Plant storage

[Phil Onion]

Hi all,

My 4x2 tropical aquascape has been in dark start for 5 weeks and I'm looking to now plant up. I don't really want to buy online because of the horror stories and am therefore looking to buy from aquatic centres around Swindon. Willing to travel a reasonable distance, however the issue is availability. The sheer number of plants needed for a reasonably heavy planted tank, causes challenges in the current environment and the chances of being able to buy all I need from one place is nil.

Has anyone got any advice on keeping plants while I can build up the necessary numbers? I don't want to plant up piecemeal and so was thinking of buying a cheap starter aquarium and use that for storage after which it could be used as a quarantine tank.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

[Konsa]

Hi
I have been buying (exchanging) plants trough the post for years now and don't really see issues with it.As long as you buy from a reputable place and opt for suitable delivery method you will be ok.If you are UK based I could vouch for Aquarium Gardens.They know what they are doing and have good customers service if anything goes wrong they will make it right.
Anyway if you are set on buying the plants in person have a chat with the store managers around you ask where (when)they get their plant stock from(Tropica or other supplier)and ask if they can order everything you need with their next plant delivery. This way you will be able to pick your plants straight up from when they get them and they will be as fresh as possible.
Regards Konstantin

 

[Courtneybst]

Hi Phil, when you say horror stories of buying online where are these plants being purchased from? I purchase plants online all the time from the likes of Aquarium Gardens, Horizon Aquatics, Scaped Nature and K2 Aqua and have never had an issue.

Also rather than storing the plants, you can give them a call and pre-order the whole list of plants you want and when they're all available they can be sent out to you. Saves you time, money and aggro with making a holding setup.

 

[Phil Onion]

Thanks.

To be fair, the 'horror stories' have been a recent trend I've seen. Clearly the last two years have been somewhat unique and I think that has been challanging to resellers who find that orders which took days from suppliers, are often in transit for weeks. I'll have a chat with Aquarium Gardens, as when I last looked they were out of stock or had very low stock on many of the favourites.