purchasing plants

[Rivercats]

You can use Prime safely up to 5x the recommended dose safely for emergency situations. It even says that on the bottle.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Wow I didn't know that! Thanks for letting me know. I will start doing that from now on.

 

[DragonFish71]

I order mostly from AquariumPlants.com and they have good plants. BUT this time of the year the weather is or is getting really cold in area's so I personally won't order plants. Some plants just don't handle the cold during shipping. I need some plants but am waiting till spring when temps start raising. If your in FL you could order from ExtraPlant.com as they are in FL also.

Agree 100%

All my plant orders go to aquariumplants.com. I've never had a problem with their plants being healthy, or having snails.

I always do my ordering in the spring/summer (depending on the heat) and fall.

 

[Hholly]

A water changer like the Python or Aqueon versions is a real asset for water changes. Way easier than buckets. There are demos on YouTube.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

A water changer like the Python or Aqueon versions is a real asset for water changes. Way easier than buckets. There are demos on YouTube.

I have one of those Aqueon water changers and I found the connections didn't fit my sinks so I'm going to have to rig it up somehow so it will work. Still it works really nice if you have the right connection pieces.

 

[Hholly]

There are adapters available, and brass fittings with a quick release. I got those on Amazon.

 

[piao liang yu]

Ok, so I am finding out it is not a good option to ship plants right now because of the cold weather. I googled for local dealers and do not come up with much. I live in the Tulsa area. I am looking for hardy, low light plants. Enough to sufficiently plant a 60 gallon tank. It is the marineland 60 so there is plenty of horizontal space for plenty of plants. Anyone on here know of any places in my area that carry the type of plants I need? I tried to post in the classifieds, but I guess there is a minimum post quota before one can post on the classifieds. I plan on doing my cycle with plants, but I am still not going to add fish for at least a couple of months. I want to learn and get practice of growing plants and pwc's and keeping the water chemistry in shape before adding fish. I would like to get my ecocomplete and plants going though.

 

[fishfreak04]

well i think that going to the pet store and buying plants is better than shipping plants,and also most fish like real plants and plus they make the tank look prettier and you dont have to buy so many toys because to many wouldn't look pretty

 

[piao liang yu]

well i think that going to the pet store and buying plants is better than shipping plants,and also most fish like real plants and plus they make the tank look prettier and you dont have to buy so many toys because to many wouldn't look pretty

I am definitely going with real plants. I wanted to go with aquariumplants.com, but have been told my multiple sources that they may not make the trip being so cold. I was not aware that regular pet stores carry live plants though. I will have to look into that.

To those of you that know, if places like Petsmart sells live plants, are they clean? I mean without snails and are they healthy?

 

[fishfreak04]

well petsmart's real plants are ok

 

[piao liang yu]

Strike that, Petsmart is out of the question due to their prices. I will probably just have to wait until spring and order from Aquariumplants.com. They have a package deal for hardy low light plants of 60 plus for $99. Petsmart wants $6 to $8 per plant. May work for additions, but not for initial stocking.

 

[Autumnsky]

Best investment is a master water kit to test everything frequently while getting it up and running. The basic one on Amazon is around 16.99.

Petsmart has some packaged plants in gel and in little packages. So you can research what they have and pick some up. Java Fern, several types, and some Anubias several types, some swords you will need to give some ferts for best results for those. Start with the simple ones. Elodea is commonly found.

There are also the grow your own aquatic bulbs. Mine didn't always all grow but they are reasonably priced and fun to watch grow, the smaller ones look a little like little onion starts, and there are Aponogeton and they make tall plants and the really knobby larger ones are a Tiger lily. Take out any which are mushy and not sprouting after a week or so.

Also if you are buying from a lfs (local fish store) do not buy ones that look in poor condition. If there is one yellow leaf and the rest is looking healthy no big deal clip off the bad one. but if there are holes in the leaves, yellow edges, black spots, just not healthy looking, skip them and wait for something better. You will be happier in the long run.

You shouldn't need to order too much at first for the basic plants. Check out all the local stores and see what you might find.

The people here also offer very good plants and snails, etc. You can look up sellers here and see what people have said about them. The info is at the very bottom of the forum list.

 

[Hholly]

I live in Indiana. Pretty cold here right now. I just ordered plants off of Aquabid.com and they came in just a box in ziplock bags. So far they seem to be alive. Maybe it's not ideal. But it seems alright.

 

[Rivercats]

I live in Indiana. Pretty old here right now. I just ordered plants off of Aquabid.com and they came in just a box in ziplock bags. So far they seem to be alive. Maybe it's not ideal. But it seems alright.

Alot depends on the species of plants you buy. Some can handle a short amount of time in cold weather while others just go to mush once they warm up. If you don't know how a certain plant handles the cold it's just better to wait than throw money away if the plants can't handle the temps. I took a risk and ordered plants that came in on 11/21 and the Ambulia turned brown and went to mush within hours of warming up. The other plants did fine. So if you want to take the risk go ahead and order them. It's a matter of personal choice.

