Wonder shells

[EVoyager31]

Anyone use wondershells for calcium and water hardness?

I have very soft water and I want to keep my mystery snails healthy and happy in my tank. I always see different sites and forums mention wonder shells.

anyone have any positive experience? How many large or small wonder shells do I need for a 75g tank?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I think you would be better off with some crushed coral in a 75 g it would be too difficult. 

I used wondershells in a 15 g planted shrimp and snail tank. 

[Patrick_G]

If you use them be sure to follow the directions on the Aquarium Co-op website. I used the directions on the package and it spiked my GH way more than expected. 
I agree with @Beardedbillygoat1975, over time I’ve found crushed coral to be the best way for me to mineralize my water. 

[laritheloud]

I use Wondershells to remineralize my low-GH high-KH water and it works well for me. I use 1 of the smallest size shells in my 10 gallon tanks at a time (replace once fully dissolved and after a water change), 1 of the medium sized shells in my 29 gallon tank, and 1 of the large sized shells in my 55 gallon. This has consistently maintained a GH of around 7 to 8 in my tanks. Start conservatively and see what it does for your water and DO NOT follow the package instructions.

[EVoyager31]

On 1/18/2022 at 7:52 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I think you would be better off with some crushed coral in a 75 g it would be too difficult. 

I used wondershells in a 15 g planted shrimp and snail tank. 

I’ve been looking into that too, but hesitant to replace a sponge in my canister and definitely don’t want it on my black gravel. Are there other ways to have it in the tank where it wont be seen?

[EVoyager31]

On 1/18/2022 at 7:52 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I think you would be better off with some crushed coral in a 75 g it would be too difficult. 

I used wondershells in a 15 g planted shrimp and snail tank. 

Also, would this work for balancing out my ph while injecting CO2? I know ph drops when injecting but I worry the change stresses my fish. 

[Levi_Aquatics]

I always use them in my 10 gal shrimp and snail tank and it works well. I put one small one in and then wait until it completely dissolves before adding another one. 

[Patrick_G]

On 1/18/2022 at 5:35 PM, EVoyager31 said:

I’ve been looking into that too, but hesitant to replace a sponge in my canister and definitely don’t want it on my black gravel. Are there other ways to have it in the tank where it wont be seen?

I put it in filter bags and then hide it behind some hardscape. 

[ChefConfit]

I have used wondershell before in various sized tanks. As others have stated it dissolves relatively quickly and spikes gh. In larger tanks you are probably better of with crushed coral long term. 

Using the wondershell to get the gh up initially and adding crushed coral to maintain it long term is probably a solid plan. 

I use crushed coral in a media bag in my filter as well as mixed into my substrate.