What is Sunshield on polished river pebbles?

[Poseidon2.0]

I recently bought a bag of “black polished river pebbles” from Home Depot that I want to use in a new setup. When I opened the bag they feel kind of waxy. No where on the bag does it say toxic or not safe for aquariums it there is a label stating “improved with sunshield (tm)”. Anyone k ow what sunshield is? I was going to boil the rocks but would like to know if there is anything toxic about the coating. It’s supposed to protect from fading in sun. Should have avoided these .

 

[Rocksor]

It could be acrylic based or something else. I would just return it if you can.

 

[Poseidon2.0]

It could be acrylic based or something else. I would just return it if you can.

The boiling process seems to remove the coating whatever it is, but may just use them in my garden and get some different ones.

 

[A201]

Home Depot & Lowes sell Quikrete all purpose "small grain" river gravel. Its found in the lawn & garden dept.
The gravel is aquarium safe & very inexpensive. I use it in my own tank. Good stuff.

 

[aussieman57]

Home Depot and Lowes sells river gravel, pebbel gravel, mexican beach pebbles etc. that are all aquarium safe. They just need to be rinsed. There is no need to boil any rocks or gravel. I would NOT use any product that states it is COATED because who knows what they coated it with & it may or may not have some deleterious effects. Not worth the gamble.

 

[The Morning]

I have used the Mexican black pebbles in my tank previously. I also noted the waxy feel of them and did just what you did. Rinsed them very well in extremely how water which removed the waxy feel. Never had a problem and had them in a tank for several years.

 

[Fathappycat]

Hi! Did u end up using them in your tank? I ordered some Home Depot 1-2” pebbles as well and didn’t see the Sunshield thing until I picked up from store today. Got worry and googled to see anyone used it in tank safely and found your post. Thanks for your update!

 

[fishdance]

It's paraffin wax to maintain a shiny wet look on your pebble even if very dry.

You can add boiling water to dissolve it off but it's not worth the effort for larger quantities.

 

[duanes]

Safety Data Sheet SunShield 1. Identification 2. Hazard(s ...https://www.howardproducts.com › files › SunShi...