EE "polishing" shells?

[DragonsFly]

Do we know if EE eats away at shells over time? One of my molters just came up in a "polished/pearled"-looking shell, and I'm pretty certain I only had one "pearled" shell in there, and it's still on the other crab that has been up for some time. I THINK the crab that came up may be Billie Jean, in which case she went down in a polished, but not polished-to-the-point-of-PEARLED, turbo. The shape and size of this shell could very well be that shell, but all the color has now been removed, as if the shell were further "polished," down to the "pearl" layer, while she was "down under." Two-thirds of the tank is straight EE, and that's where most, if not all, of them have been molting, generally (the "beach" end started out as straight play sand, although over time, the substrates have begun to mix somewhat).

I know that over time, shiny polished shells get more dull, but I thought that was probably from wear as they dig through sandy substrate. Now, I'm not so sure? Could straight EE end up too acidic? I'm wondering if this may be part of my "streaker" problem (for the record, that crab is still in molting limbo in the 10g iso); and if I should do a deep clean at this point, and consider mixed substrates from the get-go rather than straight EE anywhere? I really don't want to do a deep clean unless there's danger to the remaining molters, but if the EE has gotten so acidic that it is eating shells away. . . Thoughts???

[DragonsFly]

Bump! Anybody ever noticed shells being "polished" underground??? Is this just such a crazy idea that nobody even knows how to say, "sheesh, that's the craziest thing I ever heard?" It's okay to say that; I hope it's not happening, actually. . .

[mool]

Many of my shells have dulled down considerably after being buried, boiled, and reburied numerous times, but I've never noticed any eroding away.

That is very strange.

[rainbow_crab]

Crabs definitely modify there own shells, mostly internally though. I have never experienced any crab coming up from a molt that has had its shell pearlized externally. My tanks have sand an Ee and have been that way for years. I haven't ever experienced anything like that.

[CallaLily]

I've had many shells dull over time, cocofiber or no, but never had any erode like you're describing. Are you sure you didn't have another pearled shell in there? Perhaps one that the crabs have had buried for some time, so it's been forgotten?

[DragonsFly]

I'm pretty OCD about record keeping, so I'm going to go back through my old notes to see if there could have been a polished shell that ended up buried and got forgotten/left off more recent lists of "shells in the tank." Considering the size, though, that seems unlikely. But it's not impossible. I'll check.