Petsmart plants in a tube... how's the quality?

[sobersteve323]

This question is for those of you that have purchased the individually sealed plants in a tube from Petsmart.

How healthy are they and do they thrive?

I know they sell non-aquatic plants as aquatic but I'm only concerned with the quality of the actual aquatic ones. Unfortunately the only 2 stores nearby with a decent selection of plants are both Petsmarts... and the store with plants in a tank has ich covering all their fish. So that leaves me with the plants in a tube at the other location.

Thanks!

 

[Vircomore]

Once you know the plant you're getting is aquatic - there are two big things I think you should look for:

1. Damage to vital parts of the plant (bruised stems or leaves, rotted rhizome, rotted plant base)

2. Roots. A plant that comes with a healthy start of roots is more likely going to start growing well, whereas a plant with little to no roots will likely experience no (or "negative" growth / melting) before it starts actually growing leaves.

#2 applies more to stem plants (ludwigia, hygrophila, anacharis) and "node" plants (swords, vallisneria, crypts) than it does to rhizome plants (anubias, java fern) because a rhizome can completely recover from having absolutely no roots at all.

 

[sobersteve323]

Once you know the plant you're getting is aquatic - there are two big things I think you should look for:

1. Damage to vital parts of the plant (bruised stems or leaves, rotted rhizome, rotted plant base)

2. Roots. A plant that comes with a healthy start of roots is more likely going to start growing well, whereas a plant with little to no roots will likely experience no (or "negative" growth / melting) before it starts actually growing leaves.

#2 applies more to stem plants (ludwigia, hygrophila, anacharis) and "node" plants (swords, vallisneria, crypts) than it does to rhizome plants (anubias, java fern) because a rhizome can completely recover from having absolutely no roots at all.

This is actually why I was asking if anyone had experience buying the plants in a tube from Petsmart. You can't actually see anything but the top parts of the plants.

 

[bigbanker]

I've purchased about three of those tubes... They aren't thriving but they aren't dying either. In the tube were some with tons of unsightly black marks on the leafs... Any of the tubes that were too bad I simply took back.

 

[reefdiver]

I got some anubias , have fern and sword. The first two are doing ok. The sword needs some roottabs. Just remember to toy them up on a stone or drift wood

 

[Vircomore]

Yea, sorry. The Petsmarts and Petcos around my area are pretty much 100% non-aquatic in those tubes - but the Petco I go to actually has a separate "kiosk tank" that they keep all their aquatic plants in and away from any fish, so they're usually good quality.

If all else fails - you can successfully eliminate the risk of Ich from plants by either putting them through a diluted bleach wash and then a thorough rinse - or simply keep them quarantined and away from anything living for 4-6 weeks and all the ich will die from not having animals to feed on. (Ich can't live with just plants)

 

[sobersteve323]

I've purchased about three of those tubes... They aren't thriving but they aren't dying either. In the tube were some with tons of unsightly black marks on the leafs... Any of the tubes that were too bad I simply took back.

That's a bummer to hear. Some of the tubes actually look in pretty good shape but I'd rather go by the experience of others.

Thanks!

 

[sobersteve323]

Yea, sorry. The Petsmarts and Petcos around my area are pretty much 100% non-aquatic in those tubes - but the Petco I go to actually has a separate "kiosk tank" that they keep all their aquatic plants in and away from any fish, so they're usually good quality.

If all else fails - you can successfully eliminate the risk of Ich from plants by either putting them through a diluted bleach wash and then a thorough rinse - or simply keep them quarantined and away from anything living for 4-6 weeks and all the ich will die from not having animals to feed on. (Ich can't live with just plants)

Yeah, the Petsmart I originally got some plants from had a kiosk tank as well. Ended up battling ich in that tank and lost (although I did the hydrogen peroxide dip versus bleach, so I may try that this time). I just didn't feel like going through that fight again!

 

[mfdrookie516]

I've got 8 anubias plants that came from a single small anubias from a tube in petsmart. I've also had good luck with their swords. The dwarf hairgrass in the pouch has done well too. I'm sure it's possible to get bad plants, but my experience has always been good. The thing is, you can probably get most of those plants from other members here for the cost of shipping... which is about the same price as one tube... and you'd get a lot more.

 

[Coleallensmom]

My experience has always been good with the Petsmart tubes as well. I've bought anubias, java fern, and amazon swords from Petsmart and they are all still thriving. I have other stores I prefer to buy from in my area, but in a pinch, the tube plants work IME.

 

[sobersteve323]

I've got 8 anubias plants that came from a single small anubias from a tube in petsmart. I've also had good luck with their swords. The dwarf hairgrass in the pouch has done well too. I'm sure it's possible to get bad plants, but my experience has always been good. The thing is, you can probably get most of those plants from other members here for the cost of shipping... which is about the same price as one tube... and you'd get a lot more.

