My plants came today...WOW!

[Orchid]

My plant shipment came today and I am happy with their quality. I ordered for my 55 gal discus tank and my new 20 long P.t. tank.

For the discus tank I purchased four Echinodorus, three Red Rubins and one Jade Hormanii. I am so glad the representative suggested I pick the medium size because they are so huge! Far, far larger than I had anticipated, many of the leaf tips are poking out of the water! I had to modify my aquascape design to accomodate them but it turned out just as lovely. If these are the mediums, then what do the larges and Monster Mother plants look like? I have never seen any Sword plants for sale at any aquarium store that look nearly this swell. I also ordered Java ferns which are nice, a Crinum that is far prettier than I thought, and Coffeefolia Anubias-though gorgeous, these are smaller than what I had anticipated-but I'm sure I was thinking this was a bigger plant than it is in reality. The dwarf cichlids seem very happy exploring all the new plants and the discus seem happy to hide in all the lush foliage of the Red Rubin Swords.

I ordered a West African plant package for the 20 long and all the Anubias sp. are so, so nice! I can't wait to see what they will look like in a year if they already look this nice. I also ordered some African Bolbitus fern, it looks good, I've never seen this plant other than in pictures, so I am not sure. I wish I had some fish for this tank. At least it is ready for some dithers and a pair of P. t. Lobes.

Unfortuneately, the Valisnera that is included in the plant package and the clump of Java moss I ordered were not in the box nor was there a back order note on the invoice. The company seems like they would make good on this mistake but we'll see when I call them up Monday. I hope this works out well because I will definately order from them in the future if this is the quality of their plants. I'd love to recomend this company but I don't know if that is appropriate for this Forum. If it is and if anyone is interested, please ask.

 

[aspen]

orchid, i'd love to hear good things about an online plant supplier. who did you get these nice plants from? you might even list quantities, and prices if you feel comfortable, and why you made the choices you made, and what you saw that you didn't order, and why. maybe this place will get a few more orders. how much did you pay to ship them, from where to where, and did they charge you any additional charges? i hope that the other plants come in soon.

rick

 

[Orchid]

Aspen,

The place I ordered from was Arizona Aquatic Gardens, www.azgardens.com. I have been studying their wonderful website for over a year, I look at other sites, but always come back to az gardens. Their website is nicely divided into bunch plants, misc. plants, new arrivals, potted plants, monster mother plants, individual plants sp. such as Amazon Swords, Crypts, Apons., Anubias, Vals., etc. They also offer some nice region specific plant packages like South American, West African, Discus packages, Asian, etc.
They offer many aquarium accessories like CO2 injectors, fish food, fish meds, tank additives, plant tools, terrarium/vivarium plants, and many more things an aquarist might need.

I chose the West Afican package because it was very similar to how I aquascaped the 20 long tank and it was $15 cheaper to go with the package.

My favorite Amazon swords are the Red Rubins, I have never been able to find this variety in a pet store. After seeing some lovely pictures of this sword in Pablo Teapoot's book, I had to have several in my tank. The Jade Hormanii Sword is also a nice plant. Both have some red tinge to them which I think breaks up the green of the Java fern and the Anubias. I love subtle colors in an aquascape. The medium Red Rubins are 4.95(the larges are 5.95) and poke out or fold over in the water at the top of my tank. The Jade Hormanni is 9.95 and is an inch shorter than the Red Rubins, all are sooooooo, gorgeous!

Each of the Anubias has at least four leaves on them, the barteris and nanas are 3.95 the others are 5.95 or over. I have never ordered plants before, but these are a whole lot nicer than anything I could have found in a pet store, and cheaper. I recomend this site even as just a reference for different plants to aquascape your tank with. They were very helpfull over the phone. On average, their prices are a bit less than many of the other plants places, there are some plants priced more than other places. I really hope they send me the plants that weren't in the box, I may really be needing the Java moss soon! I'll post the end results of this delimma when it plays out.

 

[farm41]

Hi Orchid,

What part of Oregon are you from? I trim my plant tanks weekly and take the trimmings to the lfs, I always let friends take first pick. If you are close enough, you may be interested in something I have.

 

[Orchid]

I really appreciate the offer, but I am about three hours away from you.

 

[subiechick]

I've also used Arizona Aquatics and they have wonderful plants... never had a single problem with any of them (Except due to my own faults)! And their prices are quite reasonable.