Buying plants online

I've got an important question! Well, to me. I want to set up a planted aquarium..but I also need the fish. Is it a bad idea to add all of the fish and plants in on the same day? It would save me a lot of money on shipping since I want to buy both the fish and the plants. I'd also appreciate it if anyone knew a website with low shipping and plant cost! The plants I want are mostly low lighted ones.

 

yes, order them all at once. I would recommend going here for supplies

There is a great link here somewhere *looking around the forum* that talks about disinfecting plants. You can get your fish in the tank and being happy while your plants sit in some tap water to get rid of anything that might be icky on them.

have fun!

 

If your tank is cycled you can add your fish at the same time as your plants. Otherwise please fishless cycle or use bioSpira to instantly cycle your tank. Then you can add your fish.
Carol

 

If your tank is cycled you can add your fish at the same time as your plants. Otherwise please fishless cycle or use bioSpira to instantly cycle your tank. Then you can add your fish.

I agree with Carol.

Besides, shipping live plants is not the same as shipping some commercial products (filters, heaters, etc ...). When you ship plants, you need to take temperature and moisture into account. If it's too hot or cold, and if the plants don't have enough moisture, they'll die on their way. This is why shipping plants is more expensive because it usually includes cool/warm truck (depending on the time of the year) and special packaging of plants.

When I ordered my plants, I paid an extra $30 just to ship my plants overnight. When they're being shipped for a few days, they may die if not well cared for during the trip. This is especially true when shipping during very hot or very cold weather.

 

I think it kinda depends on what plants you're getting. i've shipped and gotten plants shipped to me using first class or priority mail with no problems. the first class actually took over a week.

now, if the temperature is too hot, you will end up with plant soup, but as far as cold, I think most plants will be fine unless frozen.

I would actually guess that shipping fish is more complicated than plants.

 

Anything to watch out for at the fish store?

 

Look for green, healthy-looking plants.
Make sure you've researched the particular kinds of plants you want (check outplant geek for great info), so you don't end up with high-light plants in a low-light aquarium.
If you don't want to pick up pesky snails, you're going to want to treat the plants beforehand. (There's a substance called potassium permagnate that I guess can be found at Home Depot that makes a great plant dip, people have said). I don't worry about them too much. I kind of like them in my tanks. A sudden increase in snails means something's wrong in the tank.

 

So aside from snails, it's unlikely that they will bring anything else unwanted into my tank?

My tank is still cycling ... there are no fish yet.

 

There is always the chance of bacteria or parasites. You should quarantine your plants for a bit.
However, since there are no fish, you could plant the tank and let it run for a few weeks. With no hosts, parasites/bacteria would be unlikely to survive in the tank (this is the purpose of the quarantine of plants, to deprive unwanted visitors of hosts for long enough to kill them).

 

Cool, that's why I wanted to get them now.

I don't have much room in my tank either, because it came with a big Parthenon looking decoration/bubbler thing. So I was just going to put a couple anubias and cryptocoryne behind it and a java fern on driftwood in front.

Should I pot or plant the cryptocoryne?

 

My crypts are all planted. The important thing is that you plant them in the right place the first time.
Crypts that are moved have a tendency to "melt". They usually grow back, but it's not a chance you want to take excessively.
They could very well do this when you move them into their tank. This can be a response to different water quality, different light levels, etc... It's my theory that a crypt's leaves are optimized for a particular location, and when the parameters change, it regrows leaves that are optimized for that area. This is not supported by any research, just a hunch of mine.

 

Huh, interesting. So when I bring some home they will die back and then regrow? How long does it take until they look healthy again?

The reason I was thinking of potting them is a.) I'm only getting 2, maybe three and b.) I already have substrate that does not have stuff in it that plants need, it's just plain ol gravel, and I thought potting it would be better than trying to give it food or whatever it needs.

 

I prefer to put plants in the substrate. Most of the pots have rock wool in them and they contain fertilizers that can contribute to an algae outbreak. I have plain gravel in some tanks and sand in others and my plants grow just fine.
Carol

 

Mine are losing their leaves slower than most people report, but a friend had all of the leaves disappear a couple of days after he got it, and a week later, there was about an inch of growth (I'll have more to report tomorrow, when I see the tank again).
Butterfly's right. Plants can usually grow in any substrate. You usually just have to add certain minerals periodically (iron deficiency is the most common issue with aquarium plants). There are root tabs, spikes, or liquids that you can use to supplement this.

 

the only problem I've had is the ocasional ramshorn snail. if you get one, squash it. Other than that, I agree with sirdarksol, trumpet or teardrop (whatever they are) snails are OK, and in fact good for keeping the soil from compacting. The only problem I had from plants is a hydrophila that had this nasty hair algae that almost overran my tank overnight.

 

I've heard that ramshorn snails are generally beneficial.

Didn't know that hair algae could grow in pure freshwater tanks. I've got the stuff in my brackish tank, but have never had it in any of my other tanks, even though I share filter media, plants, and critters (snails and shrimp) between my tanks.

 

I've heard that ramshorn snails are generally beneficial.

Didn't know that hair algae could grow in pure freshwater tanks. I've got the stuff in my brackish tank, but have never had it in any of my other tanks, even though I share filter media, plants, and critters (snails and shrimp) between my tanks.

My understanding is there are a couple varieties of ramshorn... some eat algea, some eat plants... I got a bad one that definitly was eating plants.

