# What makes a good planted tank store?



## Marauder (Apr 17, 2006)

First off, I don't think I've ever been to a "true" planted tank store. All I have is a couple LFS's and they carry, _at most_, 4 or 5 different types of plants in various stages of death and decay. Usually Anacharis, Amazon Swords, Hornwort, and sometimes an Anubias or Crypt.

The employees actually ask me for help when I walk in because they don't know anyone else that keeps plants! (kind of embarrassing! I'm not exactly Amano!)

For the following reasons I'd like to encourage the owner to sell more plants, and planted tank accesories.

1. I think it'd be good business for him.
2. I prefer buying local and in person.
3. More people into the hobby! 
4. Starting a local club to meet people and share info.

At a bare minimum, what gear, supplies, ect would you recommend a LFS owner have on hand?


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## Faruk Gençöz (Nov 4, 2005)

At a bare minimum, before all the things related to money, I would recommend kind and well trained employee on plant keeping. After that I would expect a well maintained and aquascaped show aquarium in the store. It would be even better to have a couple chairs around this aquarium to talk about the plants with the knowledgable employee.


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## Roy Deki (Apr 7, 2004)

I've been working at Pet's inc in Tempe Arizona for about 2 months now. I only work there two nights a week. I only do this because I love the hobby. They have allow me the privilege of setting up their display tank, ordering plants and overseeing the planted tank isles. We have set-up 4 of the 10 40 gallon breeder tanks with co2. They all have at least 3 wpg as well. The other 6 40 gallon breeders are filled with alot of different types of mid to low light plants. I would have to guess that we have approx. 30 different types of plants. High light to low light, we have a great selection. We also encourage AAPE members to bring in clipping for store credit. I love to get submerged grown plants whenever possible. We order from 4 different vendors including from Robert Hudson at Aquabotanics. Some of the plants we have are Blyxa aubertii, Crypt albida, Rotala wallichii, E. tennelus, Glosso and so much more. It is very challenging and fun trying to keep the algae from taking over our high light, co2 injected tanks. They will never be balanced because plants are always being taken out and new ones put in. This is the hardest part of having a great selection. I still love it though. We carry all the substrate, eco, flourite, onyx and Red Sea's Flora base. We also carry JBJ regulators, Red Sea products like the paintball co2 setup, co2 yeast reactors, PGP power reactors, co2 diffusers from Auqabotanics, everything right down to stainless steel tweezers. I am also currently talking to the GM about carrying some of the ADA line from ADG, so hopefully this will happen soon. As soon as the display tank is balanced I'll post a photo here.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

That's pretty cool that you are the go to guy at your fish store for plant info! 

Equipment: I'm sure most stores have the typical canister filters we use. The hagen ladder, and possibly some CO2 glass diffusers would be on the list. Coralife CF lights, bulbs, etc. Eco complete planted substrate, and Flourite at good prices. CO2 regulators like JBJ and Milwaukee setups, and at least 1 or 2 packaged CO2 cylinders.

Fertilizers: Probably best just to have the Seachem or Kent line of ferts. Flourish Excel should definately be on the shelves.

Plants: I think aquabotanic is looking for more stores to wholesale to, so you may want to share AB's contact info with your fish stores for some great plants, not to mention you probably can special order some things then.

Posters, display tanks of planted tanks, inspirational pamphlets of planted tanks and basic how to's could be a big marketing tool to push those LFS planted goods, and even their associated fish.

-John N.


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## Marauder (Apr 17, 2006)

Thanks for the responses! I agree, they'll need some one there that can help people get started on planted tanks the right way, and help when problems arise.

Roy Deki; That sounds like an awesome store you work at! I'd love to have a store like that near me!

I just ordered plants from Aqua Botanic (great experiance BTW). Mr Hudson told me he was looking for more stores to sell to, but I don't think my LFS is ready yet.

Two years ago, when I first got started, I asked a couple questions about plants at the store. I was told; "_Most people don't actually plant them, they just toss the plants in the tank as a dietary suppliment for herbiforous fish_". No wonder no one around here keeps planted tanks!

Think I'll start by bringing in large, high quality pics of my 3 wpg, injected, 75 to post on the wall of the LFS. Maybe people will begin to ask the owner about planted tanks. I could certainly volunteer a day a week to answer questions. Thanks for the hints!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hmm, this thread has been very informative so far. I am also in the process of setting up my LFS with plants/accessories. 

I will have 3 display tanks (where plants will not be removed from), 2x75g tanks and one 180g tank all stocked with german discus and pressure Co2. We also will have about 15x30g long tanks with T5 lighting stocked with all kinds of plants.

I would really find it very helpful if anyone could recommend what types of plants will do well with low maintenance, what sort of plant products are essential to carry, and especially who to order these things from.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I think the easiest plants to care for and are great compliments to discus tanks are Java Ferns and anubias. I think Narrowleaf works very well.

