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Hi,

New question:

My LFS doew sell aqautic plants but they are all covered with algae. Do I buy them and treat them? Or am I buying a problem? What would you do?

Thanks!

tinfil,

Well, for me I guess it would depend on how rare the plants are and how well they are otherwise (growth, coloration, dead leaves, etc.).

It would be a big turn-off to see them in that shape, as it shows that the store either doesn't care or does not know how to properly care for plants.

What plants where these?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

They had 3 tanks with different varieties (I would guess they were not too rare!) and ALL had algae growing on them. My husband made the comment that fake plants would look better than the real............but I really want to try real plants. Have you ever bought plants through the internet? Is it alot more expensive? Are the plants usually healthier?

Thanks!
Tinfil

Tinfil,

Yes, I have ordered plants through the internet, this is my provider:

http://www.freshwateraquariumplants.com/

I like the people there, you can call them and they are very responsive to your questions. Unfortunately they don’t have a huge selection, but for sure large enough to fill the basic requirements.

There are other sources out there as well, for example

http://www.aquariumplants.com/cgi-bin/cart/index.html
http://www.azgardens.com/index.php

But I haven’t bought any plant there yet. Others on our site did buy plants there

Hope this helps,

Ingo

EDIT: Shipping depends on the individual online store, but the one I buy from is not too expensive. Even Express Over-Night is only $20. And a 2 day delivery is (I think) less than $10, which, buy the way, is fine for almost all plants.

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 17-Nov-2005 10:18

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So would you pass on the lfs plants? About how many plants are in a "well-planted" tank? Considering my is a 36 gal corner tank, will I be getting 10 plants, 20 plants, what do you think?

Tinfil,

Numbers are secondary, the type has to be defined first.

To give you an example:

One large stem of Water Sprite will fill your tank way more than 10 small Chain Swords.

Overall I can tell you one thing though, from my own recent experience (have you seen my [link=125G log?]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/64425.html?200511171026" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link]) – Well Planted are way more plants that you would think.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I've purchased the super package from freshwateraquariumplants.com, and was very pleased with the plants sent. It was a little pricy, but not too much more than you'd likely pay locally for so many plants (and considering shipping).

Do you have any type of algae eater? If the plants at the LFS aren't *too* bad, perhaps your algae eater would appreciate them--I mean, the algae on them. Ottos, for example. Do you have ottos or would you consider getting some?

"I am a believer in punctuality, though it makes me very lonely" EV Lucas

I had not considered an otto before. The book I am using, says to pretty much stay away from any catfish other that the corys and the bristlenose. Are the ottos easy?

Thanks!
Tinfil

Otos are easy and not at the same time.

[link=Here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/articles/freshwater/oto.asp" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link] is all you ever wanted to know about Otos but didn't dare to ask (movie reference) written by our FP member Calilasseia.

Also, Otos (and many other Algae Eaters) don't eat all kinds of algae, they are picky about the type.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If the LFS had some plants for really cheap with a bit of algae on them but otherwise healthy I'd buy them and throw them in the 5g or 20g until the algae was gone before moving them to my 90g. Since the stores here have plants for 4 times the price of online I don't buy them whether they look great or almost dead. I bought 1 order from azgardens.com but they cost a small fortune in shipping. The rest I got off aquabid.com.

I personally wouldn't buy any plants that have algae on them. To me it means that the LFS doesn't know how to properly take care of plants, so the plants would most likely be in poor condition by the time you get it home. IME it's difficult to nurse a plant back to healthy condition, especially for beginners. Just like fish, you'd want to start with the healthiest looking plant. Most of my best plants have been the ones that come directly from the growers, which usually means the ones I purchased online.

Last edited by upikabu at 17-Nov-2005 21:44

-P