# turface? retail stores?



## Seagul

i looked at homedepot and a few local hardwares for turface.

couldnt find anything?


what would it be categorized as?
any big chain stores i can find it at? lowes? menards?


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Seagul,

I found mine at a John Deere center. Turface if used for athletic fields and sometimes as a soil conditioner. Try lawn equipment / sprinkler distributors in your area.


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## bradac56

Lesco is the company that owns Turface so try going to lesco.com and click on there "Store Locator" in the top right hand corner to find a local retail outlet. Lesco also owns John Deer so it can be found there as well but not all of them carries it so call around.

You can have Lesco ship it but at 50lb's a bag it's going to cost a fortune in shiping.

- Brad


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## edwardn

Seagul said:


> i looked at homedepot and a few local hardwares for turface.
> 
> couldnt find anything?
> 
> what would it be categorized as?
> any big chain stores i can find it at? lowes? menards?


Ask you local garden center where ( not Home Depo) they getting their supplies - that's where I'm getting Turface (BWI in Apopka,Fl).


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## bradac56

Thanks edwardn I've never tried special ordering it from a lawn-care company. What is there overhead charge on that?

- Brad


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## edwardn

bradac56 said:


> Thanks edwardn I've never tried special ordering it from a lawn-care company. What is there overhead charge on that?
> 
> - Brad


I bought twice from BVI. At the end of last year they charged $14.33 for 50# Turface MVP. Since it is within a driving distance from my home, I have no idea what shipping would cost - you can either check with UPS, or call BVI at 407 884 0242
Better yet, check all growers supplies companies in your state at: http://www.beldenplastics.com/distribu1.htm


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## bradac56

I've always bought it directly from Lesco since Kansas City has a major league baseball team SMS and Turface are always in stock.
I'll have to start asking my local lawn-care suppliers if they have any as well. There a bit closer that the Lesco warehouse.

Thanks again!
- Brad


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## Seagul

what about TURFACE game saver? seems the be the only one my local store has in stock?


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## Diana K

They are different products. I was using Pro Choice Soil Master Select (Charcoal color) until the local Lesco quit carrying it. Then one of the local aquarium club members wanted to get rid of a bag of Turface. Unfortunately the color is not so great, but it is not the 'game saver', just the most similar to SMS.


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## hooha

If you want something very easy to get, you can get "OilDri" at Walmart in the car maintenance section. The grain size is not as fine and uniform as Turface Pro or SoilMaster Select, but honestly it's very similar in size to regular Flourite, and smaller than Flourite Dark.


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## Seagul

oildri seems to shady for me...



does it leach anything?!

or is it completely inert?


just doesnt seem like something i should be puting in my tanks... 
ill check it out tho!


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## bradac56

The Oil-Dri company makes SMS/Turface for Lesco so it's similar the problem is it has water absorption chemicals which will screw with your pH/water paramaters. I'd recommend Turface MVP Gray just for the ease of use.

- Brad


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## Seagul

i got a bag of oildry. 


the ingredients just say "natural earth product" or something like that.


its just small stones like fluorite... well more like kitty litter. 

it has alot of dust/small particles that need thorough rinsing.. but other than that it seems all natural!


ill be testing it out when i replace my 20g long substrate with it!


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## Rastan71

What color is the oildry?


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## Seagul

charcoal'ish color.


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## p-sully

Here is a link to the Oildri MSDS sheet. http://www.oildri.com/indusauto/index.html They claim it's chemically inert. It sounds like it might work. I am going to try it also since I happen to have a couple of bags in my shop already.


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## vonjager

I had picked up some oil absorbant from Carquest and I couldn't get it to rinse anything clearer than hot chocolate. It would never clear up and I kept at it for weeks, rinsing more whenever I was on the front porch. I finally gave up and bought Turface, but this is a bi*** to get rinsed too. Although not quite as thick and cloudy as the oil absorbant, I have rinsed it about 20x's already. Do you all rinse this until it comes clear?


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## davemonkey

vonjager said:


> I had picked up some oil absorbant from Carquest and I couldn't get it to rinse anything clearer than hot chocolate. It would never clear up and I kept at it for weeks, rinsing more whenever I was on the front porch. I finally gave up and bought Turface, but this is a bi*** to get rinsed too. Although not quite as thick and cloudy as the oil absorbant, I have rinsed it about 20x's already. Do you all rinse this until it comes clear?


Maybe the oil absorbant is not fired clay, just dried. Turface is fired. Have you put it in your tank yet? If you put it in dry, plant, then fill up, there should be only a little cloudiness that clears up in a few days.


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## vonjager

I have another question, after doing more research, I see that a lot of people will do as you suggested of putting in the Turface and then planting and then the water. That is not a problem, but I also read that the Turface gets easier to work with once roots become established to kinda hold the Turface in place and prevent substrate movement and cloudiness. But if I am cycling my tank with a lot of bunch plants that I later plan on removing, won't yanking out those roots from the substrate cause a new set of problems and bring back the old set of problems? I was planning on putting some sand on top of the Turface to hold it down and make it easier to keep the plants in the substrate, but I will be making a big mess when I pull up the stem plants to make room for better plants, right? Then the sand will be infiltrated and I will have the Turface not holding the new plants in well and a cloudiness problem again, right? Is there a way around this?


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## bosmahe1

vonjager said:


> I have another question, after doing more research, I see that a lot of people will do as you suggested of putting in the Turface and then planting and then the water. That is not a problem, but I also read that the Turface gets easier to work with once roots become established to kinda hold the Turface in place and prevent substrate movement and cloudiness. But if I am cycling my tank with a lot of bunch plants that I later plan on removing, won't yanking out those roots from the substrate cause a new set of problems and bring back the old set of problems? I was planning on putting some sand on top of the Turface to hold it down and make it easier to keep the plants in the substrate, but I will be making a big mess when I pull up the stem plants to make room for better plants, right? Then the sand will be infiltrated and I will have the Turface not holding the new plants in well and a cloudiness problem again, right? Is there a way around this?


The sand would eventually separate and settle to the bottom of the tank since it is smaller grains.


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