To Sand Or Not To Sand? -Substrate.

[LBDave]

Another member has ordered Sandtastik and put into his tank this beautiful colored sand. (See his thread, "Best Sand Ever.). Some members had some concerns about it's safety, so I did some investigation.
It is made of Fieldspar stone, resin encapsulated with a nontoxic dye. Resin encapsulating is like those flower or shell paper weights where the flowers ect are encased in clear resin. It is an autclave or other baking process.

Sandtastik Sand has a top safety rating with children and testing and safety seal with the AMCI Arts, Materials, and Creative Institute.

It comes in almost 50 shades and is used indoor/outdoor and is waterproof. It can be cleaned with soap. (We won't be doing that.)

It has not been aquarium tested. I ordered some and will be letting you know my test results. It is not company recommended for fish that mouth their gravel or sand as it has irregular shaped grains.

So it should be fine for fish that don't put the entire grain in their mouth or just sweep the surface like Cories, or pick at the surface of their substrate material like Bettas. Surface and midrange swimmers that are non bottom foragers should be fine. Probably others are OK too. Check to see if your sand is irregular shaped and how many years your fish has been doing fine. I don't think play or pool filter sand was officially tested either until fish
hobbyist tested it in their tanks

Sandtastik runs about $42-45 for 25 lb box, about $32 for 10 lbs. At the maufacturer sandtastikproducts.com. or Amazon.com. For lesser amounts of sand go to amazon.com where the Sandtastik vendor David's Bridal sells 1 lb bags Sandtastik for $4.95. Overwise you will paying $24 for a pound. I will let you know if I find anything cheaper.

Sandtastik is supposed to not cloud and enter your filter, not need initial cleaning, (advise it anyway) and also supposed to be easy maintainance like Torpedo Beach Sand. I will let you know my short and long term test findings of this product.

Another member has ordered Sandtastik and put into his tank this beautiful colored sand. (See his thread, "Best Sand Ever.). Some members had some concerns about it's safety, so I did some investigation.
It is made of Fieldspar stone, resin encapsulated with a nontoxic dye. Resin encapsulating is like those flower or shell paper weights where the flowers ect are encased in clear resin. It is an autclave or other baking process.

Sandtastik Sand has a top safety rating with children and testing and safety seal with the AMCI Arts, Materials, and Creative Institute.

It comes in almost 50 shades and is used indoor/outdoor and is waterproof. It can be cleaned with soap. (We won't be doing that.)

It has not been aquarium tested. I ordered some and will be letting you know my test results. It is not company recommended for fish that mouth their gravel or sand as it has irregular shaped grains.

So it should be fine for fish that don't put the entire grain in their mouth or just sweep the surface like Cories, or pick at the surface of their substrate material like Bettas. Surface and midrange swimmers that are non bottom foragers should be fine. Probably others are OK too. Check to see if your sand is irregular shaped and how many years your fish has been doing fine. I don't think play or pool filter sand was officially tested either until fish
hobbyist tested it in their tanks

Sandtastik runs about $42-45 for 25 lb box, about $32 for 10 lbs. At the maufacturer sandtastikproducts.com. or Amazon.com. For lesser amounts of sand go to amazon.com where the Sandtastik vendor David's Bridal sells 1 lb bags Sandtastik for $4.95. Overwise you will paying $24 for a pound. I will let you know if I find anything cheaper.

Sandtastik is supposed to not cloud and enter your filter, not need initial cleaning, (advise it anyway) and also supposed to be easy maintainance like Torpedo Beach Sand. I will let you know my short and long term test findings of this product.

I would not use colored sand or gravel. Eventually the protective layer wears off. This is from experience. My advice is to also consider the chemical make up of the sand. Will it cause diatom blooms (silicate). Will it raise ph? Do you want plants? Etc.
Even the color should be analyzed. Will a bright gravel affect the fish?
Re-doing the substrate is a pain. So planning is important.

 

[Fishflyer]

I would not use colored sand or gravel. Eventually the protective layer wears off. This is from experience. My advice is to also consider the chemical make up of the sand. Will it cause diatom blooms (silicate). Will it raise ph? Do you want plants? Etc.
Even the color should be analyzed. Will a bright gravel affect the fish?
Re-doing the substrate is a pain. So planning is important.

