cabin
Premium Member
Wanted to update everyone on my recent decision about the new HD sand called Kolorscape. I've decided not to use it after all. I talked to Penny at Aquacorals about it for a long time today and then did some more searching here on Reef Central. Someone posted that they had called OldCastle about the Durascape sand they were finding at HD, and were told it was ground limestone. This actually would fit well with what we are seeing in the Kolarscape--it does fizz in acid, therefore calcium carbonate. But the grains are larger and more angular, possibly because of being ground rock. I took two jars outside tonight. Each had the same amount of sand, one from the Kolarscape bag, one from my existing tank at the deeper levels. I put acid on both (dilute hydrochloric acid, which is much stronger than vinegar). The tank sand foamed and bubbled all over the place. The Kolarscape sand foamed and bubbled also, but did not escape the jar--a mellower reaction. Both are still foaming slowly a half hour later. The more violent reaction of the tank sand is probably due to the smaller grain size. One thing that someone on Reefcentral mentioned is that sand sifters might be unhappy with it because of the angularity. I'm thinking of my desire to have a colony of jawfish.....might be too sharp for them. All in all, I've decided to take the unopened bags back and stick with the Caribsea sand. To save money, I'll also use my existing tank sand, which I had hoped to avoid so that my fish could be happy and undisturbed while the setup phase of the new tank was in progress. I'll have to put them in temporary holding tanks after all.
