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RE: Profile/Turface
> From: Kean Huat Yeap <keanhuat at yahoo_com>
> Subject: Profile
>
> Hi! I just want to let you guys know that Profile
> Aquatic Plant Soil and Profile Clay Soil Conditioner
> are the same product but in different package and
> price. I posted this in APD several months ago when I
> found this out.
Mmmm..... I did a little digging on the Profile Products LLC page
(http://www.profileproducts.com/), and compared what I read there with
Kean's statement. It would appear that there are a number of products
marketed under the Profile and Turface name.
Turface: Turface MVP, Turface Pro Line, Turface Quick Dry. The main
difference between these individual products, at least according to the web
site, is particle size, with Turface MVP being the coarsest, Turface Pro
Line being smaller, and Turface Quick Dry being even finer. The primary use
for all three products is as a surface conditioner for playing fileds
(baseball fields). But just becuase this is the intended use for these
products is no reason for us to not consider using at least either Turface
MVP or Turface Pro Line as a substrate additive in an aquarium. Turface
Quick Dry is probably a little fine for our purposes (at least for optimum
use).
Profile: "PROFILE is a true porous ceramic product engineered to solve and
prevent soil problems. The base mineral is illite clay and amorphous silica.
The mineral is processed using a computer controlled kiln, which permanently
changes the base minerals to a stable porous ceramic particle. The PROFILE
Porous Ceramic particle has 74% pore space with 1/2 capillary (water
holding) and 1/2 non capillary (air and drainage) pores. The base mineral is
what provides PROFILE with a CEC of 33 meq/100g and excellent porosity."
There are a number of prducts within the "Profile" family - Profile Clay
Soil Conditioner, Profile Soil Conditioner, Profile Aquatic Plant Soil,
Profile Seed Aide. Of these, the last one (Profile Seed Aide) would most
likely not be suitable for our purposes as aquatic gardeners due to the
presence of "cellulose and wood fiber mulch, organic tackifier and
bio-stimulant". It might be great for your lawn, but not for your aquarium.
The other three Profile products appear to hold more promise for aquarists.
The web site does give a chemical and physical analysis of Profile but does
NOT say exactly what the differences are between Profile Clay Soil
Conditioner, Profile Soil Conditioner, and Profile Aquatic Plant Soil. The
main difference _may_ just be particle size (as is the claimed difference
among the Turface products).
The web site does NOT claim that Turface and Profile are the same thing
(same originating mineral clay) and I presume because of the intended market
for Turface, they don't give a breakdown of the physical and chemical
properties of Turface like they do for Profile.
So any claims that they are the same thing in different packages is a bit of
a stretch on our part. In a soon to be published review of substrates and
substrate additives (to appear in Dave Gomberg's new Aquatic Plant
Magazine), concrete numbers will be given which will tell the tale, so to
speak. Since I'm not the author of the article, I'm not at liberty to say
what those numbers are at this point in time - subscribe to the magazine and
find out for yourselves.
What I can say is that, despite any differences, either in particle size or
in chemical composition, these products ALL appear to hold a lot of promise
as alternatives to aquarium industry specific substrate additives and it
might be both interesting and useful to explore their use further. I don't
claim that they are _better_ or _worse_ than things like Flourite, Kitty
Litter, etc. - just that they _are_ different, and variety has been
described as the "spice of life"...
James Purchase
Toronto