# Where do you buy your plants?



## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Ebay?

LFS?

Dedicated online plant supplier eg plants alive, aqua essentials, the green machine?

Do you think the prices are fair?

Would you prefer to buy plants at cheaper prices yet not have to wait for deliveries all the way from Asia to do so?

I sell plants on ebay occasionally but looking to expand. In order to do so it would be nice to know what people are after species wise and what would make you buy from a private seller as opposed to a large company.

Any answers appreciated.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

The Green Machine - Prices are too high on many plants, but they're usually healthy.

Aqua Essentials - Better prices, still good quality.

My local Pets At Home - Tropica plants, half the price of TGM.

I don't buy plants all that often though to be honest, they tend to last me for many many years. If they don't it's because either a) I bin them or b) I prune them too hard after getting annoyed at them growing 8 inches a week.

Everybody wants Tropica or Aquafleur these days though. Or to just buy them on the likes of UKAPS from other hobbyists. It's too easy to get burned like that though, like the time I bought £22 worth of Christmas moss. What arrived was about £8 worth of terrestrial grown Java moss from some far east source that was already that far gone it stank of rot.

At least with AE and my local [email protected] I know what I am getting, and the same 98% of the time with TGM.

Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Wolfenrook said:


> The Green Machine - Prices are too high on many plants, but they're usually healthy.
> 
> Aqua Essentials - Better prices, still good quality.
> 
> ...


Ouch, that sucks. I know there's been a few issues recently with UKAPS and people not keeping their end of the deal. I've had really good experiences on there but I make sure I stick to well know sellers/members.

I tend to make a bit of spare cash with ebay sales, but I'd like to try and sell more if possible. I have to rely on people not being aware of where the good deals are though :lol2:


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Unfortunately nearly all plants are going up in price  if they havent yet.. its a bloody big company able to swallow the loss on the plants or they are selling off old stock.

There has been huge outbreaks of some 'parasite'. Whitefly? I think.. which now means a lot of species of plant are suddenly unavailable on the lists... lots of the wholesalers older stock is ok... but you will find species of Hygrophilia and lots of crypts are suddenly a lot more expensive or unavaileable.

Plants now require much more rigourous treatments before being exported to the UK and unfortunately the suppliers are paying for that and sooner or later.. so will the customers be. It might be cheaper to buy online but if they are importing plants, you'll see their prices going up too....


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## Jordan221 (Jan 10, 2012)

I get my plants from a shop called Just for Pets and they do a wide range of tropical and coldwater.

They're £2.30 each and do deals if you buy 5/10 and they are really good quality!!


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Moogloo said:


> Unfortunately nearly all plants are going up in price  if they havent yet.. its a bloody big company able to swallow the loss on the plants or they are selling off old stock.
> 
> There has been huge outbreaks of some 'parasite'. Whitefly? I think.. which now means a lot of species of plant are suddenly unavailable on the lists... lots of the wholesalers older stock is ok... but you will find species of Hygrophilia and lots of crypts are suddenly a lot more expensive or unavaileable.
> 
> Plants now require much more rigourous treatments before being exported to the UK and unfortunately the suppliers are paying for that and sooner or later.. so will the customers be. It might be cheaper to buy online but if they are importing plants, you'll see their prices going up too....


So a private seller with a sh*t tonne of of hygrophilia could make some money? :flrt:


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## jaykickboxer (Feb 11, 2008)

Donno maybe u should start skapping tanks for extra cash looking at it dart frog vivs and ur new Fishtank I'd pay for u to scape my empty soon to be mudskipper palladium


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Dunno if anyone would want to wait the 6 months I usually take!


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

i recently bought from a well known retailer via the net and wasnt overly impressed, and have bought via ebay before, again not blown away.

I now tend to pay a little extra and try to get tropica plants as they seem to be the better quailty ones and do actually last me.