Thank you for the input @ LBDave. I had thought of that also--the practical use life of the sand?
>> Have you used this particular sand so you could give us some idea of the color life? This is an earnest question.
As to the sands make up.. It is made from Feldspar stone and proclaimed to be silicate free, but upon further research I found one of the comprising elements of Feldspar is silicate. As the sand is also considered a hobby and play sand it is geared toward children, who sometimes put things in their mouth. The dye is supposed to be nontoxic and resin encapsulated.
The sand is not aquarium tested, is water proof. The other member and I are testing it for aquarium use. Playsand and Pool Filter Sand are not meant for aquarium use yet are safe for human use and are used in the aquaria hobby.

I will enquire further with the company about color life of this sand, and the silicate question.

Color I ordered was a muted green. None of my tanks have bright colors in substrate or elsewhere. My aquariums have plants, rocks, gulches, grottos, caves and swim through tunnels. Everything is natural in appearance. My fish exhibit happy browsing and playing behavior.

Thank you again for your input into the Sandtastik colored sand product. I will post any furtherr revelations about this product.

 

[Fishflyer]

I would not use colored sand or gravel. Eventually the protective layer wears off. This is from experience. My advice is to also consider the chemical make up of the sand. Will it cause diatom blooms (silicate). Will it raise ph? Do you want plants? Etc.
Even the color should be analyzed. Will a bright gravel affect the fish?
Re-doing the substrate is a pain. So planning is important.

I would not use colored sand or gravel. Eventually the protective layer wears off. This is from experience. My advice is to also consider the chemical make up of the sand. Will it cause diatom blooms (silicate). Will it raise ph? Do you want plants? Etc.
Even the color should be analyzed. Will a bright gravel affect the fish?
Re-doing the substrate is a pain. So planning is important.

Additionally response to @ LBDave post. Yes changing substrate is a pain. I do it gradually, in steps. Move part of the old substrate out, and the new substrate in on either side of old substrate so the new substrate can be seeded by the established bacteria culture in the old substrate.

Sometimes if they are complimentary, I will mix the new and old substrate and keep them both.

I check pH occasionally, I have a master test kit. I have been in the hobby 50 years and try to implement the newest proven knowledge. >> I am especially vigilant about pH checks when I add any new element to my tanks, including rocks and substrata.

@LBDave in your experience with colored sands, how long before the dye/tinting has worn off.

Were your fish adversely affected? If they were, what type of behavior did they exhibit?

Thank you again for your input, you brought up some pertinent points.

 

[Fishflyer]

I would not use colored sand or gravel. Eventually the protective layer wears off. This is from experience. My advice is to also consider the chemical make up of the sand. Will it cause diatom blooms (silicate). Will it raise ph? Do you want plants? Etc.
Even the color should be analyzed. Will a bright gravel affect the fish?
Re-doing the substrate is a pain. So planning is important.

As to the concern about losing the coloration on tinted gravel. I have gotten my gravel from my local independent fish store. The owner of many decades has great concern over the welfare of his fish and educates his customers and employees, (targeting especially new ones) in all manners of proper fish husbandry, such as we speak of in these forums. He had naught but quality products and I trust he would very firmly not stock anything that would be unsafe for fish. I especially like his line of natural River Gems substrates. I have the miniature agate pebbles in one tank.

The colored gravel from this fish shop has been in my tanks for ten years with no fading or color removal. I do have have some gravel that came with an aquarium I purchased, but I did not use it.

As to you bringing up this point, going foward, rest assured, I shall keep a wary eye on any diminishment of color in my substrate. Hopefully others reading your post will do the same and have an informed choice when deciding on new substrate.
Your genuine concern is much appreciated @LBDave

 

[Fishflyer]

I have researched further into Feldspar stone, which is the component Sandtastik sands are primarily composed of. It is safe for freshwater aquariums. There is some question that the calcium contained in Feldspar may or may not raise your calcium. Since the Sandtastik Sand dyes encapsulate the entire sand granule, and resin encapsulates the dye, it is possible the water would not be exposed to any calcium. However it might be advised if using Sandtastik to monitor pH level occasionally.

