Llj's 20g Journal

[Themuleous]

New plants sound good

 

[lljdma06]

New plants sound good

In theory, yes they do. I just received my order from Aquariumplants.com and I am extremely disappointed. The quality has significantly decreased, the mother plant was a combination of four regular plants hastely planted into a pot (like I wouldn't know the difference), the Pelia is a tangled mess, the najas is really small, and I guess this now passes as their idea of Cryptocoryne wendtii red.

Somewhere, I guess, underneath all that planting medium are plants? Now I understand that 2nd day air is sometimes iffy (I've never had a problem with US priority, which is much worse), but it's not a question of them melting. That happens. I can usually salvage a healthy root structure and move on, no big deal. But I'm not even finding significant root structure in the medium. Sending me two clumps of medium senza roots is not sending me what I paid for. I complained, of course, and sent them a prompt email with photos.

So basically, instead of scaping tanks, I now have to rehabilitate ill-kept plants until they reach my standards for scaping. Moreover, I've possibly lost a source of plants. I was better off scoping large chain stores for the odd plant here or there.

This planted tank enthusiast is not happy right now.

llj

 

[TigerLotus]

Hey there,

Popping in to tell you that I really enjoy your log so far, your tanks looks really nice.
I feel you pain with aquariumplants.com. I had ordered from them a first time and the plants came heathly with some extra bonus plants even. I even got the red wendtii and it was all very healthy. The second time i ordered i got a nightmare. The plants were unhealthy and most were all dead and mushy. I to got 2nd air both times with one end of the specturm on the first order and a complete oppiste on the other. Good luck with them... my next order is going to be from AZgardens.com I have never heard complaints about there plants, there always a very nice and healthy amount each time. But there shipping prices can get pretty expensive.

On another note, please log how the pelia in you tank goes. Im really intrested in how it does with no Co2 and how it grows.

Good Luck : )

TigerLotus

 

[Themuleous]

Man thats crap, sounds like they might be run by the same people as Plantsalive over here.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

Man thats crap, sounds like they might be run by the same people as Plantsalive over here.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Sam

You may be right! Here's the inventory of the disaster.

Ordered:

3 Egeria najas
2 Aponogeton crispus
1 Cryptocoryne Wendtii Bronze "Giant Mother Plant"
4 Pelia (Monosolenium Tenerum)
4 Cryptocoryne retrospiralis
2 Cryptocoryne wendtii, Green
2 Cryptocoryne wendtii, Red

Binned

60% of the E. najas (brown, broken mess). Salvaged a few alright stems, which I hope will recover as it is a favorite of mine.
50% of the "mother Plant" (Root rot, smelled absolutely foul! The rest will follow suit, I'm sure)
99.9% of the Pelia (I managed to salvage a few crisp, green pieces from the slimy broken bits they sent me)
2 Green wendtii (Same problem as the mother plant). I can deal with melting leaves, that's totally normal, but the roots after only a day in the tank turned black and emitted a foul stench. That is not good and can hurt my fish. Cryptocorynes always grow splendedly in my tanks, and the crypts from PetSupermarket, of all places, are thriving and turning a rich brownish red with purplish undersides, and clean white roots. Pretty lovely specimens of Bronze tropica, I think.

Never received the red wendtii, but Aquariumplants.com called and said they were going to send me some when I told them I didn't receive any. They saw the email. The lady was flabbergasted and insisted that the plants were fine when she packed them. I'm sure they were (feel the sarcasm). She packed the E. najas (a fragile plant) right next to PLASTIC containers of Pelia! Brilliant packing strategy that, of course, will not result in breakage. Whoopty doo! 2 whole C. wendtii for losing probably 80% of an order within a few days. So only some E. najas, 4 C. retrospiralis, a teeny bit of Pelia, and two Aponogetons are left from the original order, and they need some serious TLC in the next few months, if they recover at all.

I sincerely hope that I just had a stroke of bad luck and that this is not the norm, as I have in the past have received some stunning specimens from them.

llj

 

[ICEEGRL]

Are they going to at least give you a refund or credit or something for the bad plants?
I hope so.
I got told "they were fine when I packed them" one time. All I could think was... Well they were not fine when I got them! (I guess that means that they were either packed and shipped wrong, or they were not really that fine to begin with.)
I don't think it is right for someone to expect you to pay even shipping to recieve dead plants.
(Then I noticed that they charged me way more than what it costed on the shipping! They ripped me off! )
I know accidents happen. That is what good customer service is for. They need to use it, and leave their attitudes at home.

I hope what little you were left with comes back and does well.

 

[lljdma06]

Are they going to at least give you a refund or credit or something for the bad plants?

Well, I didn't do Overnight, I did 2nd day, so there was no guarantee of live delivery, so no refund for me. They'll stick to their guns, I'm sure. I had never had a problem with 2nd day until this order. I've shipped far more fragile plants, however, on priority mail and have had no complaints from my friends. I don't plan on giving them my business again. I binned the last of the Wendtii "mother" plant today. The stink from the roots was just unbearable. IMO, I really think crypts need to be shipped bare root, as I'm wondering if the packing medium in a non-circulating, dark environment is causing problems by not allowing the roots to get enough circulation. The retrospiralis were bare root, and all four are still alive. The retrospiralis and the aponogetons are in this tank, the 20g. When things fill in, I'll post a picture.

I was going to send you the Bolbitis and the Marsilea, but I needed the plants again to make up for the biomass lost from the order.

llj

 

[ICEEGRL]

That's ok. Just remember me when you get more than you need.