I think it would be a good idea if you are going into selling to try and categorise them into their light requirements for example, as i bet many people go out to the lfs buying plants as they like the look of them, some of which are NOT actually acuatic plants as many lfs tend to sell these too for some reason, so because the plants eventually die, maybe because a lack of knowledge from the keeper both in terms of light and nutrient requirements but also poor quality plants/non aquatic species they tend to fall out with the hobby or the plant side of it and get the awful plastic stuff.

I am FAR from an expert, in fact only a novice really, but have kept fish on and off for 20 years ish and have learnt the hard way at times.

Now, never having owned shrimp, i am setting up some planted shrimp only tanks, with co2 and ferts so Morgan if you let me know your ebay id i'd buy a selection from you, especially if you have some of the foreground carpeting types, but am after various ones in the near future when i get a few more small shrimp tanks


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Last plants I bought were from plants alive. But that was a bargain bundle. If I want odds and sods I usually get them from my lfs because of quality, and try not to worry too much about price if all I'm buying is one bundle of vallis.

I'd buy from a private seller online if could be sure about quality. A nice photo of the type of plant in a tank should solve that, and a short description with light requirements would go a long way too.


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## jaykickboxer (Feb 11, 2008)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Dunno if anyone would want to wait the 6 months I usually take!


No wonder they look smart


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Christie_ZXR said:


> Last plants I bought were from plants alive. But that was a bargain bundle. If I want odds and sods I usually get them from my lfs because of quality, and try not to worry too much about price if all I'm buying is one bundle of vallis.
> 
> I'd buy from a private seller online if could be sure about quality. A nice photo of the type of plant in a tank should solve that, and a short description with light requirements would go a long way too.


Val is as popular in my tanks as perennial nettles are in my garden, they're both nuisance weeds. :lol2:

Ade


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Whilst the topic is active does anyone have any suggestions for shrimp tanks.

I have 2 at the mo, a 54 litre and a 35 litre, and have just bought one of those 48 litre fish boxes from Pets @ Home. My 2 exsisting tanks are dosed with CO2 and Easy Carbo and the growth is pretty good, but with no real layout in mind, but i wonder if i have too many and too much going on in at least one of them?

So i guess my question is from the peeps with shrimp experience/aquascaping knowledge etc with smaller shrimp tanks is it best just to pick say 2 plant species, maybe something like riccia as a foreground carpet and jungle vallis as a background plant aswell as a bit of top cover, or do you reckon t loks better with several species intermingling with each other?

I dont see loads of the shrimps, but i guess with plenty of plants in there they can be hard to spot, aswell there's just 20 in a 54 litre tank, and all hard grazing the plants etc

Cheers
Phil


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

My advice for shrimp tanks is, keep it simple and slow growing. So smaller Java ferns like micro, and mosses. Leave out the riccia, it's a nuisance. Use wood and the mentioned plant types, and you can have a really lovely shrimp tank that is also low maintenance.

Ade


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Wolfenrook said:


> Val is as popular in my tanks as perennial nettles are in my garden, they're both nuisance weeds. :lol2:
> 
> Ade


I happen to quite like vallis :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Christie_ZXR said:


> I happen to quite like vallis :Na_Na_Na_Na:


I love the look of val, don't get me wrong. What I dislike is that a month after I plant it my tank is completely full of 100s of plants all 3 feet long. :lol2: It grows insanely fast on me, I just can't keep up with removing all of the runners etc.

Ade


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Show off! :whistling2: :lol2:

My vallis is doing alright now, since I've moved it about in the tank a bit, but generally it was tending to give up after a few months before I did that!


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

The bits of vallis I currently have don't seem to be growing much at all. Am I treating it too well, as it gets co2 and easy carbo fertiliser? I am going to get a load more for my new tanks when I get them so want to make sure I am doing the right thing by them before parting with the cash.

Ps, which species do you guys go for, I am thinking of the jungle val, spiralis I think the name is?


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

I can't grow vallis.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Val often fairs poorly if you keep it in low calcium content water, it really thrives in hard water with a high GH. Hence it goes mental on me, water around here usually is PACKED with calcium. lol

I've grown spiralis, gigantea and torta. I quite like torta, nice corkscrew leaves and stays small usually. Gigantea lives up to it's name, spiralis is the weed I refer to. 