During shop class in school, we covered a chapter in plastics, including resin encapsulation. There are several different methods including autoclave baking. The end result is durable and lasting as I recall. Resin encapsulation is like those clear paperweights you see where flowers or shells are encased in clear resin.

We don't know the quality of the Sandtastik products resin encapsulation. But their product was tested at Duke University, and received a safety award. In my communication with the company they were frank and forthright to my questions.

Another member and I are testing the product. The floral colored sand is easy to clean and doesn't cloud. Other revelations will be posted as they manifest.

 

[FINWIN]

There are visuals of Sandtastik colors in my tanks for those interested. See the thread "Meet my Finny Friends".

Colors totally pop under LED and sparkle.

 

[LBDave]

Additionally response to @ LBDave post. Yes changing substrate is a pain. I do it gradually, in steps. Move part of the old substrate out, and the new substrate in on either side of old substrate so the new substrate can be seeded by the established bacteria culture in the old substrate.

Sometimes if they are complimentary, I will mix the new and old substrate and keep them both.

I check pH occasionally, I have a master test kit. I have been in the hobby 50 years and try to implement the newest proven knowledge. >> I am especially vigilant about pH checks when I add any new element to my tanks, including rocks and substrata.

@LBDave in your experience with colored sands, how long before the dye/tinting has worn off.

Were your fish adversely affected? If they were, what type of behavior did they exhibit?

Thank you again for your input, you brought up some pertinent points.

I had a 40 gal. with black gravel. It seemed like in about 5 years of aquarium maintenance (Fishkeeper cleaning gravel) that some of the gravel started turning white. You could sort of see the gravel coating was wearing off.
So when I got rid of this tank and started a new 100+ gal tank I took care in selecting gravel. I finally selected a Caribseas natural gravel.

 

[LBDave]

I have researched further into Feldspar stone, which is the component Sandtastik sands are primarily composed of. It is safe for freshwater aquariums. There is some question that the calcium contained in Feldspar may or may not raise your calcium. Since the Sandtastik Sand dyes encapsulate the entire sand granule, and resin encapsulates the dye, it is possible the water would not be exposed to any calcium. However it might be advised if using Sandtastik to monitor pH level occasionally.

During shop class in school, we covered a chapter in plastics, including resin encapsulation. There are several different methods including autoclave baking. The end result is durable and lasting as I recall. Resin encapsulation is like those clear paperweights you see where flowers or shells are encased in clear resin.

We don't know the quality of the Sandtastik products resin encapsulation. But their product was tested at Duke University, and received a safety award. In my communication with the company they were frank and forthright to my questions.

Another member and I are testing the product. The floral colored sand is easy to clean and doesn't cloud. Other revelations will be posted as they manifest.

 

[LBDave]

Additionally response to @ LBDave post. Yes changing substrate is a pain. I do it gradually, in steps. Move part of the old substrate out, and the new substrate in on either side of old substrate so the new substrate can be seeded by the established bacteria culture in the old substrate.

Sometimes if they are complimentary, I will mix the new and old substrate and keep them both.

I check pH occasionally, I have a master test kit. I have been in the hobby 50 years and try to implement the newest proven knowledge. >> I am especially vigilant about pH checks when I add any new element to my tanks, including rocks and substrata.

@LBDave in your experience with colored sands, how long before the dye/tinting has worn off.

Were your fish adversely affected? If they were, what type of behavior did they exhibit?

Thank you again for your input, you brought up some pertinent points.

When the gravel coating eroded from the gravel the fish were not affected. It was the aesthetics that I didn't like. Note that this was probably 10 years ago and I imagine I just got some gravel from Petco. Now that I have "re-entered" the aquarium world so to speak, I enjoy researching everything about the aquarium. It's really a hobby now. Mu aquarium is no longer a table lamp.

 

[Fishflyer]

There are visuals of Sandtastik colors in my tanks for those interested. See the thread "Meet my Finny Friends".

Colors totally pop under LED and sparkle.

Received my Green Sandtastik Sand. It does indeed have natural, athestic highlights. I will report on it soon.

I will further research on Feldspar's natural color for those interested in the possible long term, fading-- loss of tint of the baked on color.

The color of the classic green Sand is very nice-- Natural but with subtle light catching highlights. It looks muchl better than photos or the company sample color chips can represent.