decorating with shells

futurefishguy · Sep 10, 2011

hey guys! so im new to the hobby, and i need some help with things i can put in my tank. the other day i went to Walmart,and in their craft section i found a bag of shells. they would look great in my tan. however, i know that your suposed to be cautious about what you put in your tank. could i clean them? they are in this huge bag in the flower department. just let me know what you think! thanks so much!

_Alex_ · Sep 10, 2011

first off are they real shells? are they painted? clear coated? sealed with anything??? i would buy shells from the Local Fish Store before i bought any from walmart......

Reef Breeders · Sep 10, 2011

Shells never look good IMO, in the beggining you think they will, but then you will want more realistic decor, by that I mean something that is actually living.

futurefishguy · Sep 10, 2011

their real shells. i don't know if they have any coatings on them. i can tell their real because their is sand on the bottom of the bag from the shells. do any store like pet co or pet smart have these big bags of shells?

papagimp · Sep 10, 2011

anemonekeeper said:
Shells never look good IMO, in the beggining you think they will, but then you will want more realistic decor, by that I mean something that is actually living.

I agree but its still gunna happen lol. Buddy of mine did same thing, his mother gathered him up some shells in florida and he loaded his 30g with em. Kinda gaudy to me, but I also like my 10" conch shell in for decoration when I can make it fit (but it was a fellow reefers pet conch first, so it's not so gaudy

)

I'd also question ones purchased that way, but see if theirs a number on the bag you could call for customer support and ask about it, link the brand/name of the product for us and we can see what we find on em.

futurefishguy · Sep 11, 2011

haha, thanks. Im not talking about tons of shells. the bag has a few conch shells in it that are very awsome looking. ill try to call the company!

papagimp · Sep 11, 2011

don't let us disuade you if their reef safe shells. It's your tank and all about what you'd want to see in there

That's what makes our tanks unique to us. If the tanks large enough to support one, maybe look into a fighting conch as a specimen. Much cooler than a dead shell just laying there