There are lots of others you can get now as well. My fave 'strappy leaved' plant though has to be aponogeton crispus. Took delivery of a Tropica crispus 'red' today, lovely plant.

Ade


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Aponogeton is a gorgeous plant! I love the crispus, undulatus and the madagascariensis and have had great success with all three.

Vallis is a bit of a funny one, i seem to find that the newer the tank and the cleaner the water, the worse it grows. Makes sense really.. does better in tap water than in RO water tanks (near me anyway!), does better in tanks 1 year+ or really heavily stocked tanks.

Its a fast growing plant and therefore needs to feed a lot... I kept vallis (and a lot of other plants) in a 4ft 260L tank that had near on 100 fish in it (small gouramis, lots of tetras, corys, rasbora, hatchets and kribs... very busy tank) and i tried RO in the tank and had a vallis melt, changed back to tap water and replanted and it went mental.

Despite being obscenely heavily stocked (50% water change a week and planted like a hedge in a glass box!) the water params in the tank were always Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0. Thats better than the tapwater was LOL (had nitrite .25 and nitrate 50!) but the downside was that i was cutting out about 15cm of growth on vallis, rotala, hygrophilia difformis, aponogeton crispus and alternanthera. Plus taking leaves off anubias and java fern on a biweekly basis as it was growing so fast lol.

Thinking about it, should have been selling the cut plants lol! Was taking out so much i was just binning it in the end!


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Maybe this is why mine don't thrive, as I have soft water tanks for my shrimps, good info mind, as I didn't know that 
Cheers


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Another thng i recently noticed - i used to see plenty of air bubbles in the tank, whch i beleive is called 'Pearling'? Now i dont,, is there a reason for this? Is the aquarium lacking something, if so whats the best way to go about t?

Thanks peeps


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Unless you are injecting CO2, you wont see pearling. You may however see dissolved gases from the water been released for some time after water changes.

Even liquid carbon wont give you pearling though, it HAS to be CO2 in gas form.

Val definitely likes calcium though, and yeah a good mature substrate as well. To be honest most plants do better with water that's a bit harder, there are very few that prefer soft water.

Ade


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

hey Ade

yeah i have CO2 on the tank, but not one of the all singing, all dancin ones, mne is the no frills versin, made by ISTA i think and its the basic one, basically it has the plastic chamber inside the tank connected to the pipe/can of CO2, and i manually press the can to fill the chamber.....thinking about it now, the pearling happened when the plants were taking more CO2, and i was having the fill the chamber say 3 times a day, but now there is usually still a bit of CO2 left in the camber when come home at t time, which has lasted ALL day, as i fill the co2 chamber up before a leave for work say 8am.......

Whats the reason the plants arent using as much co2, hence no pearlng please?

phil 



Wolfenrook said:


> Unless you are injecting CO2, you wont see pearling. You may however see dissolved gases from the water been released for some time after water changes.
> 
> Even liquid carbon wont give you pearling though, it HAS to be CO2 in gas form.
> 
> ...


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Ok, a stab in the dark here, how close to a widow is your tank? CO2 use is usually driven by light. Unless you have changed the lighting on the tank, this suggests that possibly the ambient light has changed. If your tank gets light from a window, then in the summer it gets more light, winter less.

The other alternative is that some other factor is limiting plant growth. What kind of fert dosing do you do? 

Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Or your plants have increased in size requiring more co2.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Or your plants have increased in size requiring more co2.


Unlikely if they are now using less CO2. It's more likely either light related, or the plants can't get enough nutrients to actually metabolise the carbon from the CO2 and so have gone into slow mode.

Ade


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Wolfenrook said:


> Ok, a stab in the dark here, how close to a widow is your tank? CO2 use is usually driven by light. Unless you have changed the lighting on the tank, this suggests that possibly the ambient light has changed. If your tank gets light from a window, then in the summer it gets more light, winter less.
> 
> The other alternative is that some other factor is limiting plant growth. What kind of fert dosing do you do?
> 
> Ade


the tank doesnt get hit with direct light frm the window, although it does get some natural light from it.

i only run a sponge filter as its for shrimp only so wasnt sure if there was not just enough water movement??

