thoughts on ordering plants online?

[-blake-]

im thinking about ordering plants online from buceplant.

its still a little sus and im not sure if i should take the plunge. 

buceplant seems to have pretty good reviews and they have the floating plants ive been looking for.

whats are yalls opinion on buying plants online?

Edited November 13, 2021 by -blake-

[md363]

I've never done it before, I've thought about ordering from the Co-Op because they take such great care etc.  that I wouldn't worry that much about things like parasites or diseases from their plants.  As for another website I can't say much other than I would quarantine the plants for a while, I've heard around two-weeks or longer for plant quarantines.  I've also heard that giving the plants a salt bath during quarantine is a good measure for preventing the spread of any issues that may come with the plant.

I'm sure other more experienced members of the forum will have better advice but just wanted to give you what I've heard  🙂

[lefty o]

co-op has pretty nice plants, and well they provide this forum for us, so worth supporting them.

[Atitagain]

I’ve only ordered plants from ACO over two years and a lot of orders only had problems once. When I ordered it was averaging like 18-20 degrees for highs and usps had them way way to long (7 days) I didn’t want replacement plants because it was usps that failed but ACO sent me replacements anyway.

they are an amazing online plant supplier. And absolutely stand behind their products. Also have excellent service if there is some sort of problem.

[Ken]

I ordered once from the place you mentioned, just almost good enough. The best bet for floaters is to buy local if at all possible. They don't ship well.

I did buy some floaters on line from some hippy in Indiana that did just fine though, ya gotta love LRB.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Ken

[Gator]

There is no need to quarantine aquarium plants for any longer than 3 hours.

Buy a 5G bucket with a lid. Go to the spice aisle of your local grocery store and buy 5 jars of Alum. When you get home, measure 9 tablespoons of Alum into your bucket, add 3G of water and stir. Put the lid on so that the water doesn't evaporate. Whenever you buy new plants, take the lid off, stir, drop your plants in pot and all and wait 3 hours. After 3 hours, rinse the plant very well in fresh water and then add to your aquarium as you normally would.

The Alum bath (as I call it) will immediately kill any creatures on your newly acquired plant, but it takes 3 hours for the Alum to penetrate any egg masses and kill the developing eggs, just make sure that all of the leaves are also in the Alum bath so you may have to set the plant on its' side in the Alum bath. Whatever works, right?

I set my Alum bath up in 2005 and I'm still using it whenever I buy new plants at my LFS, harvest aquatic plants from a local pond or lake, or if I pick up rocks along a nearby river bank that I think will look good in any one of my tanks. . 

Try it, I believe your worries will be over a lot sooner that 14 days.

Sincerely

Gator

 

[Odd Duck]

I’ve ordered many times from BP because of their huge variety of plants.  I’ve had nearly all good results but a few bad results, the worst in the heat this summer.  They did make it as right as they could with replacements where possible and credit where not possible to send replacements.

I had a single problem with one ACO plant in an order which they rectified startlingly quickly.

[Flumpweesel]

I ordered online plants for the first time this year and I'm going to again local shops have such limited stock it seems the only way to get some variates.

They seemed to survive the process fine and stopped me being tempted by fish in the store so it saved me money. 

[-blake-]

On 11/13/2021 at 2:33 PM, lefty o said:

co-op has pretty nice plants, and well they provide this forum for us, so worth supporting them.

ive bought from them a couple of times. i got my fish there and a few plants.

but they dont have some of the floating plants ive been looking for.

[Jawjagrrl]

All my plants are from online ordering, just not much local to me. I did choose to find a weather "sweet spot" in early autumn so any plants traveling cross country had their best chance for not get frozen/cooked. I lost my buces, but probably due to insufficient light and before I discovered Easy Green. ferns and mosses did the best, as did anything in a pot. I tried plant trimmings, but I think my tanks were too new and most melted. 

I wouldn't hesitate to try them from AC now, and I live about as far from them in the continental US as is possible, but I won't likely add any more plants, fish, etc., from online sources again until spring out of an abundance of caution. 

My first order of plants was in late August within 1 zone from me (they did include a cooler pack), and that gave me my starter colony of scuds, bladder snails and duckweed. I literally had ONE tiny leaf of it then, and now all three tanks are 90% covered with it. I also had a single leaf with a root attached of something else that I planted just to see, and I think it might be monte carlo. 🙂 

[eatyourpeas]

I order from BP if the Coop does not have the specific plant I am looking for. Both are great!

[Patrick_G]

I’m with @eatyourpeas on this. Support Aquarium Coop first. They have great stock and will go out of their way to fix any problems that might come up. If they don’t have what you want try another source. 

[DCT]

When the only fish stores within 50 miles are Petco and Petsmart, you order online.  All my plants in my four, soon to be five aquariums were ordered online.  The Coop is one of my favorites.  Living in Washington I order one day and they arrive the next.  I've ordered from others including Boce with pretty good luck.

[Dawn T]

All of my plants have been ordered online. That's not only allowed me to get TRUE aquatic plants (instead of the semi or not-at-all some of the LFS about 50 miles away stock), but it's also opened things up for me in a huge way. I can get any species that strikes my fancy and see how it does in my water and light setups. I love that aspect of ordering online.

[anewbie]

I used BP once; wasn't overjoyed with what i received but they did make it right. i've used aquarium-cop a few times - but their selection is somewhat limited and these days I'm looking for very specific plants like  Nurii rosen maiden crypt (a lovely plant) which aquarium-cop never carries. 

