Guppy Grass

[Gigrantor]

This may be a stupid question, but why doesn't Aquarium Coop sell guppy grass? For how widely it seems to be used throughout the hobby, I'm having trouble finding it from a reputable seller. Sure, I can find it on eBay or esty, but why do none of the major online plant sellers seem to carry it? Where does everyone else source theirs from?

Thanks, 

Grant 

[Cory]

Simple, it doesn't ship well. I have unlimited amounts in my fish room. However it doesn't ship well.

[Gigrantor]

Ahh that's too bad... I've checked all of the LFS, but I may have to resort to fb or craigslist. Thanks Cory. 

[JettsPapa]

13 hours ago, Cory said:

Simple, it doesn't ship well. I have unlimited amounts in my fish room. However it doesn't ship well.

Hello @Cory

Would you mind elaborating on that?  I've shipped some in rigid food containers, and also in ziploc bags (with plenty of air in the bag), and it seemed to ship fine.  Or at least I didn't get any complaints.

[Cory]

Sure, in our testing of thousands of shipments around the country. We found the rate in which it didn't arrive in good condition was higher than what we deem appropriate. There are people who will sell guppy grass, duckweed, water lettuce and other floating plants. However when shipping thousands of shipments of it a month, we found it outside our capability to make sure it didn't overheat, or freeze, or get too wet during shipping to have it arrive at the customers home in satisfactory condition.

[Kirsten]

Yeah my rule of thumb is to always check the co-op first for whatever I need. But if they don't have it and lfs can't keep it in stock? Screw it, buy it however seems reasonable to you. I couldn't find java moss or hornwort or even ramshorn snails at local stores, so I just found them on etsy and eBay and they were fine. Covid's decimated supply chains for so many domestic hobbies, gotta get things through unconventional means sometimes. Local gardening store couldn't even get a bag of dirt for months!

At least I feel a little better buying plants from a hobbyist than from a large company. Gotta help each other out right now.

[Brandy]

51 minutes ago, Cory said:

Sure, in our testing of thousands of shipments around the country. We found the rate in which it didn't arrive in good condition was higher than what we deem appropriate. There are people who will sell guppy grass, duckweed, water lettuce and other floating plants. However when shipping thousands of shipments of it a month, we found it outside our capability to make sure it didn't overheat, or freeze, or get too wet during shipping to have it arrive at the customers home in satisfactory condition.

Actually I have wondered about this myself--having bought some of these plants online. The single major factor that was responsible for their sucess was that each item was hand packed and shipped with specialized containers--different for hornwort, floaters, etc. On Cory's scale I can see how it makes perfect sense that this is impractical.

I think this is just a case where a hobbyist is the better source, and lucky for us that this is true, leaving us an easy in. I have been known to sell floaters on Craigslist when I have an abundance in the summer. I currently have mops of java moss too. I have been working out how to condition it to make it the most attractive and saleable...pro-tip, scuds eat algae, but also eat java moss leaves, lol!

Edited February 3, 2021 by Brandy

[Levi_Aquatics]

Completely agree @Kirsten @Brandy

[JettsPapa]

12 hours ago, Cory said:

Sure, in our testing of thousands of shipments around the country. We found the rate in which it didn't arrive in good condition was higher than what we deem appropriate. There are people who will sell guppy grass, duckweed, water lettuce and other floating plants. However when shipping thousands of shipments of it a month, we found it outside our capability to make sure it didn't overheat, or freeze, or get too wet during shipping to have it arrive at the customers home in satisfactory condition.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

12 hours ago, Brandy said:

. . . I currently have mops of java moss too. I have been working out how to condition it to make it the most attractive and saleable...pro-tip, scuds eat algae, but also eat java moss leaves, lol!

I've sold some Java moss, guppy grass, and pearl weed to local stores in clear plastic food containers, 5.5 ounce for the moss and 12 ounce for the others.  I fill the containers with water and add printed labels, so they're ready to go on the shelf.  They take whatever I bring in.

I buy the containers at the local grocery store, but they're available on Amazon also.  The 12 ounce ones run about 30 cents each.  I don't remember offhand how much the smaller ones are.