As for the hair algea, I may be wrong about it, it may be gray or brush algea, I'm not positive. It's definitly grey and hairy and mostly goes for my big giant vals, near the top of the tank.
I trimmed off the worst of it, and the algae squad seems to be getting a handle on the rest.

 

Not sure about the algae.
Is the stuff in your tank really tough? What I've got is at least as strong as moderately-thick human hair, if not stronger.

 

That sounds about right. Most is gone now, but there's still some around. I'll try and get a pic today later. It's the first time I had this stuff.

 

Well I got 3 onion plants, 2 crypto-whatevers, 1 anubias and 1 java fern. It looks a little sparse in there still so I may go back for a few more later. The onions and cryptos are losing a few leaves, but so far they look like they're doing OK ... the huge Parthenon decoration thingy in the middle of the tank makes planting stuff kind of a pain! It's really hard to see down into the water and my tank is tall enough I can't see in through the sides when I am trying to reach in there. I may have to rearrange some more gravel when I do a water change prior to getting the fish.

I didn't get any snails, but maybe I will get a few. Do the trumpets breed like crazy like some of the other snails?

 

I'd wait a bit to get more plants. See how these ones fill out before you start adding more. In the right environment, anubias grows pretty quickly, and can be cut apart in order to propagate it.
Trumpets sometimes breed quickly, and sometimes don't. However, if they're breeding quickly, it means that your tank has an excess of waste products, and they're having a feeding frenzy. If you're tank is kept pretty clean, they shouldn't overrun it. In addition, you only have to buy them once. If you ever want to populate another tank with them, just pull an adult or three from the tank and drop it in. They reproduce asexually, so you don't need to have males and females in order for reproduction to begin.

 

Yes, that is what I'd planned to do with the plants. Plus, we may get rid of the big parthenon thingy and get some driftwood, so we'll probably get more plans when we do that. Should I wait until after I get the fish and they have been in there a while to get the snails?

 

Not necessarily. The snails can get themselves established in the substrate beforehand.

 

if you do get snails with your plants and you don't want then get some Zebra Loaches they will take care of them for you.

 

I am converting 3 of my 29 gallons to be planted tanks. I have read a lot about the different types of plants that can survive in low light environments. I saw that on liveaquaria's website, they have plant packs that you can purchase. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these packs. They appealed to me because they put together an assortment for you, so it doesn't involve much work and I think that the price would be better as well. I also looked on aquabid and they have plant packs as well. I just wanted to know if anyone has any tips before I select my plants. Thanks

 

I would just make sure you have appropriate lighting. for most plants, you would need at least 1.5 WPG (watts per gallon)

 

I checked out a couple different places for low light plants, and I decided NOT to go with liveaquaria because there seemed to be a limited variety of plants, just lots of multiples of the same things. I went with:



they have low-light package deals, for various size tanks. there's a bit of a surprise element, but mine arrived today (48 plant package) and I was very happy with it. Huge variety, and fairly healthy looking.

 

Thanks SereneReyn. They have some pretty good pricing too!

 

I checked out a couple different places for low light plants, and I decided NOT to go with liveaquaria because there seemed to be a limited variety of plants, just lots of multiples of the same things. I went with:



they have low-light package deals, for various size tanks. there's a bit of a surprise element, but mine arrived today (48 plant package) and I was very happy with it. Huge variety, and fairly healthy looking.

Wow, thanks for the link! I just ordered a couple orders of plants off of aquabid and I am anxiously waiting their arrival. One of the sellers has not responded to any of my emails, so I am getting a little worried. I think I may try ordering off of the site you suggested after my next paycheck though.

 

welcome! I ordered a few supplemental ones from ebay (since I got a smaller than recommended package)... mosses and such... hope i'm as happy with them.

 

Ive heard these people are good:

 

I've used both and with success however I wouldn't recommend the packs. Neither I ordered included floor coverings or foreground plants.

 

My first order of plants arrived last night! I planted them in my tank and they look great! I hope that my other order looks as good when it comes.

 

Wow, awesome site, Serene! I am finally getting brave enough to keep real plants and I think I'll order my first batch from there.

 

I was going to buy some but have to wait for warmer weather they won't ship them here til april.

 

so I was thinking of buying plants online and had a few questions, first what is a good site to buy from, price and quality wise. second has anyone had any trouble with "internet plants"( hehe just made that up). third, is it better to buy local or abroad?

 

It's not a bad idea to check around locally, some well stocked LFS might have what you need at a similar price you would pay online. Your best bet for a nice plant package is to find another person with a planted tank that is selling off their clippings. The planted tank forum is a good spot if you can't find anything here.

 

check ebay for some. I bought some over 6 months ago and their doing great.

 

I got some anubias from ebay and they are still great. the java fern is not so good. but most plants I get anywhere don't do too good except the anubias. also got some clippings and they are doing good too. (just recently added a lamp so hopefully that will help them). I wouldn't recommend getting anything with a delicate leaf on ebay or from overseas, the leaves don't transport well. also keep in mind that they may have other bacteria/parasites that your tank isn't familiar with that may harm the fish. buy carefully.

 

I got some anubias from ebay and they are still great. the java fern is not so good. but most plants I get anywhere don't do too good except the anubias. also got some clippings and they are doing good too. (just recently added a lamp so hopefully that will help them). I wouldn't recommend getting anything with a delicate leaf on ebay or from overseas, the leaves don't transport well. also keep in mind that they may have other bacteria/parasites that your tank isn't familiar with that may harm the fish. buy carefully.

Don't tell me that. I just bought some java fern off ebay from oversea's.