My substrate is a bit of a plant specific substrate with a bit of gravel on top and i dose CO2 when needed and Easylife EasyCarbo Daily, which i think the does on the bottle advises 1-2ml which i give.......


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

I can see 2 problems there that may be preventing pearling. One the lack of circulation, you need it to get nutrients including the CO2 to the plants. Two You have 2 sources of carbon but NO sources of trace or macro nutrients. Plants can't use the carbon without the other nutrients they need as well. Minimum you should consider dosing some Easylife profito as well. It been a shrimp tank, willing to bet phosphates and nitrates are very low so you may need to dose NPK as well. The odds are your substrate had a bit of all this in it to begin with, hence you got pearling. Now though it's exhausted and you need to dose the water column.

Ade


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks for the advice ade, appreciated.

I have some profito but was afraid to use it on my shrimp tanks as I think it has copper in it so don't want to kill the shrimp?

For more wter circulation, I have a mini filter used on nano tanks, do u think its worth just using the top part with the motor in it to act as a type of powerhead for more water movement or not?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

If you are going to use the filter, use the whole thing and shrimp proof it. 

Regarding ProFito, it's one of the safest ferts for shrimp there is. Been using it for many many years myself. ALL trace ferts contain copper, however most so long as you don't overdose heavily wont kill your shrimp as the copper is a trace quantity. ProFito the copper trace is particularly low. Probably lower than the water you put into the tank if you are using tap water. 

Ade


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks Ade, your help really is appreciated :2thumb:

Just dosed with some profito after a small water change of about 20%.

It states to dose 10ml per 100 litres ONCE a week, so i think from next week i will split the dose down so i am dosing daily with it, but will have to look into it, as 1 tank is only 35 litre, another is 54 litre, with some more small tanks to set up, so could be tricky dosing such small tanks??

:2thumb:



Wolfenrook said:


> If you are going to use the filter, use the whole thing and shrimp proof it.
> 
> Regarding ProFito, it's one of the safest ferts for shrimp there is. Been using it for many many years myself. ALL trace ferts contain copper, however most so long as you don't overdose heavily wont kill your shrimp as the copper is a trace quantity. ProFito the copper trace is particularly low. Probably lower than the water you put into the tank if you are using tap water.
> 
> Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

If every day makes it too small an amount to dose (although in the past, I used to dose using a syringe. lol) then every other day is still fine. If you dose NPK you have to dose every other day anyway, with the NPK dosed on the off day.

Ade


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Hey Ade - the NPK is that the actual name of the plant food or am i looking for a specific thing, as i'll get some to go with the easy carbo and profito


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Ahh, sorry no, it stands for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K), also known as macro ferts.

Right, there are products on the market that cover these, eg, Easylife Fosfo (P) and Nitro (N), but I've found the cheapest way to dose these is using dry salts mixed with pure water as you would do for Estimative Index dosing. They sell quite a few options here Home page.

Ade


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Cheers Ade, will have a proper look later, but might try the 'Simply NPK' Soloution.......my quick search came up with the Seachem NPK Liquid and a Sera NPK Liquid, i think both work out a touch more expensive than the Simply one....not by much mind :lol2:



Wolfenrook said:


> Ahh, sorry no, it stands for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K), also known as macro ferts.
> 
> Right, there are products on the market that cover these, eg, Easylife Fosfo (P) and Nitro (N), but I've found the cheapest way to dose these is using dry salts mixed with pure water as you would do for Estimative Index dosing. They sell quite a few options here Home page.
> 
> Ade


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## Velcro (May 18, 2010)

Bit late into this discussion but never mind!

I get my plants from eBay, always have, always will. I use this seller... Aquascaping, Water treatments medication items in Biotope Aquatics store on eBay! and I've yet to have an issue. Great selection and good service


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