, loose knots, ect...) and then boil it if you can. If it is too big to fit in a pot, put it in a rubbermaid tote, weigh it down and pour boiling water over it until the piece is covered and then let it soak until the water is cooled down.
 
Willard2.0 said:
I would scrub the shells with a nylon brush then boil them to be safe. For the driftwood use a pressure washer or a wire brush to remove anything loose (bark, loose knots, ect...) and then boil it if you can. If it is too big to fit in a pot, put it in a rubbermaid tote, weigh it down and pour boiling water over it until the piece is covered and then let it soak until the water is cooled down.
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like a toothbrush? i am worried about the shells as they are saltwater and my angels and gbr prefer soft water. some have told me that as the shells disolve into the water they increase hardness. perhaps a sealer of some kind? but then wouldn't a sealer like a varnish or clear nailpolish in turn leech into the water and harm the fish?
thank you :)
 
A toothbrush would work, but I just use a stiff bristle scrub brush made for dishes.

Shells can increase the hardness and the ph.
I have no idea what you would use to seal them. Hopefully someone else will chime in with an idea for you.
 
Bleach, boil, and then bake the wood if you can. Make sure to scrub in between those steps.

Boiling the shells will be sufficient for sterlization. Yes, the calcium in the shell will leach into your tank over time causing the ph to rise. Angelfish prefer softer waters so that can be a problem. You can coat the shells in an epoxy resin but its best to leave the shells out.
 
Just be prepared for the wood to float, especially if you bake it. That will dry it out even more. I prefer just the boiling method, putting it in a 5gal bucket or tote and boiling a pot of water at time to dump on it. Baking would help to disinfect, but is working backwards in a couple of ways. First, it dries the wood out even more. Second, it will dry out the oils and tannins, which means that the wood will most likely teastain your water even longer before the tannins are washed out.

Maybe bake fist, then boil?
 
WeeNe858 said:
Bleach, boil, and then bake the wood if you can. Make sure to scrub in between those steps.

Boiling the shells will be sufficient for sterlization. Yes, the calcium in the shell will leach into your tank over time causing the ph to rise. Angelfish prefer softer waters so that can be a problem. You can coat the shells in an epoxy resin but its best to leave the shells out.
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an epoxy resin? any particular one? would the resin itself leech into the water and hurt the fish?

thank you for your help!!!!
 
Epoxy will not leach once it has cured. Get 5 minute epoxy from the hardware store, mix the 2 components together. If it isn't viscous enough you can heat it up a bit then paint onto your shells and dry them. The package tells you how long before it is cured.

For the wood, put it in a rubbermaid and pour boiling water over it. Then weight it down and let it soak for a while. I soak pieces over the winter in tubs so they will sink on their own. If it has rotten wood (spongy) when I pull it out of the tubs I pressure wash it to knock this off. I never bother with baking them and rarely boil them but I have pieces soaking all the time so if I want to use one I just pull it out and replace it with another piece.
 
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