[lightcycler]

I have my second round of snails coming in for my 3.5 month old aquarium. Have 30 ceriths and 20 nassirius coming as well as a serpent star. I'm going to put them all together in a 10 gallon quarantine but thinking I need to put down some sand. Any experience with contamination of the sand? Does this sound like a good plan?

[leebca]

I'm not sure what your question is. Are you asking if this particular sand is contaminated? I would not know that. But if the sand is supposed to be a silica sand, then you can test it to see if it contains any carbonate contaminants by adding some acid to it. If it fizzes or bubbles, then there are probably carbonates present. Use some vinegar, undiluted, as the acid.

Sand in the quarantine tank for invertebrates is a good idea. This verifies that they do not contain any invertebrate diseases or diseases that may be fish dependent. If your main display is fishless right now, then holding them for a few weeks and putting them in the display such that in all, the time exceeds 8 weeks before fish are put in, should be good enough to handle any possible fish diseases sneaking into the display. So, I'd say your plan is a good one.

If I misunderstood your question, please don't hesitate to ask again or to clarify.

[lightcycler]

Ya Lee I was just wondering if the sand might have something in it harmful. I'll check the carbonate part for sure. Thanks.

I'm thinking now that since its play sand for kids then they wouldn't have any harmful compounds in it.

No problem on the 8 weeks before fish. I'm having fun right now with the inverts and watching the tank grow and all the life popping out. The pods are all over the place now.

[leebca]

Unfortunately, what isn't harmful to humans isn't always safe for our marine life. I wish we could use that 'ruler' for making our choices. A human wouldn't absorb anything from the sand that dissolves in water, since humans usually don't play in a sandbox in the rain. But when it is in water, the fish will be exposed to anything that may dissolve in water, even in very low concentrations that wouldn't affect a human.

Good luck!