Toobit67 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 If I leave regular egg shells in my tank... will they dissolve and add calcium to the water? PH is about 6.4ish... My shrimps pick at them from time to time.. just wondering if I should leave them in there or take them out after a time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakenstein Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 I'm here because I throw eggshells in with my neos, but I really don't know. I don't take them out on purpose. They just sort of turn into part of my substrate/tank bottom litter. As for adding calcium to the water, I suspect that they don't very much, only because my eggshells aren't really breaking down or are doing so very slowly. And I know that when adding them to tomatoes beds, e.g., the calcium, phosphorus, etc., is basically for next year's plants, not this year's. Maybe if you were grinding them up, like I've seen other people recommend? I'm too lazy for that. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celly Rasbora Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 (edited) I've wondered about this, too. I read an article that said boil the eggs first to decontaminate them, remove the membrane, roast them, and then grind them up. I don't need another hobby. 😁 I get the decontamination part, but the rest seems like overkill. ETA: The answer is in a KH test, perhaps. Do they make a test for calcium? Edited February 27, 2021 by Celly Rasbora 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT_ Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 sounds way easier to pull a tums out of the back of your medicine cabinet 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan F Posted February 28, 2021 Share Posted February 28, 2021 The roasting crushing and grinding is to increase the surface area and help break down the bonds that seal the calcium in place. The bacteria and critters in soil probably do the same thing in your garden. You probably don't have that same level ecological depth in your tank. Sounds like more effort than it's worth versus buying a prepackaged supplement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted February 28, 2021 Share Posted February 28, 2021 I have sea shells and egg shell in the HOB and in the tank for the snails. The egg shell gets no special treatment except for a boiling water dip. I don't know if they help, but they don't hurt. The garden eggshells just get ground to dust. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 I have wondered about using calcium supplements designed for people to swallow to put in my tanks. Wouldn’t they have less additives than Tums and therefore be better to use? One type is basically taken from oyster shells isn’t it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElTigre Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 In my experience keeping cherry shrimp I've come to use Wondershells as they are a great source of calcium for the shrimp and snails i have in the water while also adding other beneficial minerals. The nice thing about them is they are inexpensive and have different sizes for bigger or smaller tanks. Usually i just and one small shell to my 8 gallon shrimp tank once a month. If you want to try them out the Co-op sells them https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/wonder-shell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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