Empty shells in reef tank

[Oceanflores]

Hello fellow reefers-
Do you leave empty shell from snails and crabs in you sand bottom reef ? Do they impact nutrients if left ? Would you remove for aesthetics ?

 

[Reefing102]

I haven’t purposely put empty shells in but I also don’t remove the empty shells from the crabs and snails that die.

To my knowledge, any impact on nutrients is minimal.

 

[jjmg]

I leave the shells in tanks with sand, it gives hermits new shells to move into as they grow and they tend to erode over time, I assume adding the calcium back into the tank. I do remove them from my bare bottom tank because I end up sucking them up when I'm doing water changes and have to spend 5 minutes trying to get them out of the tube after they block it.

 

[griss]

Agree. I leave them. When I start a new tank, I’ve always thrown a few empty shells in for the hermit crabs to upgrade.

 

[Timfish]

Leave them, if they bother you drop them behind aquascaping so you don't see them. As endoliths dissolve them it will help with the alkalinty, calcium and magnesium.