# An Egg-cellent question. Any good use for egg shells?



## Aquatic Athlete (Oct 7, 2017)

Hey everyone. Here's the question of the day...

Are there any good potential uses for egg shells? I consume an ungodly amount of eggs and therefore have a mountain of egg shells at my disposal. I'd love to know any potential uses for them, regardless if they're helpful to me.

My current tanks:

29g planted shrimp tank
10g beta + corydora tank

I'd love to hear any ideas!


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## requiem (Oct 25, 2008)

Hmm we crush ours and throw them in the garden when the tomatoes are showing calcium deficiency. It takes months for them to disintegrate and be absorbed though. Never thought of using them in aquariums...


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## Aquatic Athlete (Oct 7, 2017)

requiem said:


> Hmm we crush ours and throw them in the garden when the tomatoes are showing calcium deficiency. It takes months for them to disintegrate and be absorbed though. Never thought of using them in aquariums...


That's what got me thinking about it. I've used them for gardening and wasn't sure if there may be a crossover. Perhaps they dissolve after being finely crushed, or release calcium and other minerals.. 

I feel an experiment and lots of googling coming on.


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## AlonsoOrtiz (Sep 7, 2017)

In gardening also helps get rid of snails or cabbage loopers because it cuts them so they stay away 



Aquatic Athlete said:


> requiem said:
> 
> 
> > Hmm we crush ours and throw them in the garden when the tomatoes are showing calcium deficiency. It takes months for them to disintegrate and be absorbed though. Never thought of using them in aquariums...
> ...


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## Aquatic Athlete (Oct 7, 2017)

AlonsoOrtiz said:


> In gardening also helps get rid of snails or cabbage loopers because it cuts them so they stay away


I did not know this. Sweet info to have.


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## Surf (Jun 13, 2017)

The outer shell is mainly calcium carbonate. It will dissolve very slowly in the aquarium. Depending on the PH of your water it probably would take years for them to fully dissolve away. It dissolves in acidic water but not in water with a PH of 7 or higher. It will neutralize acids and much the PH up to 7. But if the PH is above 7 it does not have any affect on PH. The inside of the shell is coated with a Protein. Not sure but shrimp and snails may like the protein.


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## Aquatic Athlete (Oct 7, 2017)

Surf said:


> The outer shell is mainly calcium carbonate. It will dissolve very slowly in the aquarium. Depending on the PH of your water it probably would take years for them to fully dissolve away. It dissolves in acidic water but not in water with a PH of 7 or higher. It will neutralize acids and much the PH up to 7. But if the PH is above 7 it does not have any affect on PH. The inside of the shell is coated with a Protein. Not sure but shrimp and snails may like the protein.


My current water stats on my 29 planted are:
6.5 PH
2 KH
5 KH

(Currently fighting to raise KH and GH)

Very good to know however.


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## TacitBlues (Aug 4, 2016)

Lucas Bretz, a shrimp breeder on YouTube, has crushed egg shells and just put the powder in his tank for the shrimp to "nibble on." It seems to work for him, but he's kinda renowned for breaking the rules.


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## AlonsoOrtiz (Sep 7, 2017)

Yea it?s kind of ?the poor mans pest fix? crush the shells but not a lot don?t want a powder you just want them to be thin enough to coat but big enough so that they are sharp. When the snails or cabbage loopers try tk sljther by the egg shell cuts them and they tend to stay away. But in my opinion just invest in some BT itll kill them faster and is safe to eat after you wash the plants. 


Aquatic Athlete said:


> AlonsoOrtiz said:
> 
> 
> > In gardening also helps get rid of snails or cabbage loopers because it cuts them so they stay away
> ...


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## RugburnTanks (Mar 31, 2015)

All of this is very interesting. Since it is slow release it could be something you try and put in your substrate. Depending on what you use you may not be able to tell the difference. But if you did plain old egg shell with plain old sand and see a difference between just sand you could somewhat prove they have an effect (given the rest of the variable remain the sample like temp, waste, fish, plant load, parameters, etc. hard to do.)


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Possible to see some use but frankly, I feel it would be more trouble than it is worth as there are so many ways to get the same result. We no longer add shells to the compost even though we do like the idea of recycle. They are just too unsightly and last far too long for us to want them showing up in the finished compost. 
In almost all parts of the world there are likely to be easier ways like limestone to get the effect without the downside of appearance. 
Unless one likes the "look" of eggshells!


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## requiem (Oct 25, 2008)

Aquatic Athlete said:


> AlonsoOrtiz said:
> 
> 
> > In gardening also helps get rid of snails or cabbage loopers because it cuts them so they stay away
> ...


Yep yep good to know thanks


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## AbbeysDad (Apr 13, 2016)

TacitBlues said:


> Lucas Bretz, a shrimp breeder on YouTube, has crushed egg shells and just put the powder in his tank for the shrimp to "nibble on." It seems to work for him, but he's kinda renowned for breaking the rules.


I just asked Lucas last night how this was going and he said he's stopped doing it as it was too much 'work' with so many tanks and he wasn't sure if the powder (he was doing a mortise and pestle) was dissolving in the water as he'd hoped. 

I think there might be some potential, but it would likely be over a very long period of time. If I was setting up a new tank, I might be tempted to spread a layer of egg shell powder in with, or under, the sand.


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## mrjbacon (May 22, 2017)

My folks back home have a goose and I've wondered how well goose eggs would work as spawning caves for Apistos and Rams before, they seem to be rather appropriately sized for that type of thing.


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## RugburnTanks (Mar 31, 2015)

mrjbacon said:


> My folks back home have a goose and I've wondered how well goose eggs would work as spawning caves for Apistos and Rams before, they seem to be rather appropriately sized for that type of thing.




Ah! I like that one. Will have to try. Would be a lot easier then buying caves or drilling holes in pots! Just crack a hole or break in half. I’ll share results.


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