Tom

I was checking some stuff out on eBay a little while a go and came across this aquarium plant seller in Thailand and he sells the plants for cheap and says they are pest, and soil free but I haven't gotten any yet, but am bidding on some right now. I figured it would be a great place to get some beautiful plants from. Here is the store on eBay.
http://stores.ebay.ca/E-Aquaplant-Yo...Q3amesstQQtZkm
Tom

Isabella

The plants look really beautiful Personally, I think it's VERY HRAD to come across aquatic plants shipped without snails on them. I mean, I never bought from outside the U.S. so I don't know about Thailand. But from what I've been hearing most online U.S. stores with aquatic plants do have snails. It's not that they're bad stores. It's just that aquatic plants are a natural environment for snails and that's where you'll always find them. I'd be surprised to find a place that ships plants completely free of snails. But, best of luck with the Thailand store - who knows, maybe they do have the plants completely free of any snails and other pests.

I have ordered from AquariumGarden.com and the plants came in a very good condition. They didn't carry any pests except pond snails. Anyway, I don't have a problem with a large snail population as I don't overfeed my fish. Whatever the snails I've got are actually eating algae in my tank

Tom

Does AquariumGarden.com ship to Canada too? I love the snails that help with the algae problem and don't really do any harm to the plants.
Tom

Isabella

Oops ... it says on their website, "We ship only within the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, etc." ( http://aquariumgarden.com/index.php?...pping_info.php ) Sorry about that

EDIT: And it also says there:

"We could ship to other countries too, it's not very difficult procedurally. It is however very cost prohibitive to you as a customer: international order shipping will cost in the range of $30-50 for a 2-3 day delivery. Besides that, the plants have to be accompanied by phytosanitary certificate (proof of health and origin), which costs another $30-40. This means that even for a $0.99 order worth of plants we would have to charge you in the range of $60-90 extra and we do not think you would want that."

I don't know if you'd want to pay for shipping more than for plants themselves ... lol

Tom

That's all right, your not the first to think I am not American(via US). That really sucks though when you see something you like but they won't ship to Canada.
Tom

Isabella

I don't know if AquariumPlants.com is good or not, but they seem to have a really big selection, AND they ship to Canada:

"Canadian (live plant) shipments: Now that we have a distribution center in Canada, NO Phytosanitary Certificate is needed for your orders. (this saves Canadian customers $85 per plant order) ... International shipments: For equipment, the customer needs to check with their local authorities about import duties or tariffs. For live plants, the customer needs to check with their local government authorities and ascertain what requirements are necessary for shipping live plants to their respective countries. In some cases, Phytosanitary Certificates are required...these cost $100 dollars and must be ordered at the time of placing the order with us. NOTE: If a customer chooses to place an order without a Phytosanitary Certificate, there is a risk that shipment will not be allowed to enter the respective country, and or the shipment could be seized and destroyed. If this situation occurs, the loss of the plant shipment will be incurred by the customer."

( http://www.aquariumplants.com//Articles.asp?ID=109 )

Tom

I would buy the certificate if I was really into fish keeping with plants, but until that day, I will just like to buy my plants from an lfs. The CDN border is very strict, I know a guy that bought 2 $1500 Bettas and they were taken buy the gov't.
Tom

Isabella

Tom, if I understand it correctly, you do not need the certificate because they now have a distribution center in Canada. The note basically says they ship to you from within Canada, doesn't it? If this is not how it works, then it's definitely too risky and too expensive for you.

P.S. Why don't you e-mail them and ask them? You have nothing to lose, the e-mail is free, lol

Tom

I might, but I still like most of the plants at the LFS, I might try from the place I posted about. As for the shipping part, the border patrol into Canada has a 99% chance of them taking any shipped fruit, veggies, wood, live animals, etc. unless you have one of those sheets.
Tom

Isabella

All righty, that was just a suggestion I really hope you'll get all the plants you want, whatever the place you'll be getting them at

But isn't AquariumPlants.com an established and registered (with the government) business? Wouldn't that be the reason why they wouldn't confiscate their plants at the border? If they have a distribution center in Canada, they must be getting their plants to that place somehow ... no? And if they confiscated all of their plants at the border 99% of the time, what would be the point of having this distribution center up and running? Besides, they clearly state they do have that certificate to do their business, which automatically relieves the customers in Canada of any need to have the certificate themselves. Obviously, this business needs to have the certificate since they're shipping plants from U.S. to their distribution center in Canada on a regular basis (otherwise it wouldn't be a business).

Anyway ... of course I am not telling you to buy from them, lol. Just responding to your comment about the 99% chance of confiscating plants at the border. I'd feel guilty if you bought from them and the plants were indeed confiscated at the border! LOL

Tom

Now that you put it that way, I understand what you are saying. I was thinking you were disagreeing with me, when you were in fact really agreeing with me in a way. I would have to ask somepeople I know that work at the postoffice in regards to importing goods like plants, fish, etc.
Tom

Isabella

Of course I wasn't disagreeing, lol Anyway, for all I know, they may confiscate the plants. So, don't get them from this website if you're uncomfortable with it. Once again, I don't want to feel guilty if something goes wrong. Besides, you can always e-mail them and ask them. They'll know better than me since it's them who's in this business, not me.

Tom

Good point.
Tom

Isabella