Seashells for Betta Aquarium

[Celestial990]

I just got my first paradise betta and tank. I wanted to use shells from when my family visited Florida.
My father claimed I could boil them for 6 minutes or more and then rise them well.
Will this work? I want to make sure to keep my fish living and thriving as much as possible.
Also any other tips you may have are definitely appreciated.

 

[NickAu]

Hi

The simple answer is no. It may affect your water chemistry, Shells are made of calcium and will slowly disolve in softer water.

I want to make sure to keep my fish living and thriving

Give him lots of plants including floating ones, Maybe some bog wood and lots of clean water.

 

[StevenF]

The simple answer is no. It may affect your water chemistry, Shells are made of calcium and will slowly disolve in softer water.

A simple yes or no answer won't work for this. Shells will only resolve in acidic water. If your PH is 7 or higher the shells will not dissolve. However if the water PH is less than 7 the shell will start to dissolve. The rate it dissolves is slow but when the PH get close to 6 or drops below 6 the shell will dissolve more rapidly. as the shell dissolves the water harness (GH) will rise. However for PH between 6 nd 7 the GH increase will probably not be much.

Also as the shell dissolves it neutralizes the acid and pushes the PH back up to 7. The Calcium carbonate is buffering agent that helps stabilize aquarium PH near7. It will not push the ph higher. And it prevents the aquarium water from becoming dangerously acidic.

I Have shells in my aquarium and the aquarium PH stays very close to 7 all the time. My water harness is stably and very close to what I want it to be (GH is 75ppm). Also Calcium is a plant nutrient. Plants need it to grow and shrimp need calcium to molt properly. Fish can adapt to a larger range of GH values as long as it is stable. Rapid changes in GH However can shock and harm fish. Slow changes in GH will not harm the fish.

If you want to try adding they shells proceed as your father recommended. But before adding them to the tank get a GH and KH test kit and record the values. Also check your PH. If the PH is above 6.2 add the shells and monitor your PH, GH, and KH value. if you see large changes in KH and GH it would be a good edea to remove the shells from the aquarium. However if you don't see any big changes leave them in. They will slowly dissolve but it probably will takes years for the shells to fully dissolve away.