Magic Sand

[Grim Reaper]

hey!!!

Anyone hear of a sand called 'Magic Sand'???
well i saw it 2 day
it was my cousin sisters birthday and my uncle gave her some new kind of toy(well sand) she droped that sand on the tank (without fishes some small tank that came with the sand) and it lookd like normal sand and when she toke it out it went dry again i was Amazed

there is the link 4 it Magic sand

 

[emo]

Oh yeh, that stuff is amazing... utterly insane.

Found a video... here (716k) and here (3.3mb)

 

[My Head Hurts]

Yes, thats advertised on tv all the time! Just out of curiosity (I would never do it myself) would you be ok to use it in a fish tank?

 

[The-Wolf]

Personally, I think the sand has been treated with some form of chemical that repels water;
ergo, It would be entirely unsuitable for an aquarium.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I agree with wolf. Although it is very cool!! My daughter has some and it's really neat,but its just plain sad when the mother and her grown friends push the five year old out of the way to play with the kids toy

Our best guess was that it is coated with wax.

 

[My Head Hurts]

Ah, yes now i remember! it IS coated with something or other, i think they varnish it! (sorry if i hijacked ur thread grim)

 

[emo]

It's coated in an oily substance... not quite wax, but similar hydrophobic properties (water repelling)... drop some washing up liquid into the water with it an give it a stir.... not so magic anymore

 

[Grim Reaper]

Ah, yes now i remember! it IS coated with something or other, i think they varnish it! (sorry if i hijacked ur thread grim)

no probs bro... sorry 4 replying now i totally forgot that i posted this

 

[DJ Prem]

hey!!!

Anyone hear of a sand called 'Magic Sand'???
well i saw it 2 day
it was my cousin sisters birthday and my uncle gave her some new kind of toy(well sand) she droped that sand on the tank (without fishes some small tank that came with the sand) and it lookd like normal sand and when she toke it out it went dry again i was Amazed

there is the link 4 it Magic sand

 

[ddm18]

Just curious... I would never try it myself, just in case, but surely it's not quite true to say:

Personally, I think the sand has been treated with some form of chemical that repels water;
ergo, It would be entirely unsuitable for an aquarium.

Just because it's treated with a chemical doesn't NECESSARILY make it unsuitable for an aquarium. I agree of course that any unknown chemical is a bad idea, but if it's just a kind of water-proof varnish (which presumably it is), then it's surely no worse than the water-proof varnish that gets put on aquarium ornaments... If it's designed to repel water, then it will (probably) be designed not to react with water. No?

 

[Grim Reaper]

Just curious... I would never try it myself, just in case, but surely it's not quite true to say:

Personally, I think the sand has been treated with some form of chemical that repels water;
ergo, It would be entirely unsuitable for an aquarium.

Just because it's treated with a chemical doesn't NECESSARILY make it unsuitable for an aquarium. I agree of course that any unknown chemical is a bad idea, but if it's just a kind of water-proof varnish (which presumably it is), then it's surely no worse than the water-proof varnish that gets put on aquarium ornaments... If it's designed to repel water, then it will (probably) be designed not to react with water. No?

could be but but not sure

 

[emo]

Hydrophobic sand (magic sand) is ordinary beach sand coated with tiny particles of pure silica, which have been exposed to a special chemical treatment vapors of a silicon compound called trimethylhydroxysilane, (CH3)3SiOH.
When the beach sand grains are exposed to trimethylhydroxysilane, a reaction takes place resulting in the formation of water and in the bonding of the trimethylsilane compound to the silica particles.
Following this treatment, the exteriors of the sand grains contain groups that
are insoluble in water or hydrophobic / water hating.

 

[Aquascaper]

I remember that stuff from when I was a kid (about 20 years ago)

Absolutely wicked stuff

 

[Puffer_freak]

And that translates as....

 

[Grim Reaper]

Hydrophobic sand (magic sand) is ordinary beach sand coated with tiny particles of pure silica, which have been exposed to a special chemical treatment vapors of a silicon compound called trimethylhydroxysilane, (CH3)3SiOH.
When the beach sand grains are exposed to trimethylhydroxysilane, a reaction takes place resulting in the formation of water and in the bonding of the trimethylsilane compound to the silica particles.
Following this treatment, the exteriors of the sand grains contain groups that
are insoluble in water or hydrophobic / water hating.

yeah could u say that again in english plz not all of us talk science lang or technical lang like u