Water repelling sand

[ourcoralreef]

So i was surfing online and came across a kids toy i have seen it before but i never thought more of it hydrophobic sand (water repelling sand) you make it by spraying a water repelling silicon on it and mixing multiple times
I personally think this would be awesome no more detritus no more siphoning or anything else for that matter it would be like a bare bottom tank with a sandy bottom look
I don't know for some reason i think its really cool what do you guys think and do you know of anyone that has ever tried it

 

[Dogbed]

??

 

[ourcoralreef]

?*????

What is that

 

[andylee]

Doesn't sound like a great idea. How do you know what it's treated with or even what kind of sand it is to begin with?

 

[ourcoralreef]

Doesn't sound like a great idea. How do you know what it's treated with or even what kind of sand it is to begin with?

Well what kind of sand doesn't matter because its repelling water what is in it is the concern and how long it will repel water salt etc
In the previous post I explain how its made so if its 100% silicon that is coating the sand then it should be reef safe

 

[edd]

i think it will collect ditrious, as the sand will still have voids.

 

[ourcoralreef]

Once the sand is separated from the water you can get better flow pointed directly at the bottom

 

[brooklynfc]

You can make your own "magic sand" just YouTube diy magic sand. Wouldn't want any of that in my tank if I were you.

 

[reefer4eva]

Sand holds bacteria needed to consume organic matter...if your worried about detritus I would recommend adding more flow to the tank (accel flow excellerator's are awesome,or try adding more powerheads)

 

[noelskii]

Sounds like a crash waiting to happen

 

[reefiness]

like others have mentioned, it wouldn't be the greatest idea. To address your thought of having a "separation" of the sand from the water allowing increased water flow without disturbing the sand, I think you would actually have quite the opposite result. The hydrophic sands you're referring to actually tend to "clump" while underwater containing air pockets within the sand clumps. This theoretically makes the clumps lighter relative to sand without air pockets. A modest amount of flow will be enough to bring these clumps to the surface. Once the clumps reach the surface they will disperse, and float on top of the water which will result in your sand collecting in your filter socks or similar mechanical filtration means.

 

[ourcoralreef]

like others have mentioned, it wouldn't be the greatest idea. To address your thought of having a "separation" of the sand from the water allowing increased water flow without disturbing the sand, I think you would actually have quite the opposite result. The hydrophic sands you're referring to actually tend to "clump" while underwater containing air pockets within the sand clumps. This theoretically makes the clumps lighter relative to sand without air pockets. A modest amount of flow will be enough to bring these clumps to the surface. Once the clumps reach the surface they will disperse, and float on top of the water which will result in your sand collecting in your filter socks or similar mechanical filtration means.

Very good answer i haven't thought about that and i can see how that would happen