Anyway when ordering online plants they all have the same issue i've seen - pest snails - and you have to take care to not order during cold weather or extreme heat. Where they differ is some shops (I shall not name) grow every large submerged plants (often you get some plants in emersed form which is a pia); or extremely large selection (shall not name). There are 3 vendors i prefer for various reasons listed above and after that it is whoever i can find that carries exactly what i want (which these days can be quite difficult to find but i know a couple of extreme specialty shops/hobbyist that might have them).

-

One other way the stores differ is in quality of support. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by anewbie

[-blake-]

On 11/15/2021 at 4:02 PM, anewbie said:

I used BP once; wasn't overjoyed with what i received but they did make it right. i've used aquarium-cop a few times - but their selection is somewhat limited and these days I'm looking for very specific plants like  Nurii rosen maiden crypt (a lovely plant) which aquarium-cop never carries. 

Anyway when ordering online plants they all have the same issue i've seen - pest snails - and you have to take care to not order during cold weather or extreme heat. Where they differ is some shops (I shall not name) grow every large submerged plants (often you get some plants in emersed form which is a pia); or extremely large selection (shall not name). There are 3 vendors i prefer for various reasons listed above and after that it is whoever i can find that carries exactly what i want (which these days can be quite difficult to find but i know a couple of extreme specialty shops/hobist that might have them).

yeah im a little worried about pest snails as we already have them (ramshorn snails). we got a snail catcher thing and we've been taking them out when we see them on the walls of the tank. there are still quite a few in my tank.

[Dawn T]

If you're worried about snails, order tissue culture plants only. No snails, algae, or other hitchhikers to worry about.

[Patrick_G]

On 11/15/2021 at 4:27 PM, Dawn T said:

If you're worried about snails, order tissue culture plants only. No snails, algae, or other hitchhikers to worry about.

As slowly graduate to less common plants I’m finding tissue cultures to be handy. I have had good luck with Tropica and ADA bought locally. When they’re fresh they’re great, but I’ve seen some that were clearly past their prime. At our local ADA store they sometimes set these out as freebies (one per customer) 

Edited November 16, 2021 by Patrick_G

[Katya]

I ordered from BP and all the plants are doing well.  I did an alum soak for several hours and then inspected each plant to remove any snails (didn't see any) or eggs (removed a few spots that looked like eggs).  No problems with snails -- in fact, I just had to BUY a snail to help keep up with an algae issue.  I ordered once from AC, but while the plant is still, technically, alive, it rotted and fell apart very quickly.  BP also sells tissue culture plants.  

[Brandon p]

I order all the time no line. Remember that any store says that say they have snails are lairs. Every plant has the chance bought online or on LFS, and wild plants has a chance to have snails. . Most place online go a pretty good job

[dmurray407]

On 11/13/2021 at 8:25 PM, Gator said:

The Alum bath (as I call it) will immediately kill any creatures on your newly acquired plant,

The alum bath will take care of any snails that come with the plants? That's one of my fears, that I will buy plants and some weird snail infestation will come along with them.

[md363]

On 11/13/2021 at 9:25 PM, Gator said:

There is no need to quarantine aquarium plants for any longer than 3 hours.

Buy a 5G bucket with a lid. Go to the spice aisle of your local grocery store and buy 5 jars of Alum. When you get home, measure 9 tablespoons of Alum into your bucket, add 3G of water and stir. Put the lid on so that the water doesn't evaporate. Whenever you buy new plants, take the lid off, stir, drop your plants in pot and all and wait 3 hours. After 3 hours, rinse the plant very well in fresh water and then add to your aquarium as you normally would.

The Alum bath (as I call it) will immediately kill any creatures on your newly acquired plant, but it takes 3 hours for the Alum to penetrate any egg masses and kill the developing eggs, just make sure that all of the leaves are also in the Alum bath so you may have to set the plant on its' side in the Alum bath. Whatever works, right?

I set my Alum bath up in 2005 and I'm still using it whenever I buy new plants at my LFS, harvest aquatic plants from a local pond or lake, or if I pick up rocks along a nearby river bank that I think will look good in any one of my tanks. . 

Try it, I believe your worries will be over a lot sooner that 14 days.

Sincerely

Gator

 

I just ordered some Bacopa Caroliniana from the CO-OP.  I'm going to try this Alum bath method for 24 hours when I get the plants.  Thanks for the advice!  🙂  

[Guppysnail]

@md363 seltzer water is more affective and does less plant damage. Place plant submerged in plain seltzer in the dark for 9 hours. That’s it. Here is the entire article with all the research done including comparison microscope shots of the damage done by alum vs lack of damage by seltzer. The thread you just posted was before Reverse Respiration so was not mentioned in the thread. Hope this helps. 

 

[md363]

On 7/23/2022 at 7:52 PM, Guppysnail said:

@md363 seltzer water is more affective and does less plant damage. Place plant submerged in plain seltzer in the dark for 9 hours. That’s it. Here is the entire article with all the research done including comparison microscope shots of the damage done by alum vs lack of damage by seltzer. The thread you just posted was before Reverse Respiration so was not mentioned in the thread. Hope this helps. 

 

@Guppysnail  Thanks very much for posting the link to this post, very helpful indeed.  Thanks again, amazing work and amazing article  🙂  

[Brandon p]

Order them all the thing even from eBay like others I saw post here. They are probably fresher than the ones in the local store.