snip
Don't bother boiling them, thats just overkill. However, there might be some
remains left in the shells of whatever was inhabiting them at some stage.
Fill a small bucket up halfway, add some salt (alot) and let them sit for a
week, replacing new water every 2 days or so. The shells will be fine in the
tank after this.
snip
I personally would at the very least let them soak in for a long while
then boil or bake for a short period (an hour seems a bit overkill, 20
mins should be sufficient). Since these are sea shells, saline conditions
may not be effective at killing pathogens. Heat denatures proteins
however, so this would work on any sort of critter present, regardless of
its saline tolerance. At the very least, rinse in totally hot tap water by
putting the bucket under the hot tap and letting it run for 5 mins or so
to completely replace the cold water, then let it set until it's cool
enough to handle. This is assuming your hot tap comes out at 120F or
higher.

Thanx for the reply. I hadn't thought about the saline tolerance, makes
a lot of sense. Maybe I'll try the very hot water idea and see what
happens.

At the end of the day, if they get spoiled it's not terrible. They're
just some nice shells we picked up on the beach, it's not like I flew to
Indonesia specially to get them !!

Ta ra

--
Alan Silver
PSG Fish Tanks - http://fish.alansilver.co.uk/
(anything added below this line is nothing to do with me)


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