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October 20th, 2007
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Fish Master
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bhcaaron
I guess with me it goes back to the whole Sci-Fi thing. I've always wanted to travel the stars and I've always related the vast ocean to the vast universe.
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Aaron, you should be an astronomer. I bet you like "Star Wars" lol 
Gozer, lol, you've got it all figured out perfectly, haha
Jsalemi, I've ordered from AZ Gardens: http://www.azgardens.com/index.php (The other order that's arriving on Sunday is from Aquarium Garden: http://aquariumgarden.com/index.php).
Now, I've read on PlantGeek.net bad reviews about AZ Gardens, but I personally can't complain about the plants that I've gotten from them. No snails (just 3 tiny clumps of snail eggs - which is nothing compared to the amount of snails you usually get with plants), no algae on leaves, and the plants came looking very healthy. Well, the Willow Moss came in a pretty bad shape, but it can recover. The Jungle and Crystal Vals and the Uruguay Sword came looking really nice. Now, that's just my experience, which was good. I can't guarantee you'll have good experiences with them, but based on my personal experience, I am very satisfied. Only there is one problem though. AZ Gardens packaging of plants isn't the greatest. The plants should be in a styrofoam box, and they should be wrapped in wet newspapers, and then wrapped in plastic bags. AZ Gardens sent me the plants in a plain paper box and the plants were in plastic bags without moist newspaper wrappings. Maybe that's because my order was small. Maybe they use styrofoam boxes for larger orders, I don't know. So, just so you know all of that. It looks like my package was handled well because not one plant was crushed or broken. They ship via FedEx's overnight express shipping (which is expensive), unless you request otherwise. The reason I chose express shipping is because I didn't want to risk the plants being crushed / broken / dying during the long trip to me. Maybe that's the reason why my plants arrived to me in great shape.
Now, Aquarium Garden. I've only placed large orders with them, so I've always gotten my plants in styrofoam boxes from them. The plants were nicely wrapped in moist newspapers and put in zip-lock plastic bags with printed labels with plant names. Aquarium Garden ships via USPS's Priority Mail (takes a few days), unless you request otherwise. I always request USPS overnight shipment, for the same reasons as above. The plants from Aquarium Garden also come to me in a great condition, although I've gotten some snails from them. But, I don't mind the snails because they're wonderful algae eaters in fact, and they help you keep your tank clean. I've NEVER had a snail population explosion, never. That's beacuse I never overfeed my fish. If you do the same, you won't have problems with snail population.
That's my review of AZ Gardens and Aquarium Garden  I like both stores to be honest. Although Aquarium Garden has actually a more friendly staff then that of AZ Gardens. Although plants from both stores are equally good, Aquarum Garden seems to care more about their customers. I've come to that conclusion based on the way and speed with which they respond to my e-mails with questions for them. |
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October 20th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Thanks -- I was looking at aquariumplants.com, and they seem to have good prices. But I don't know about their quality.
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October 20th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Isabella
Aaron, you should be an astronomer. I bet you like "Star Wars" lol
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Yes.  Its a guilty pleasure. |
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October 20th, 2007
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Fish Master
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bhcaaron
Yes. Its a guilty pleasure. |
"It's never too late." LOL But ... there's never enough time for so many things we like, so even though "it's never too late", it's always hard with the time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsalemi
Thanks -- I was looking at aquariumplants.com, and they seem to have good prices. But I don't know about their quality.
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I've heard similar reviews of AquariumPlants.com to those of AZ Gardens. But, if I were you, I'd go to Plant Geek and ask people over there. That's what I did before I bought. Even though I heard bad reviews for AZ Gardens, I took the risk and bought from them. Besides, the people on Plant Geek are ... well, they're plant people, lol, so they buy plants all the time and they will have more reviews of various plant websites over there. |
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Well, maybe I lied. There really isn't any guilt involved lol
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bhcaaron
Well, maybe I lied. There really isn't any guilt involved lol
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I have no shame or guilt in my Nerd factor. I drove 350 miles to watch Episode 3 in the "big city".
I guess I'm gonna have to g to Plant Geek too. I'm planning on using Aquariumplants.com. They have a deal where they'll plan out plants and arrangement for your setup. I thought it would be nice to just get some plants that are good in the beginning. Then as I learn more and more I can make any changes I want. Theres so many to choose from. To have some one who knows more than I pick my first batch of plants, I think, would help me out. Mainly with groth habits and proper placement. It would eliminate a little bit of the initial trial and error. I have a very green thumb, I just don't know enough about aquatic plants. Up till I started looking into planting my tank, my knowledge of aquatics was only about what you don't want to see in your pond. We had some outbreaks of some various aquatic "weeds" at work this summer. |
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Master
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Gozer, I think that - after all - all these websites are the same. If you're lucky, you'll get good plants. If you're not, you won't. I actually received my plants from Aquarium Garden today NOT in a styrofoam box, which surprised me. But I now realized that I ordered before from Aquarium Garden in the winter, so maybe that's why they came in a styrofoam box then, and not now. Maybe these websites send plants in styrofoam boxes (which insulate warmth inside) only in the winter. Now it doesn't matter to me where I order from: AquariumPlants.com, AzGardens.com, or AquariumGarden.com. Anyway, the plants came looking great (Well, except for the Java Moss. Both AZ Gardens and Aquarium Garden sent me crappy mosses.) And my tank is done re-planting. I'll post more updates and pics in just a moment
Man, it was sooo much work! I am exhausted today! 
