# REAL aquatic plants at Petsmart!



## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

i was walking around there today, and was surprised to find that they had a new product out, containing actual aquatic plants and not just the sellaginella and dracaena species of plants you see in the little tubes. They actually had some pretty sweet ones! They were in white packages with a sort of a bag inside, kinda like a ziplok bag. As far as i can remember, they had alternanthera reineckii, eleocharis acicularis, rotala arcuata, cryptocoryne wendtii green, lilaeopsis brasiliensis, and some other type of sword plant that i cant remember. I think they were $7.99 for a fairly generous portion, and all the plants appeared to be healthy, although the alternanthera, rotala, and crypts were unusually small leaf and stem-wise. I bet one bag of the rotala had ~30 stems in there. I'm sure this is probably old news, but i thought it was cool. Any of you guys bought and tried these little plant packages yet? curious to know the actual quality of them. Too bad not a single employee even knew the first thing about aquatic plants... or fish/aquariums in general..... i still despise big box pet stores with a passion!

P.S. lets not turn this into a pet store debate please!


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## aquaphish (Jan 22, 2005)

Hey ryan,

Why don't you get some of these plants and tell us what you think about them. Be the first to report on how they do.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

i have purchase some real aquatic plants before from them. at petco i found echinodorus argentinensis emerser for lik3-4 bucks for 5-6 plants. i tried them and they comverted nicely. just took down my big tank and sold them to a friend lol

i also seen ludwigia rapens and some other stems but nothing too fancy..


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

aquaphish said:


> Hey ryan,
> 
> Why don't you get some of these plants and tell us what you think about them. Be the first to report on how they do.


Cuz i'm poor and i have a brown thumb lol. To be honest, i feel much better buying plants from members on forums like this  If i'm in east peoria sometime soon, i might consider buying the A. reinekii, or r. arcuata, because i have never tried them before. How would these do in a 5 gallon tank with 26 watt clf, mineralized topsoil, and diy co2?


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

wow i feel stupid. its ludwigia arcuata not rotala hahahaaha. no idea where i got rotala from. you can tell i'm a noob


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## pepetj (Oct 2, 2008)

I purchased some plant specimens from PETCO when I was in Boston (March 2011). I got a nice 'Windelow' fern in a tube, a variety of common Cryptocoryne sp (potted), and the E argentinensis also in a tube.

Those specimens have adapted well but it was annoying to sort through non-aquatic plants to get them.

I rather trade for plants in our swap and trade forum. More variety, healthy care, and great prices, even for "rare" plants.

Pepetj
Santo Domingo


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## supert (Jun 12, 2011)

I just bought some dwarf hair grass last Wednesday and they are great so far. To bad they don't sell Eleocharis belem or HC. Otherwise I would be all over it. 

Anybody selling it?


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

i have a feeling that HC would end up just withering away in the bag before being bought by someone. not sure though. There are a few "tube" plants that are actually aquatic, but probably 50% of them are not aquatic at all and end up melting away. That makes it really hard for new hobbiests to be successful. Again, not trying to cause a debate, just stating a fact. If you do know what to look for, there are plants that do well once established. Petco seems to have more plant varieties than petsmart, and surprisingly, Meijer had a pretty good amount of cool potted plants when i went there. I get most of my plants either online, or at my local pet shop.


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## Jar (Jun 5, 2011)

I purchased one of these white packages (don't recall the branding) of micro sword from PetSmart about two weeks ago. It went directly into my 10g el natural during it's setup. Honestly, I don't have much experience with aquatic plants. The price is a little steep, but it seemed in better health than the five or so plants I've bought from those plastic tubes.

One of the local PetSmart locations has a large, divided tank with quite a few different plants submersed in it. The plants I've bought there are awesome and cheap.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

And why wouldn't you buy plants from fellow hobbyists? Selection is out of this world. Price will not be higher even with shipping.

Here in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, we did a count of how many species we have as a club. The count was more than 110! And you can find even more species from people on the internet.

If you want cheap then by any means buy from big chain stores. Check out he cheap and sick fish too - they always are well stocked with those.

--Nikolay


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

niko said:


> And why wouldn't you buy plants from fellow hobbyists? Selection is out of this world. Price will not be higher even with shipping.
> 
> Here in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, we did a count of how many species we have as a club. The count was more than 110! And you can find even more species from people on the internet.
> 
> ...


hahaha so true. Those sick fish are big sellers though! must be their washed out colors that really attract people! lol

People here are 105856289572 times more knowledgeable as well. big box stores are just set out to sell sell sell. They honestly care less if they sell you sick fish and crash your tank. just means you will be back to buy more right? haha

Lots of people here are also willing to just give you cuttings of plants for the price of shipping. I admire the people that are in this for the hobby not the money!

Ryan


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