That's really good to hear! I'll have to compare some of the prices at Petsmart with shipping costs.

 

[sobersteve323]

My experience has always been good with the Petsmart tubes as well. I've bought anubias, java fern, and amazon swords from Petsmart and they are all still thriving. I have other stores I prefer to buy from in my area, but in a pinch, the tube plants work IME.

I agree that I'd prefer to buy from my local mom and pop store. But the last few visits for plants they've all been kind of brown and sickly looking.

Thanks!

 

[jetajockey]

The prices on the tube plants is pretty crazy if you compare it with online, quantity wise.

 

[sobersteve323]

The prices on the tube plants is pretty crazy if you compare it with online, quantity wise.

Wow, didn't know that. I'll have to take a look next visit. Shame on me for assuming it was the same price as the ones in the tank.

 

[jetajockey]

Wow, didn't know that. I'll have to take a look next visit. Shame on me for assuming it was the same price as the ones in the tank.

I meant that you can usually find a larger amount of plants cheaper online, most common plants go for $2-3 per bunch and are way larger.

I have a LFS that sometimes has decent plants, although they often have that grungy brown diatom/algae/gunk thing going on with them. Their prices are usually cheaper as well.

I think that petsmarts tank plants are cheaper than the tube ones of the same size but I haven't looked closely lately, there's no way I'm paying 5-6 dollars for a 4 inch sprig of water wisteria for example.

But like rookie said, you can sometimes find good deals, if you find one with several anubias or java ferns in it, then it's worth it since they are such slow growing plants.

 

[Ozydego]

I would only buy plants from a LFS where they are seperated and well cared for, all the plants in my gallery are less than a week old and I paid ~$35 to $40 for all eight species including the $12 crinum calamastrius, I dont think it would look like that from petsmart... IMHO

 

[sobersteve323]

I meant that you can usually find a larger amount of plants cheaper online, most common plants go for $2-3 per bunch and are way larger.

I have a LFS that sometimes has decent plants, although they often have that grungy brown diatom/algae/gunk thing going on with them. Their prices are usually cheaper as well.

I think that petsmarts tank plants are cheaper than the tube ones of the same size but I haven't looked closely lately, there's no way I'm paying 5-6 dollars for a 4 inch sprig of water wisteria for example.

But like rookie said, you can sometimes find good deals, if you find one with several anubias or java ferns in it, then it's worth it since they are such slow growing plants.

Oops! Misread your post.

Thanks, I'll have to do some price comparisons!

 

[librarygirl]

This is a great thread, I've been wondering the same. I had a bad experience with one of the other large pet stores recently: I didn't want to buy live plants from their fish tanks so they had separate tanks with plants underwater. I was clueless on what to get (aside from Anachris I hadn't heard of any of the other plants they had, which was partly my fault for not researching first....and yes a librarian should know better lol) so I asked an employee. He recommended one of the potted assortments. They looked pretty so I bought two. When I got home and posted here and did some research I learned that NONE of them were aquatic plants, so I threw them out.

I've seen the ones in the tubes also, the PetSmart brand and the TopFin brand. Some are aquatic some not, but I was curious too about the quality. I might give them a try next time. The other large chain near me also has plants separated from their fish but now I know that over 1/2 of them aren't truly aquatic and the rest that are didn't look too healthy.

 

[sobersteve323]

This is a great thread, I've been wondering the same. I had a bad experience with one of the other large pet stores recently: I didn't want to buy live plants from their fish tanks so they had separate tanks with plants underwater. I was clueless on what to get (aside from Anachris I hadn't heard of any of the other plants they had, which was partly my fault for not researching first....and yes a librarian should know better lol) so I asked an employee. He recommended one of the potted assortments. They looked pretty so I bought two. When I got home and posted here and did some research I learned that NONE of them were aquatic plants, so I threw them out.

I've seen the ones in the tubes also, the PetSmart brand and the TopFin brand. Some are aquatic some not, but I was curious too about the quality. I might give them a try next time. The other large chain near me also has plants separated from their fish but now I know that over 1/2 of them aren't truly aquatic and the rest that are didn't look too healthy.

The Petsmart nearby (the one with the ich) has a bunch lucky bamboo plants in their tank. Even the employees know it's not aquatic but they said it sells well. Oh well lol

 

[jetajockey]

The lucky bamboo actually grows fine if you keep the top out of the water. The plants they sell work great as bog plants or an environment with high humidity, and some can adapt to being a regular houseplant, they just can't be submerged for long periods of time.