How should I clean up a large clam shell?

[Teelie]

I was helping my girlfriend clean out a relatives house today when we found this BIG clam shell. It's 11Wx7Lx6D" so it's not something I can just do a quick once over with. Should I soak it in some kind of chemical bath? It needs washing at the very least and the top layer appears to have decayed some.

Eventually I want it for a saltwater tank or Cichlid tank but for now I haven't got anywhere to put it but do want to clean it and have it ready for use when I do.

 

[impur]

A nice scrubbing and maybe boil it in water should do the trick. Was the shell in a tank at any point? If so you will want to find out if copper was used in the tank.

 

[Teelie]

This was never in a tank as far as I know. It was a decoration of some sort. I never knew the previous owner or whether she took care of it. I'm not even sure when she died. It's been several years. All I know is the thing needs to be cleaned up good and I doubted just washing it with a cloth or sponge would work.

I've heard boiling it but I don't want to do anything that will further damage it and boiling a shell sounds like it may soften it to me.

 

[impur]

If it would naturally live in the ocean for its entire life I doubt boiling it for 5-10 minutes would do anything to it. You don't have to get the water bubbling a ton where it would toss the shell around the pot, just to where small bubbles form. Still kills bacteria.

 

[Max]

im new to salt tanks, but i think you should just boil it too... thats what i do for freshwater rocks and stuff?

 

[Teelie]

Rock is not the same as a shell. The shell is an organic construct, although the material is inorganic... hmm boiling might work then I suppose so long as I don't boil it too long.

Slightly off topic but the thing with boiling rock is it can have gas pockets which can explode and you don't want that.

 

[Max]

Rock is not the same as a shell. The shell is an organic construct, although the material is inorganic... hmm boiling might work then I suppose so long as I don't boil it too long.

Slightly off topic but the thing with boiling rock is it can have gas pockets which can explode and you don't want that.

i really dont think a gaspocket would explode... well then get a clean cloth, boil water, get heatpads (for cooking) and dig the cloth in the water and put the hot cloth around the shell, then scrub it useing the hot cloth...? i think that would work without breaking it

 

[Teelie]

It's been known to happen with rocks which is why I brought it up. The air expands but the rock doesn't enough, pressure builds up, boom.

Thanks for the suggestion on the shell too.