Im not sure if I have asked this on here yet or not, but does anyone know if Magic sand is safe for aquariums?
It is a hydrophobic sand that you can create amazing colourful structures in water, it would look amazing in a tank as you can create gravity defying structures in brilliant colours.

If anyone has any information on it It would be brilliant as id love to see it in my tank :)

I use to play with that stuff as a kid

Unsure really - its heavily dyed so I dont think id risk it plus the fact you never see it for sale in fish shops and I would have thought someone would have latched onto the idea if it was safe.

its a shame, i have read a lot into it and it does say that the coating comes off and it eventually returns to normal sand, question is what happens to the coating?

Exactly, it obviously seeps into the water-the colour and whatever it is that makes it sticky and hold its shape

im tempted to buy some and just keep it in water for about 6 months to see the effect then test the water to see what its leached.

How will you know what to test for though?
Regular aquarium test kits will only tell you if its effected the PH and stuff - it may well leak something toxic to fish that the tests are not designed to pick up

The other thing is magic sand when wet clumps and sticks together so if your fish got a mouthfull of it its like a lump or clot of sand not just grains that s/he can spit out - I just cant see it being a good thing.

Sounds like a bad idea to me. I would stick to gravel for freshwater, you can't go far wrong. I only put stuff in my tank if I buy it at my LFS, I trust them :)

Hmmm not sure in this one....could be a good idea but me myself wouldnt be going down that road without the go ahead from my lfs.....will be nice to see the outcome from your test though? could spread some light over the subject and maybe catch on if all goes well......good luck and i like the idea

Ollie.

yeah good point - ah well - might get some plastic fish ;)

i personally wouldn't try it. beter the fishes health than an amzing tank.