 

[Autumnsky]

Strike that, Petsmart is out of the question due to their prices. I will probably just have to wait until spring and order from Aquariumplants.com. They have a package deal for hardy low light plants of 60 plus for $99. Petsmart wants $6 to $8 per plant. May work for additions, but not for initial stocking.

I bought the small "tube" Anubias and got three plants in there, so it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

I suspect the plants will be little too on your package deal.

People who sell here are usually awesome, in my hand full of purchases worth of experience. And received several things for free too.

Thanks everyone who shares!

 

[Autumnsky]

Alot depends on the species of plants you buy. Some can handle a short amount of time in cold weather while others just go to mush once they warm up. If you don't know how a certain plant handles the cold it's just better to wait than throw money away if the plants can't handle the temps. I took a risk and ordered plants that came in on 11/21 and the Ambulia turned brown and went to mush within hours of warming up. The other plants did fine. So if you want to take the risk go ahead and order them. It's a matter of personal choice.

Also "hold at post office" option too.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Yes I would wait until spring to get any plants. Thats what I am doing- I want to order a BUNCH of pots of HC for my tank but I dont want to risk all the money for them when I could wait a few months. About petsmart- I bought some DHG and crypts from there and they are snail free and clean, but only if you get the Top Fin brand. The plants they have in the fish tanks are dirty and not healthy. Also the Top Fin ones have that gel in the roots which is a PAIN to get out. I ruined 2 packs of DHG trying to get it out. only the thicker stem plants are easy to get the gel out because they arent as fragile. Also be aware that only buy the plants without the sticker on top of the package that says "SEMI-AQUATIC" because they will not grow well at all in your tank.

 

[marsh]

Most everything said so far is great advice. The online packs are worth it as the price per plant goes way way down. Sometimes your lfs will have a $8-$16 plant that is so healthy and bushy that it is totally worth the cash. I've gotten an Anubias Nana that I split into 5 once I got it home!

I just got a low light pack a few weeks ago from AZgardens.com and it had a heat pack in the box, charged me $1.00 for it and all the plants were great! It's not that cold in California so who knows. I say add a few plants from the lfs. As weeks go buy bring home a few more until spring. By the way a Betta fish can add a bit of ammonia to such a tank without overloading it and feeding you plants the nitrates your cycle produces. Very beautiful in a thick lush tank. Neons are compatible with Bettas often if you want to add more fish later.

 

[Fresh2o]

Most everything said so far is great advice. The online packs are worth it as the price per plant goes way way down. Sometimes your lfs will have a $8-$16 plant that is so healthy and bushy that it is totally worth the cash. I've gotten an Anubias Nana that I split into 5 once I got it home!

I just got a low light pack a few weeks ago from AZgardens.com and it had a heat pack in the box, charged me $1.00 for it and all the plants were great! It's not that cold in California so who knows. I say add a few plants from the lfs. As weeks go buy bring home a few more until spring. By the way a Betta fish can add a bit of ammonia to such a tank without overloading it and feeding you plants the nitrates your cycle produces. Very beautiful in a thick lush tank. Neons are compatible with Bettas often if you want to add more fish later.

Tagging along...lots of good info on plant ordering here. I am planning to order from AquariumPlant soon, however, I am interested on the condition of the order that ScottyHorse should be getting from AP this week. I think AP is in SD and she is in the Pacific NW. Brrrr!!!

Also, if you do purchase plants from an LFS, try to get those from tanks without fish. There is a possibility that parasites such as Ich spores maybe attached to the plants. Just me being paranoid. Now if you are doing a fishless cycle that won't matter I guess because the spores would die without a host after several days or so.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Most everything said so far is great advice. The online packs are worth it as the price per plant goes way way down. Sometimes your lfs will have a $8-$16 plant that is so healthy and bushy that it is totally worth the cash. I've gotten an Anubias Nana that I split into 5 once I got it home!

I just got a low light pack a few weeks ago from AZgardens.com and it had a heat pack in the box, charged me $1.00 for it and all the plants were great! It's not that cold in California so who knows. I say add a few plants from the lfs. As weeks go buy bring home a few more until spring. By the way a Betta fish can add a bit of ammonia to such a tank without overloading it and feeding you plants the nitrates your cycle produces. Very beautiful in a thick lush tank. Neons are compatible with Bettas often if you want to add more fish later.

I'm planning on ordering a ton of pots of HC from AZG soon- how satisfied were you with the plants you got? Arrived right and on time? No deaths or anything? Snails? I need all the info I can get on them. Would you recommend them? If I may, what did you purchase from them?

EDIT- I will send a PM about this- don't want to hijack the thread.