i got it from a chinese restaraunt and brought it home to put in my tank for decoration,its clean now is it ok to put it in the tank
2006-12-20 14:57:43 · 7 answers · asked by Droptine s 4 in Pets ➔ Fish
This should not be a problem if your clam shell has been well clean. What you can do is to boil the shell for awhile and use a tough brush to brush alway any flesh thats still attached to the shell.
The only problem I could foresee is if your tank(or fishes) requires low pH. If that is the requirement, then putting the shell in the tank would make maintaining low pH in your tank harder. The shell will break down through time and buffer the tank to keep it towards netural. The more acidic the tank the faster the shell breaks down. But if yours is a netural pH tank, your shell probably will be there for ages :)
Hopes this helps.
2006-12-20 15:17:51 · answer #1 · answered by dragonfly_sg 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Typically, the food consumed at a chinese restaurant is from saltwater. It probably isn't a clam to begin with it was a mussle. I would suggest not. The reason why is that there are plenty of food chemicals and butter and different things on it from the cooking process. If you did clean it with straight clorox and soaked it in standard tap water for 24 hours, the sea component of the shell would breakdown and begin to raise your ph levels and such. It is not reccomended. There are freshwater clams you can purchase at your local pet store
2006-12-21 08:56:45 · answer #2 · answered by punxsyparty 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
freshwater clam shells are alright.
Oyster shells will raise your pH.
When in doubt, don't. If you are unsure of what it is or if there is any food or soap residue on the shell, then don't use it. The reason why you do not see a lot of shells as deco is because they are not all safe.
Just be careful. Maybe you could put it on the tank stand as outside deco?
2006-12-20 23:03:47 · answer #3 · answered by lemonnpuff 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what kind of fish you have. Shells raise the hardness and PH of water. If you have south american fish like neons, rams, cories, plecos, ect. they will not do too well because they require soft water with a low Ph. If you have hard water fish like african cichlids, they will appreciate the higher Ph and hardness.
2006-12-21 01:15:28 · answer #4 · answered by fish guy 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
soak the shell in a bowl with fresh water... do not use soap! Scrub the parts you can get at with a tooth brush.
2006-12-20 23:05:21 · answer #5 · answered by Jewelz 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
it might still have some sea salt in it. i wouldnt take the risk of having lots of ill fish for a clammy decoration--get--clammy...never mind...
2006-12-20 23:01:14 · answer #6 · answered by Shadow(betta boy) 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
yes
2006-12-20 22:59:46 · answer #7 · answered by mickey 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