Isabella

The reason I want to buy everything (all plants) at one store - or online store - and everything at once, is that I want to receive everything at the same time. This way, it will be easier to plant everything together. Ordering at intervals (some plants today, some plants tomorrow, etc) as well as ordering from many different places would be very distracting. You'd be getting plants at different times. And not all plants can be planted when the tank is full of water. For example, if I receive some plants today, I'll have to plant them immediately and fill the tank with water completely. Then, if I receive some more plants tomorrow, and suppose they're foreground plants, it will be very hard to plant them as the tank will be already full of water. Plus, planting short foreground plants is best done when the aquarium is filled with only enough water to submerge the short plants a little, but not fully (suppose only half or 2/3 of the plants would be submerged during planting). This is why I want all plants at once and from one source. So that I can plant according to the size, short plants first, medium plants second, and tall plants last (starting with little water at first, then pouring more and more water as the size of the plants increases).

atmmachine816

Ah makes sense, have you ordered your plants yet? I don't know if it's cheap but I think aquaspot shipping is 10$ and .50 for every plant after that?

Isabella

Atm, I will check this website out. Thank you I will check AquariumPlants.com, the website you gave me, and AquariumGarden.com - and I will compare plant prices and shipping prices on all these 3 websites to see which one will have it cheapest. I am also looking for a website that will have all of the plants I want to buy. I have quite a variety to order. And no, I haven't yet ordered the plants. I will order them once I have received my supplies and put Eco-Complete in the tank, as well as set up heating, lighting, and filtration. It may take me some time as I am usually busy all week. If I order the plants, they'll have to arrive to me during the weekend, as I have no time for this during the week.

chickadee

Just a quick note on Aquariumplants.com. I do not know about the luck of most folks but I got pond snails galore from their plants so if you do get your plants there, they may have to be examined and treated first. The best place I have ever gotten plants from is off-ice on plantgeek.net but I have not been able to reach him. The other place I have gotten good plants is on eBay: Mikeswetpets is the name of the store. BigAlsOnline is great to buy supplies from but they do not sell live plants online. LiveAquaria.com sells plants but the shipping is fierce a flat rate of $16.99 to $19.99 depending on how fast you want them.

I do want to congratulate you on the tank. I cannot imagine how big it must be...I just got the 12 gallon and it seemed huge to me and to have one over 6 times larger...WOW..lucky girl, but you have worked hard to get it and you do deserve it. Now I have a tank blog to look forward to.

Rose

atmmachine816

Makes sense yet again, I did that too, forgot about that. Well I'm sure you can compare the cost rose and see yours is MUCH cheaper.

Isabella

Hmm, I hope that if I order from AquariumPlants.com, I won't get any snail infestation! This is the last thing I'd need right now! I asked on Plant Geek if anyone there ever ordered plants from this website and if they ever got snails, but no one has responded to me about this matter so far. I mentioned that you had this experience with snails (I just said a friend of mine had snails from AquariumPlants.com - I didn't mention your name. I hope you don't mind me having done that.) Here is the thread from Plant Geek: http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8747

Rose, when you get snails on plants, can you see them? Or are they so small you can't see anything? If you can see them, won't a good rinse in chlorinated tap water do? Every time I bought plants from my LFS, I always rinsed them well with my tap water, and I never got any snails.

atmmachine816

Usually you can see them but with all the plants you are getting have fun looking through every leaf. If you don't want to bleach them usually picking every leaf then rinsing them under a good flow of tap water to push snails and snail eggs off, it doesn't bother your plants. For big leave plants you can put a finger on each side of leaf, squeeze lightly and go over the whole surface getting rid of snails and eggs. That's what I do, not sure on Rose. You could probably find some members to recieve some fast growers from that might not have snails so you don't have to look through every leaf and just put them into your other tanks until the rest of your plants arrive since most people throw some out every week.

0morrokh

I have ordered plants from aquariumplants.com and I got snails from them too. Also one of the plants arrived in not-so-great condition. May have just been our weather here though.

Isabella

Atm, I am going to rinse in tap water every single plant (and every single leaf) even if there will be no snails on the plans. That's what I always do with my plants. I know it will take me a long time, but I am willing to do it. I will order the plants to arrive on weekend, preferably in the morning, and I'll devote my entire day to setting up the tank (filling it with the substrate, the plants, and water). Filter and heaters will already be in place when the plants arrive. If I won't have to rinse Eco-Complete, then I'll put it in the tank the day the plants arrive. If, however, I'll have to rinse it, I'll do it a day or two before I receive the plants. And when the plants arrive, the gravel will already be in the tank, in this case.

Omorrokh ... hmm. If Rose wasn't the only one, there is a good chance I may get the snails as well Hmm, maybe I won't order from AquariumPlants.com after all ... Thanks a lot for the info.

atmmachine816

Have fun, I think it took me a half hour just with two strands of hornwort to pick through every leaf since they have delicate leaves and bleaching is not an option, I think it worked. Hurts your neck after awhile

atmmachine816

Just to let you know, I talked to aquaspot and asked if they are snail free and this is what they said:

All our plants need to undergo inspection by our inspection center. They are inspected again when they are sent to USDA so they have to be pest-free (including snails) and soil-free.

0morrokh

Hmm, that sounds like they're trying to avoid the question a little. After all, there may not be snails on the plants but there could be snail eggs...
Maybe I'm totally wrong, but it seems strange to me they wouldn't just say "yes, we are snail free" if they really aren't.

atmmachine816

I think they are saying why they have to be snail free. I'm not sure but I would think they are snail free, I could probably find some people who bought from them and ask them. I'v talked to the guy and he seems really nice and answers all your questions. I might order plants from them this summer. I think it takes two days to get here because they are priority mail, not sure.

dano569

congrats on the tank.i want to get a bigger one eventually.especially with some of the fish i have.