trofius Posted May 28, 2014 Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) Hey all I have recently been on the hunt so to speak for some decent shells for my collection to live and breed in. I have just recently made a purchase of a few different items from Australian seashells australianseashells.com - specimen seashells, seashells, starfish, seashell books, seashell shop, shells for sale, Cypraea, seashell supplier They were reasonably helpful with what I was looking for, and actually have a few things not listed on their site. At their suggestion I bought their cichlid mix, which is 15 shells for $30, these are all turbo type shells, that are very similar in size and shape to the Neothauma tanganyicense, they range from 2cm long to about 7cm long with openings from 8mm to 20mm, so pretty close to perfect, I would have preferred a few more of the bigger items. I also bout a m/l mix which contains all sorts of shells, with 60-70% being usable, the others like corrie / cone / spider shells will still be ok for fry to hide in. this was $25, about 1L volume of shells. between 3-8cm. I also got a L mix also $25 and there is 7 shells, ~ 6-9cm long, was quite disapointed with the usability of these, i got 2 spider shells, i cowrie shell, and a cone shell, and a long spiral thingy, all useless for adult fish even multies, so only 3 shells will be ok for adult shellies, but i guess its luck of the draw and cant choose what you get. ( would not get this again) The bigger from all above will be used for Brevis /occies etc, everything else will be added to a 4x2x18h for my multi garden, which will look very pretty.. I prepared for this however, and got two large shells, a L stripped Tun shell for $8 , its huge, about 12cm long and 10cm wide and high, and a small bailer shell also 10-12 cm long and $8, these will be perfect for my adult leleupi, regaini, etc to breed in.. Sooo yeah I spent a few $$ on shells, but it was a bit of an experiment to see exactally what i would get, in each group.. and next time I will know what I am getting. Freight, dammm, was packaged really well, the bigger 9 shells were all individually wrapped, I ordered them over the weekend, and called up to pay for them on monday..... They arrived today, ( 3 days )from PERTH to Rockhampton, standard postage... That's quick I recon. Ordering is a bit clumsy, as they dont have a online shopping page as such, but strait forward if you read how to.. I will post a few pics in a couple of days. Edited May 28, 2014 by trofius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutters187 Posted May 28, 2014 Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 Have looked them up a few times, stock looks awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billfish Posted May 28, 2014 Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 @trophius i dont know if you are after more but i bought a jar of escargot shells from@bulldrag76 he may have more. Or theres these guys in NSW Coral Coast Shells Seashells ,Seashell Crafts , Starfish and Seashell Products Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anteatergoanna Posted May 29, 2014 Report Share Posted May 29, 2014 What affect do the shells have on your tank, does it affect ph? I have bags of shells that I've carted around for years, was dubious about putting them in my tank worried that it would have an adverse reaction to the water parameters. Do you have any problems in you FW tanks? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted May 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 Shells are typically calcium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate with some other trace elements such as potassium and magnesium. The effect on an african tank in this regard is favorable as it will aid in buffering and increasing the pH, If you are using a lot of shells, such as a shell substrate, the most it can increase the pH to is about 8.4, similar to coral , rubble, and coral sand. It wont have a great deal of effect on the hardness of the water, and even then it would be minimal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 Probably doesn't help but I got Neothauma shells from someone - they had bought them for 1 euro each + postage from an online store in Europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted May 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 Probably doesn't help but I got Neothauma shells from someone - they had bought them for 1 euro each + postage from an online store in Europe NIce pick up.. As nice as it would be be to actually have the Tang shells....I don't think it is necessary, and these look fairly sweet, cant wait to set it all up on the weekend.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anteatergoanna Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 Thanks Trofius for the info. So, do they increase the KH, and help stabilise the PH? I wouldn't mind putting some in with my Angels. Thanks Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted May 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 Thanks Trofius for the info. So, do they increase the KH, and help stabilise the PH? I wouldn't mind putting some in with my Angels. Thanks Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk I dont think angels like high pH.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted May 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2014 Ok so here are some pics as promised, i have laid them out on some egg crate so you can get an idea of the sizes, the egg crate is about 16mm squares. This is the two large shells purchased individually, the stripped TUN and the Bailer shell, nice big openings. This is the cichlid mix, This is the Large mix. dissapointed in this, most are no good for adult shellies This is the M/L mix, most happy with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anteatergoanna Posted May 31, 2014 Report Share Posted May 31, 2014 You have some nice ones there, take a shot of your tank when you have got them in! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zrydes Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 bump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zrydes Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 just on work computer I want to see photos when I get home didn't want to lose the post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
