# Sculpey Clay?



## P.senegalus

I seen a few topics on other forums saying sculpey clay should be safe for aquarium use, but I want to know if anyone here has tried it before so I won't be harming my fish. I could make so many fun decorations for my tank, but is it really safe to use?


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## mousey

check out this link 


http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/82228-trying-out-sculpey-caves.html






Safety

All FAQ Topics


What types of pigments are used to color the clays? Are they toxic?

copied from the sculpey clay web page. Since it is for kids it should be non toxic. I don't have any thoughts about fish.



We use Non-Toxic pigments and mica pigments. None of our pigments contain any heavy metals or chemicals of concern. In our Premo! product line, our clay colors such as "cadmium red hue," “cobalt blue hue” and the like mimic the colors of the heavy metal based pigments but are non-toxic and safe. Our colors are named after the artist’s paint colors, but none contain possible toxic substances such as cadmium, zinc or titanium. 

Some of the oven-bake clays “bleed” color on your hands. This is due to the amount of pigment needed to make the deep, rich, luxurious colors. Work from light colors to dark colors. Clean hands when shifting to a lighter color, and clean the rollers of your pasta machine to avoid introducing any deep colors into the lighter colors.


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## P.senegalus

mousey said:


> check out this link
> 
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/82228-trying-out-sculpey-caves.html


^This is actually where I got the idea 


> Safety
> 
> All FAQ Topics
> 
> 
> What types of pigments are used to color the clays? Are they toxic?
> 
> copied from the sculpey clay web page. Since it is for kids it should be non toxic. I don't have any thoughts about fish.
> 
> 
> 
> We use Non-Toxic pigments and mica pigments. None of our pigments contain any heavy metals or chemicals of concern. In our Premo! product line, our clay colors such as "cadmium red hue," “cobalt blue hue” and the like mimic the colors of the heavy metal based pigments but are non-toxic and safe. Our colors are named after the artist’s paint colors, but none contain possible toxic substances such as cadmium, zinc or titanium.
> 
> Some of the oven-bake clays “bleed” color on your hands. This is due to the amount of pigment needed to make the deep, rich, luxurious colors. Work from light colors to dark colors. Clean hands when shifting to a lighter color, and clean the rollers of your pasta machine to avoid introducing any deep colors into the lighter colors.


I think I'm going to test a small piece and see what happens.


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## elitesrock

P.senegalus said:


> ^This is actually where I got the idea
> 
> I think I'm going to test a small piece and see what happens.


Test hem on feeders. You can get 1 for 10 cents.


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## P.senegalus

elitesrock said:


> Test hem on feeders. You can get 1 for 10 cents.


I'll do it tonight, I have some feeders I cycled my last tank with.


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## elitesrock

You know just because they are not dead means it's not harmful. You should watch closely to see if they are acting oddly. Sometimes it's they're insides that damage.


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## emc7

They used a polymer clay in Tanked . But I don't know which one.


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## P.senegalus

elitesrock said:


> Test hem on feeders. You can get 1 for 10 cents.





> You know just because they are not dead means it's not harmful. You should watch closely to see if they are acting oddly. Sometimes it's they're insides that damage


I haven't even tried it yet, but I'm pretty sure it won't hurt them. 
I left it in a bowl of water from my aquarium last night and today the water tested the same as the tank.



> They used a polymer clay in Tanked . But I don't know which one.


 That makes me feel better about it.


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## Obsidian

Personally I would write a Q to the Tanked people and ask. They seem to know their stuff. Well at least I most certainly do hope they know their stuff LOL.


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## P.senegalus

Obsidian said:


> Personally I would write a Q to the Tanked people and ask. They seem to know their stuff. Well at least I most certainly do hope they know their stuff LOL.


Is that possible? I'm going to look, see if I can get an address now.

EDIT: I couldn't find the contact info to Tanked, but I found a site that sells it called polymerclaysuperstore.com, and I e-mailed them.


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## Obsidian

Go to their web site, I bet there is a way to contact them from there. Quick phone call, I am sure they would be willing to answer.


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## P.senegalus

I decided to put the clay I had in the bowl of water in my 55 after 3 days. So far everthing is looking good and everyone's acting normal.

I tried to bake something bigger, but I burned my clay  I even set the timer too, but it didn't go off :chair:


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## Obsidian

I went to the ATM website and sent them an e-mail. Hopefully they will respond fairly quickly. Took me less than 2 minutes to find their contact information.


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## P.senegalus

Obsidian said:


> I went to the ATM website and sent them an e-mail. Hopefully they will respond fairly quickly. Took me less than 2 minutes to find their contact information.


:chair: I'm not very good with google. I hope they reply to you.


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## emc7

You might have to make it in layers and stick them together.


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## P.senegalus

I was thinking that. If the tanked person replies to Obsidian's email and the small piece in my tank continues to not change the water, I'll try to bake it in smaller layers and piece them together somehow.


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## Obsidian

Yes they have responded to me but they had not heard of it as "sculpy" they are currently looking into it for me, well Nick is. It was kind of close to the end of the day so I am not sure how long before I get an answer. 

Some other fish sites have people using it so I am going to say it probably is safe, but nowhere on the site does it say if it is safe for fish or not. On one site it said that one concern regarding not eating off of it had to do with the porous nature of the clay, thus creating a great surface for bacteria= bad for food. They pointed out that this is probably good in an aquarium as what we want is a solid bacterial base. It is less clear if there is any actual leeching which is what the big concern would be. If it is leeching then it will NOT kill your fish overnight, it will be a slow death as the clay slowly leeched, unless it just leeches out fast and kills accordingly. In general it would have to reach a toxic level of leaching to do the trick.


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## P.senegalus

Thanks for contacting them. I hope it's completely safe. do you think I should remove the piece from my tank until you get an answer?


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## Obsidian

It wouldn't hurt to pull it out and wait. To my mind there isn't any hurry to much of anything, but I am not you waiting to do something fun for your tank LOL. 

I hope that I can get an answer quickly but that cannot be a guarantee since it's the weekend. The initial response was within about an hour, so they seem to be on top of things. I just didn't get back to them until pretty close to the end of day. 

I also am leaning to the side of thinking it's probably safe. Other sites would be putting up hell no don't do it posts if it wasn't. Unless they don't know its harming the tanks.


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## P.senegalus

Ok, I took it out, just in case


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## Obsidian

They are not getting back to me today which tells me it would probably be Monday before we hear. I am on either over lunch or after 8pm so it might be a late answer if it does come in.


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## P.senegalus

A later answer is better than no answer. Thanks again


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## Obsidian

From Nick Beirman at ATM: 
"It looks like its safe to use. I would recommend to take a small piece of it and let it cure. Then put it in some water for a day or so and see if it starts to fall apart maybe rub it a little and see if any comes off. If it does then you will need to clear coat it to seal it. "

Sounds like a good plan to me


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## P.senegalus

Thanks! I'm going to put another piece in a bowl of water and after a few more days i'll see how it holds up.


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## P.senegalus

I'm checking tonight to see if the clay is crumbly after being in the water all this time, and if it changed anything in the water. If it's still hard, I have 3 more pounds to use. I'm sure I can make something cool that has hiding places in it with that much clay. 
Oh and if it hasn't broken down I'll post a picture of whatever I bake for my tank


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## P.senegalus

I forgot to post this the next day, but the clay is still as hard as it was when I put it in the tank. Here is a picture of it. It's the small brown rock looking thing on the top of the flower pot.








I still haven't decided what to make with the 3 lbs I have.


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