[cstyle]

I have a 10 gallon tank that I'm putting some purple occelatus (sp) in and my question is how do I clean the shells? I think they're from apple snails, but I'm not sure. Please assist. Thank you!

 

[alicem]

Put them in a pan of water, heat them and gently boil for, I dunno, 10 minutes.

 

[CichlidAndrew]

Yep, I just boiled mine for 10 to 15 minutes. If they have dirt inside I would spray them out first.

 

[aussieafricans]

i boiled mine but i think the boil was to "rough as some would put it and the shells either faded or turned a really sic pattern! but for most they just faded. so i reacon a "gentle" boil for 10-15 mins like instructed above.

 

[Rick_Lindsey]

i boiled mine but i think the boil was to "rough as some would put it and the shells either faded or turned a really sic pattern! but for most they just faded. so i reacon a "gentle" boil for 10-15 mins like instructed above.

Boiling water is still 100C (212F) regardless of whether it's a gentle boil or a rolling boil.... granted the pot is hotter with the rolling boil and some heat might transmit straight from the pot to the shells.

I didn't think to boil my shells, I'm not to the point of adding fish yet though. Yesterday I cleaned mine out... dumped them all in the 29gal tank and filled it with water, blowing the water into the shells. It filled up before I got all the shells cleaned out (yes, I have alot of shells), so I pulled out my as-yet-unopened sump pump and used that to finish cleaning out all the shells . I may do another rinse cycle, or just pile in some extra filter pad on top of the wet/dry (when I get it built) and run it for awhile, churning the shells periodically.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who is cleaning several hundred shells instead of several shells)