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Master
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OK, folks, got my order from Aquarium Garden today, as mentioned above. As also mentioned above, Java Moss came in a pretty poor shape, just as the Willow Moss from AZ Gardens. I don't know what it is with these mosses. They're supposedly so easy to grow, and yet they come crappy-looking to me. Plus, they're shipped overnight. Anyway, I hope they mosses will recover in my tank. The big plus for Aquarium Garden though is that they shipped the Java Moss in a plastic closed container so suppose even if the package got crushed, the moss wouldn't be touched.
As for the Swords ... God, they came ENORMOUS in size! They're so big the leaves are sticking out of my tank a few inches above the water. Don't know whether to cut off the long leaves, or just leave them like that? I actually like them sticking out of the water, but don't know if it's healthy for the plants. I've gotta ask the folks on Plant Geek about what to do. I took my glass tops off because of how tall the Swords are. Hope my fish won't freaking jump out!
All the Crypts came looking all right, as always I ordered 15 Crypts Lucens, and they gave me 18, meaning 3 of them were free Plus, they gave me 10 free Jungle Vals I also sent an e-mail to them today, and got an answer today, meaning they take care of their customers even on Sundays That's why I don't even care about their packaging. I really love the way they treat customers.
As for the Pygmy Chain Swords, they didn't have them in the nursery so they didn't send them to me. They subtracted the price of the Pygmy Chains from my bill, of course. But that's OK because I don't think I'd have anymore space for the Pygmy Chains anyway, lol.
Anyway, there are the rest of the pictures.
Here's how the plants come packaged from Aquarium Garden: with moist newspaper wrappings and in zip-lock plastic bags with labels of plant names:
Getting the plants ready for planting:
Last edited by Isabella; October 21st, 2007 at 08:58 PM.
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Master
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October 21st, 2007
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ID master
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Sorry for the language but, holy crap that is so beautiful.
Tom
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gozer_1
I have a very green thumb
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Well quit picking your nose with it! lol
So what do you do that you have a pond to care for at work? |
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Today my roomate asked me why I'd want a planted aquarium...... So I showed him your pictures. Now he knows why.  |
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Master
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Thank you Tom You've no idea how much work it was. It better stay this nice looking, or else all the money will have gone to waste! 
Plus, many plants in there are the ones I've already had. I've grown Anubias and Java Ferns from small to large, and the Ferns have multiplied a lot. My Java Fern driftwood pieces were bare in the beginning, now they're full. So, it actually took months to get here. I've also already had many Crypts Lucens and some Crypts Balansae. (The rest of the old plants was either thrown out or moved to my 30 gallon tank.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhcaaron
So what do you do that you have a pond to care for at work?
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Is that a comment to me or to Gozer? |
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Hey those are pretty nice. You go Mr.Waxhead. I love those Tetras.
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October 21st, 2007
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Fish Helper
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I think it looks great. I like your black gravel and background - that's what I'm most likely planning to do for my soon-to-be new tank as well.
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October 21st, 2007
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ID master
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Isabella
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Good job Mr.Waxhead. In all honesty, I really like #7.
Tom |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Master
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Tom, tanks such as these are probably the most beautiful " in general":
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/enlarge.php/861
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/enlarge.php/123
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/enlarge.php/99
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/enlarge.php/568
But ... there is just something more appealing to me in tanks like these:
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/enlarge.php/121
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/enlarge.php/6791
They just look somehow more natural to me. The wilder-looking the tank is, the more natural it looks to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tayful
I think it looks great. I like your black gravel and background - that's what I'm most likely planning to do for my soon-to-be new tank as well.
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Tayful, I like black gravel and background best because it just looks "clear/clean" to me. At it looks more natural than those red substrates in my opinion. I mean, I can see the plants better against the black background and substrate, as well as I can see fish colors much better. And besides, the dark background and gravel adds a certain "depth" to a set-up, don't you think?
Keep in mind that a tank is a very limited water container, and we have small space to work with. That's why it's very important to make it visually appear as large as possible. Knowing how to use background, foreground, and midground plants well, will create an impression of depth, and therefore of large space I think the dark backgrounds and substrates not only add more depth, but also a sense of "mystery", heh
Last edited by Isabella; October 22nd, 2007 at 12:17 AM.
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