I need to find some people that need moss. I now have tons! It is growing like crazy. It is in my tanks and in bowls and jars everywhere now. I hate to throw it out. I am going to have to do a thread to see if anyone wants any.

By the way... The a. reineckii has confused me. It isn't red for me. I have good lighting and it grows fine. It just doesn't have the color. It is mostly green. What causes that?

Who will you use for plants now? I was thinking of getting a few from aquatic magic. Have you ever used them?
Post pics soon.

 

[kerri71]

hi there i seen ur pictures on here and i h ave a ? i see that you got a orange fish with the black top fin and black strip its in the image number 0545 what is the name of it i have two and cant find out what kind it is on here and all that thanks kerri

By now, you're probably really sick of me, but I have no final exams, most of my furniture will be moved out of my apartment by next week, and my packing's almost done for my move, so I have tons of time on my hands. I promise this is the last journal for a long time. Seriously, I'm done with the journals. I think it's time for a low-tech.

Stats:

20g high, 1.5WPG, 1 DIY CO2 unit (weak mix), light fertilization. Sand, gravel, and laterite substrate.
See layout below. I like paint.

View attachment 36199

The background plant will be egeria najas, always an easy plant to work with IMO. The dark green is again, a small crypt, probably parva or lutea, or both to get various heights. The wood will be covered with various anubias of different sizes and types, the African fern, and maybe moss (At least I'll give it a go, but the whole point is that this one is low-tech and low maintenance). Jimbooo's 12g was the influence for this tank, and I really like his sand foreground, but I don't think crypts will do very well in sand, so I may have to put gravel where the crypts are and put sand in the front. Eventually it'll mix, I'm sure, but it should look nice for a little while especially if the sand bed is not too deep. I could also use wood or plastic to separate the two substrates while I setup. Scale, as always, is off. The sand bed is WAY too big in the attachment, but you get the general idea. I don't plan on having a foreground plant. Stock is pretty simple and colorful, a school of small tetras, peacock gudgeons, and something for the surface strata, dwarf hatchet fish maybe or a colorful livebearer, or a rarer small gourami? I plan now and it could all go to bust later.

Any comments, suggestions, and bits of advice are always welcome. This tank has the priviledged position near my bed, so I want this one to be soothing and easy on the eyes. I don't want to worry about constant tweaking and it'll hopefully be the sit back and relax tank. I think I'll have enough reason to pull hair out with the other three tanks.

 

[lljdma06]

hi there i seen ur pictures on here and i h ave a ? i see that you got a orange fish with the black top fin and black strip its in the image number 0545 what is the name of it i have two and cant find out what kind it is on here and all that thanks kerri

The "orange" fish with the black top fin are serpae tetras, which are either Hyphessobrycon callistus or H. eques, depending on who you consult. Great fish, need to be in shoals of at least 6. I currently have four, but I'm looking to up my numbers, I just have to find specimens that match mine in size. Mine are quite a bit older.

 

[lljdma06]

It's been over 6 months since I've updated this thread. The aponogeton and crypts from that disappointing Aquariumplants.com order are really thriving, so I decided to get more of the same for this tank. I used Arizon Aquatics, and the plants arrived pretty healthy, but the shipping price was ridiculous, so I'm back to the drawing board as far as finding a good online vendor is concerned. A lesson I learn is a lesson I can pass on to my friends here. I was using this tank as a grow out for platy fry and to house some C. peleatus, but the C. peleatus don't really like this tank, so I'm trying them out in the 36g, and the larger fry are back with the parents.

To treat myself, I purchased some Ember tetras. These are tiny little fish. I thought 16 were enough, but nope, they don't even put a dent in this tank. When they are acclimated, I'll post a few pictures of this tank.

llj

 

[n3ont3tra]

Hi llj.
You said you used arizona aquatics? Azgardens.com?
I had a HORRIBLE experience with them a while ago.
I was surprised to read about aquariumplants.com, I've had a few good orders from them..
Recently I've only ordered plants from liveaquaria.com though. Best customer service there is.
Better luck next time?
I can't wait for pics.

 

[Esfa]

We demand pics!

 

[lljdma06]

We demand pics!

And I shall supply them. Again, not much of a scape, so it's disappointing in that sense. Plant growth, however, is extremely robust. The large aponogeton was near death when I received it in December, so hopefully the new aponogetons will follow suit. I would like the back to be an aponogeton jungle. The newly planted C. willisii are beginning to sprout new leaves, so in about 6 months, hopefully, they'll become as dense as the C. wendtii on the right.

As I mentioned in my pico thread, I lost some of my livestock from Arizona Aquatics. I wanted to give them a chance, as the reviews were mixed and they had both fish species that I wanted. These fish went into tanks that were either 2 years old or nearly so, so they are cycled, and I didn't make the mistake of removing all the fish and letting the tanks sit, which would cause a mini-cycle. I had 16 Ember tetras and I'm down to 6. I ran every test I could think of, and there is nothing wrong with my water, so I started dosing with melafix. That did the trick, and the 6 that are left are better and feeding well. Same thing happened to the pygmy cories in the pico. They have lost my business, as I am pretty sure they sent me fish that were not up to snuff. I've had fish survive delivery via priority mail in far superior condition. I am looking for other vendors to again fill out the school. I'd eventually like some 20 fish, as they school extremely well, and do not have much of a bioload. Yesterday, I added 2 otos from my 36g, as I think a shoal of them would complement the tetras very well.

Picture time.

Thanks for looking,

llj

 

[Biulu]

The red leaves on the right are the Wendtii? HOw did you get them like that? The leaves look rounder than normal, and the red is beautifully intense!