Originally Posted by
TluvsT
http:///forum/post/2581591
I really do not know that answer. I buy my water from a fish store. All he does is saltwater tanks and some freshwater. I have seen how he makes all the saltwater, so I just figured his water would be fine........
Very bad idea.
3 times out of 3 (that I have seen) down here in my little town, the fish stores messed up their water salinity. One of those stores is a very knowledgeable place!, but they filled up the RO vat to add the salt for the next days supply and an employee attempted to sell it. The customer, being ever so cautious asked that he tested it. He did and of course it was not ready to use.
Either have your LFS test it in front of you or learn how to test it yourself. Your salinity is the easiest thing to measure.
Live rock... for a 10 gallon, you would do best to have 15 lbs.
snails... You have to acclimate them slowly. Last night I went out and bought 22 snails. I put ONE of them in my tank... he died.
The rest I "drip acclimated" for an hour and every single one lived. They are incredibly sensitive to salinity changes. Occurrences as simple as evaporation that causes your salinity to go up, and you add freshwater top off causes it to come back down... In a 10 gallon, if done to quickly it will kill the snail. The MOST common reasons for dead snails or snails that "keep falling off the glass" is improper acclimation or salinity changes in the tank.
