sea shells in freshwater tank

[Sarah Navarro]

Hi all,

I just purchased a sea shell off of ebay and I told the lady that I was
going to put it in my freshwater fish tank. She said that she did not
recommend putting ocean shells in freshwater tanks. Will this hurt my fish?
Is it just the saltiness or what? Because I know that some people put a
little salt in their tanks anyways. Is there some other reason not to put
sea shells in my tank? Thanks.

[Billy]

"Sarah Navarro" > wrote in message
ink.net...
| Hi all,
|
| I just purchased a sea shell off of ebay and I told the lady that I
was
| going to put it in my freshwater fish tank. She said that she did
not
| recommend putting ocean shells in freshwater tanks. Will this hurt
my fish?
| Is it just the saltiness or what? Because I know that some people
put a
| little salt in their tanks anyways. Is there some other reason not
to put
| sea shells in my tank? Thanks.
|
|

No. The sal****er shells will deteriorate and kill freshwater fish.
Nature seeks balance. Sal****er shells contain substances not found
in freshwater, so they begin to leech out into the freshwater,
seeking to balance. Most freshwater fish will not tolerate these
substances. Some cichlids are an exception to this.
A word on salt in the freshwater tank as well, consider salt in a
frshwater tank like medication. If there is no compelling reason to
use it, don't. Some fish will not tolerate salt at any level,
research very carefully if you decide to do this.

billy

[Happy'Cam'per]

I have 2 tanks laden with sea shells and the fish are healthy as horses, no
complications as yet. Both tanks are over 3 years old, one Tanganyika setup
and one planted co2 setup, nae bother jimmy :-)
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**


"Billy" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Sarah Navarro" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> | Hi all,
> |
> | I just purchased a sea shell off of ebay and I told the lady that I
> was
> | going to put it in my freshwater fish tank. She said that she did
> not
> | recommend putting ocean shells in freshwater tanks. Will this hurt
> my fish?
> | Is it just the saltiness or what? Because I know that some people
> put a
> | little salt in their tanks anyways. Is there some other reason not
> to put
> | sea shells in my tank? Thanks.
> |
> |
>
> No. The sal****er shells will deteriorate and kill freshwater fish.
> Nature seeks balance. Sal****er shells contain substances not found
> in freshwater, so they begin to leech out into the freshwater,
> seeking to balance. Most freshwater fish will not tolerate these
> substances. Some cichlids are an exception to this.
> A word on salt in the freshwater tank as well, consider salt in a
> frshwater tank like medication. If there is no compelling reason to
> use it, don't. Some fish will not tolerate salt at any level,
> research very carefully if you decide to do this.
>
> billy
>
>

[Victor Martinez]

Billy wrote:
> No. The sal****er shells will deteriorate and kill freshwater fish.

They will not "deteriorate and kill" anything.

> Nature seeks balance. Sal****er shells contain substances not found
> in freshwater, so they begin to leech out into the freshwater,

You think calcium carbonate is not found in freshwater?

> seeking to balance. Most freshwater fish will not tolerate these
> substances. Some cichlids are an exception to this.

Most fish will do just fine in hard water. Ask people in LA.

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam here:
Email me here:

[Ali Day]

"Billy" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Sarah Navarro" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> | Hi all,
> |
> | I just purchased a sea shell off of ebay and I told the lady that I
> was
> | going to put it in my freshwater fish tank. She said that she did
> not
> | recommend putting ocean shells in freshwater tanks. Will this hurt
> my fish?
> | Is it just the saltiness or what? Because I know that some people
> put a
> | little salt in their tanks anyways. Is there some other reason not
> to put
> | sea shells in my tank? Thanks.
> |
> |
>
> No. The sal****er shells will deteriorate and kill freshwater fish.

Doesn't it just make the water harder?

[Margolis]

"Sarah Navarro" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> Hi all,
>
> I just purchased a sea shell off of ebay and I told the lady that I was
> going to put it in my freshwater fish tank. She said that she did not
> recommend putting ocean shells in freshwater tanks. Will this hurt my
fish?
> Is it just the saltiness or what? Because I know that some people put a
> little salt in their tanks anyways. Is there some other reason not to put
> sea shells in my tank? Thanks.
>
>

like others have said, shell just dissolve and release calcium into the
water making it harder and more alkaline. As long as you do proper water
changes though, this won't matter one bit. I prefer not to do it, but that
is just me. It won't really harm anything. Unless of course it has been
treated with some chemical to seal it or purify it ;o0

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[sophie]

In message >, Margolis >
writes
>"Sarah Navarro" > wrote in message
ink.net...
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I just purchased a sea shell off of ebay and I told the lady that I was
>> going to put it in my freshwater fish tank. She said that she did not
>> recommend putting ocean shells in freshwater tanks. Will this hurt my
>fish?
>> Is it just the saltiness or what? Because I know that some people put a
>> little salt in their tanks anyways. Is there some other reason not to put
>> sea shells in my tank? Thanks.
>>
>>
>
>like others have said, shell just dissolve and release calcium into the
>water making it harder and more alkaline.

Having had a similar discussion recently in the goldfish group, can I
clarify for the layperson (me) that this is alkalinity as a description
of hardness rather than high pH. Hardness doesn't increase pH though it
does buffer.

I've got a lot of seashells in my tanks as buffer as our water is very
soft with high pH.

> As long as you do proper water
>changes though, this won't matter one bit. I prefer not to do it, but that
>is just me. It won't really harm anything. Unless of course it has been
>treated with some chemical to seal it or purify it ;o0
>

--
sophie

[MrHappy]

I have used sea shells in tanks for years
i boil before use then soak in water for a week then use them.

They will erode calcium in to the water....do water changes and all
will be OK

If you are really nervous use a polyurethane sealer

My tanganyikan tanks have crushed coral and oyster shell as
buffering substrate

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[Billy]

"Happy'Cam'per" > wrote in message
...
|
| I have 2 tanks laden with sea shells and the fish are healthy as
horses, no
| complications as yet. Both tanks are over 3 years old, one
Tanganyika setup
| and one planted co2 setup, nae bother jimmy :-)
| --


Hence my cichlid comment.

[Billy]

"Victor Martinez" > wrote in message
...
| Billy wrote:
| > No. The sal****er shells will deteriorate and kill freshwater
fish.
|
| They will not "deteriorate and kill" anything.
|

I have seen this first hand and read the science behind it. I will
search for the info and post.

[Billy]

"Victor Martinez" > wrote in message
...
| Billy wrote:
| > No. The sal****er shells will deteriorate and kill freshwater
fish.


I stand corrected. It was misinterpreted info heard long ago,
together with a remembered event. Research this evening shows this.
As long as water changes are done regularily, most fish will be just
fine.