As for seachem distributors, you may want to refer to the seachem website: http://seachem.com/purchasing/salesreps.html and contact their distributor and marketing rep. Same goes with all the other equipment sellers. I'm sure if you tried emailing the big companies, like big als and drsfostersmith, manzanita.com, you may get some wholesale equipment deals if they offer them to business.

-John N.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

I'd like to see:

More varities of plants. I see the same Amazon Sword, Anacharis, Hornwort, and Dwarf Hairgrass at nearly every store. Switch it up and bring in some more exotic stuff. Start a moss tank and sell it x ounces for y dollars or something. 

Some diffusers. I've never seen one diffuser (other than Hagen ladder and air stones) in a store that is for CO2. Buy them for $8, sell for $12. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen any CO2 equipment other than what I mentioned before.

More fert products. There are rarely any kind of "decent" ferts in the stores. Places that carry Flourish don't carry Flourish Excel. 

Different light fixtures. A couple stores do carry Coralife fixtures but normally only in the 24" size. They may have one other size (usually 36"). Right now I couldn't use either but I'm sure there are people who need smaller/bigger sizes, different wattage, different bulbs, etc. One shop around here has a decent selection of larger lights (36"+) from various companies.

A true planted tank would really boost sales. Trilby Tropicals has three planted tanks that they showcase. The two larger ones are mainly vals and a little moss here and there. There was a smaller one that had various plant types that seemed to switch on a daily basis. Doesn't seem to be any "theme" nor "direction" for the tanks. An aquascaped tank plus the addition of more plants would make sales skyrocket in the plant area, which is often neglected.


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## SkinniMini (Mar 26, 2006)

I totally agree with Burks..
All of the local places around here all sell the same old selection & I am sick of it. Why won't they get a better selection? And it wouldn't be like dealing with some difficult exotic, either, because I see planty of nice plants online that sound easy enough to care for besides the usual cabomba, anacharis, anubias & so forth.
I could easily spend a fortune online tonight, but what stops me is not being able to _see _the plants firsthand. I would love to be able to see them & get a better idea of what they would look like in my tank, especially since I'm not as familiar with some of the names as the more experienced hobbyists.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

One thing I might suggest to get a store started, is to have a planted NANO tank on display and have the store advertise a complete nano tank set up. It is affordable, manageable, and gets people hooked on the hobby.

This is what a store in San Francisco, Aqua Forest has done. He sells high end stuff, iincluding ADA, but he told me the planted nanos he adverstises in the local paper get people in the door. It's great for the office, home, and children. It might also be easier to convince a store to set up a well aquascaped 6 to 10 gallon tank, than a large display tank. Once the store owner sees first hand the attention it draws, then he get s more excited about the whole idea of planted tanks.

The biggest hurdle in convincing stores to broaden their offering of plants is that the plants die off before they are sold or get covered in algae. The store has to be convinced it is worth it to invest in better lighting and C02 systems, and that customers will respond.



> A true planted tank would really boost sales. Trilby Tropicals has three planted tanks that they showcase. The two larger ones are mainly vals and a little moss here and there. There was a smaller one that had various plant types that seemed to switch on a daily basis. Doesn't seem to be any "theme" nor "direction" for the tanks. An aquascaped tank plus the addition of more plants would make sales skyrocket in the plant area, which is often neglected.


Perhaps you could volunteer to aquascape the tank for them. Seriously. Tell them if they bring in more of a variety of plants that you will buy some of them, and set up the tank for them showing off some of the more beautiful plants. That is what some plant clubs have done. If you are unsure of your own aquascaping skills, it really does not matter. It does not have to look like Amano, it just needs to show off plants that you would like to see in the store. If they were interested in buying plants from me, I would even donate some plants for the display tank.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Robert has a good point. There are plenty of "masterpiece" aquascapes that get shown off here at APC, but almost any planted tank looks amazing compared to what most people have seen. A concept as simple as "big plants go in back, small plants go in front", is almost enough to put together something passable. It really is the show tank that get people thinking (and buying).

Like the others have said, I think there are four main things that people need to be successful with plants. One is decent and affordable lighting, which is still pretty hard to come by in most LFS's. The next would be CO2 equipment, third substrates, and finally a line of suitable ferts. I think we loose a ton of people who experiment with a few plants, only to watch them fall apart or become algae covered within a few days.

I applaud what Roy Deki is doing. One knowledgeable person can really turn the hobby around for an entire metro area if he/she is willing to invest a bit of time into the LFS's.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Robert Hudson said:


> Perhaps you could volunteer to aquascape the tank for them. Seriously. Tell them if they bring in more of a variety of plants that you will buy some of them, and set up the tank for them showing off some of the more beautiful plants. That is what some plant clubs have done. If you are unsure of your own aquascaping skills, it really does not matter. It does not have to look like Amano, it just needs to show off plants that you would like to see in the store. If they were interested in buying plants from me, I would even donate some plants for the display tank.


I would love to do an aquascaped tank but lack the skills. Still learning the craft myself. I'm in the "toss it in and hope it grows" stage. The next time I go to Trilby's I'll mention this site to them and see what they say.


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