I've been told it takes about a month for many of my washed out bichirs to show their potential, but I have already noticed color changes/enhancements/contrast in many of my bichirs. I seriously don't know why I never tried garnet sand...... the stuff is amazing..... doesn't get into my filters, bichirs are spread out vs piling up in one corner -- meaning they are much more comfortable with the garnet sand....... they eat more (went from feeding massivore / 3 fillets of tilapia to massivore / 5-6 fillets of tilapia). My friend Sergio (cohazard) told me to add garnet sand years ago and I never listened......
By the way I am using Mohawk garnet sand 16/24 grade.