# Sea shells from Jersey Shore?



## woptang22 (Jan 5, 2013)

I have an african cichlid tank and Im new to aquariums and cichlids. *** had some old sea shells that my son has collected from the jersey shore. He wanted to put them in the aquarium with the crushed coral. I think it would look pretty nice. If I boil these shells would be ok to put in the tank or not a good idea?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You want the shells to not be a danger to the fish. Fish tend to dart inside of hiding places at high speed without considering that they might get stuck and die.

So it depends on the shells. Conch-type shells with a long, dwindling cavity inside are the dangerous ones, and you can't find them on the NJ shore. If you use a whelk for example, make sure it's way too tiny or way too big for the fish to get stuck.


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## woptang22 (Jan 5, 2013)

they are actually small shells the fish wont fit in by any means. I just wanted to make sure they wouldn't cause any issues. actually some of the shells seem to already be in the crushed coral. I made sure they were boiled also just incase.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Remember the fish like to sift the sand and big chunks make it more difficult for them to do that. But "gravel-shells" won't hurt them.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Boiling is a great idea. They will be fine after that!


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## woptang22 (Jan 5, 2013)

Floridagirl said:


> Boiling is a great idea. They will be fine after that!


Thank you very much. I appreciate your input. I asked people at work that used to have saltwater aquariums, and they said no to putting the sea shells in. But whats the difference between the crushed coral I have and sea shells? Not much right?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Right. Many fish (not african cichlids) need a lower pH and you would not want to put either of those things in.

Also remember, the fish are going to prefer the finer sand...so if your substrate has shell pieces and you add gravel-shells, you may not want to go overboard.


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## woptang22 (Jan 5, 2013)

DJRansome said:


> Right. Many fish (not african cichlids) need a lower pH and you would not want to put either of those things in.
> 
> Also remember, the fish are going to prefer the finer sand...so if your substrate has shell pieces and you add gravel-shells, you may not want to go overboard.


Ok sounds good. I dont have many of these smalls shells to put in. Just a handful. I thought it may look nice also. And it seems the crushed coral is doing its job as the PH has been steady around 8-8.2


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## JoeU (Dec 27, 2012)

I've had shells from Jersey Shore, from Long Island Sound, from the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, from Florida, even from Coney Island in cichlid tanks from time to time in the past (even have some from Nantucket in my reef tank right now, in fact). I heard lots of horrific warnings, but just rinsed them really thoroughly and then boiled them for a half hour or more (I would NOT skip the boiling).

Never had a problem at all and they looked really pretty. Nice way to aquascape and bring a little souvenir of vacation home with you.


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## woptang22 (Jan 5, 2013)

JoeU said:


> I've had shells from Jersey Shore, from Long Island Sound, from the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, from Florida, even from Coney Island in cichlid tanks from time to time in the past (even have some from Nantucket in my reef tank right now, in fact). I heard lots of horrific warnings, but just rinsed them really thoroughly and then boiled them for a half hour or more (I would NOT skip the boiling).
> 
> Never had a problem at all and they looked really pretty. Nice way to aquascape and bring a little souvenir of vacation home with you.


I think they would look nice. The shells are something my son would like to put in the aquarium. I think they would look nice, Im just wondering what issues they could possibly cause? The shells were boiled a while back. Then boiled about a week ago. But since a week ago *** been asking around this forum to see if its safe to put in with the fish. It seems everyone has different answers. But I think Im going to boil them again now and give it a try. Id rather not risk it, but my son really wants to see them in the tank. I hope its not a bad idea....


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

They are fine.


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## woptang22 (Jan 5, 2013)

DJRansome said:


> They are fine.


Thank you for your help. *** boiled the shells yet again just to make sure there would be no issues. I put them in about an hour ago. I thought I had more then I did. It doesnt really look like *** done anything different. lol But I pretty much added the shells because my son thought it was a good idea. So if it looks nice to him, then Im a happy man. Thank you for your advice.


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## nearblue (Jan 14, 2013)

I prefer to dry in the sun. Have various shells spread in over 50 tanks, never an issue unless I remove the shell and the fish decides not to checkout of his room!


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