Seashells in your aquariums

[aquariageek]

Does anybody else use real sea shells in their aquariums?

I like a natural look in my tanks, but I have heard that real sea shells are not good to put in a tank as they will release calcium carbonate.

Is that true? If so, is there something you can seal them with? I think real shells are so much nicer then the fake things (not to mention that aquaria decor is very pricey!)

 

[DeLgAdO]

Does anybody else use real sea shells in their aquariums?

I like a natural look in my tanks, but I have heard that real sea shells are not good to put in a tank as they will release calcium carbonate.

Is that true? If so, is there something you can seal them with? I think real shells are so much nicer then the fake things (not to mention that aquaria decor is very pricey!)

i have aragonite sand as my substrate

does the same thing as seashells by buffering the water

never had a problem with it



if theyre from the beach you might want to boil them good to kill any pathogens that might be on it

 

[jenBLKAROWANA]

I also use sea shells in a few of my aquariums, I also love the natural look, and they provide great hiding places!
I have never had a problem either....

Jen

 

[Honda12]

I have used shells in my aqurium as well. I didn't have any problems either.

 

[Rob553]

Depends on what you're keeping great if you have africans not so good if you want to keep and breed apistos or other touchy south american or west africans species.

 

[Daniel Machado]

It's not suited for low-pH, soft-water tanks, because of the buffering capacity, but if it's not the case, no problem.

Best regards.

Daniel.

 

[red oscar]

i have to go along with everyone else i have had sea shells in my tanks with no problems

 

[guppy]

When I bred desert pupfish I used baked oystershell to bring up the hardness. A couple shells don't hurt the average tank but to many are not good for soft water bog dwellers, in acid waters they also tend to soften and pit.

 

[gomezladdams]

I have a huge abalone shell thats usually in one of my african tanks,about every two weeks it spends a few hours in my oscar tank so my big pleco can eat the algae off it.

 

[GettingSassy]

I have escargot shells scattered all along the bottom of my tank, and have used various seashells as well. Of course, I keep shelldwellers, and hard water is a bonus for me.