newb question on aquarium decorations

[grant116]

I have some clam shells that I was thinking of decorating part of my tank with. I was wondering if this would be a good idea or would this hurt some aspect of keeping a balanced aquarium. The shells are from a freshwater lake. Any advice would be appreciated

They might very well mess with your water chemistry. In fact in a normal planted tank they would slowly dissolve. They will raise the pH, kH and gH.

[grant116]

Thanks for the help, I actually was thinking about that when i was looking at your website and reading through it. By the way i really like your site, thanks for making it becaue it has a lot of great information on there that i think will really help me out. Plan on building a diy co2 system next week, am very excited.

by the way would i be pushing it to plant a few plants at first to hold me over until next payday, or would it be worth the wait to go all at once

As long you you have enough light in the tank you can put some in now.

[chasgood]

If you can find some clear non toxic epoxy to coat the shells with then you can use them in the tank with any worrys.