Pets At Home Plants

[lym]

I usually avoid Pets At Home for all types of animals but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the live plants they sell for aquariums? It's the only place in my area that sells decent looking live plants, so I was wondering if I would be ok with these? Or should a avoid and buy online??

 

[@ombomb]

Depends on the store I suppose.

The one near me is infested with BGA, so I avoid them like the plague.

Given the overall reputation of the place I'd say online was the safer bet.

www.aquaessentials.co.uk has had a lot of good comments from people on the planted forum and I've used greenline (http/www.aquaticplants.eu.com/) in the past with no complaints.

 

[AndreaC]

Ive bought my pants from pets at home and they are thriving and not had any problems. Only thing is they do java moss

May I ask what BGA is?

 

[cardinal sinner]

I have bought plants from pets at home they have some lovely planted bogwoods. If they look fresh n green buy em if they look a bit on the black side dont!!!!!!!!! BGA by the way is (I think) blue, green algea

 

[nathan01]

i have just bought some plants from there 3 for £5.They are great

 

[BigIan]

I wouldn`t bother....
Go to aqua essentials, Richard the guy who runs the place knows what hes doing and will only send out plants in tip top order....
hes holding 2 pots of Limnophila aromatica fora couple of days because they arent at there best and sending them out later at his own expence.

If that isn`t commitment to supplying a quality product i don`t know what is

 

[AndreaC]

I have bought plants from pets at home they have some lovely planted bogwoods. If they look fresh n green buy em if they look a bit on the black side dont!!!!!!!!! BGA by the way is (I think) blue, green algea

Ah thanks. Yeh ive seen plants in some pet shops with a dark coloured slime on it, is that an algae?? The look of it put me off and I select nice green plants with nothing odd looking on lol.

I got the 3 for £5 at pets at home, a curly something or other lol. I like the way they are in little pots also, helps keep them at the bottom and looks neater. Not seen the planted bogwood though there, will look out next time.

What does BGA doe?? does it cause a algae problem in the tank and/or introduce anything bad??

 

[BigIan]

"BGA" is acctualy a type of bacteria, and comes in many forms, some can be poisonous, but most arent, the real problem is it will slowly infest your tank coating every surface with tufts of black/blue slimey stuff that looks horrible and is a swine to get rid of

 

[rubberdubber]

Plants may not be as large as you see at pets at home but I have bought very good quality plants at much better prices from Java delivered to your door.

 

[AndreaC]

"BGA" is acctualy a type of bacteria, and comes in many forms, some can be poisonous, but most arent, the real problem is it will slowly infest your tank coating every surface with tufts of black/blue slimey stuff that looks horrible and is a swine to get rid of

That doesnt sound good. How do you know if they are poisness? do the fish just die? Is the black/blue slimey stuff dangouras or just a nightmare??

Im worried about buying any more plants at all now.

 

[sharkbaitwoohaha]

not all PAH do a good selection but the ones focussed more on aquatics usually have a good stock of tropica. i work for their aquatics setion and some of the 3 for 5 ones are ok, butid shell out for tropica cos they are great. good root system and never had a problem... whereas with the potted efforts... dont get me started

 

[BigIan]

Its very VERY VERY rare that they are poisonous, i`ve never her4d of any one becoming ill because of it in there aquarium,
Its not dangerous just a nightmare,
My co2 ran out over xmas and when i came back from a few days down with the MRS family my tank was infested....

the best way to avoid any type of algae is to keep up with regular tank maintenance. and sourse your plants from a good supplier (aquaessentials is the only place i`ll use now)

 

[dwarfgourami]

I'd say it depends on the Pets@ in question. The old one near me (now closed) which sold awful fish, actually had very good plants (on a separate system), I still have a lot of them 2 years later, and I'm about as hopeless a gardener as you could wish to meet.

 

[AndreaC]

My pets at home is pretty good. They are very good with there fish care and advice. There plants all seem really healthy but im a bit concerned now so will have to be careful when buying more plants.

 

[14gtr14]

My advice is find out when they get their deliveries in and go that day, have a look. My local ( Livingston branch) sells Tropica plants (best quality plants) 3 for £9 and other unlabeled potted plants for 3 for £5. I have bought from aquaessentials and was impressed with their quality, but they were expensive- whereas my P@H normally have the same level of quality (when batches are first in) and are cheaper.

Have a look really- check for algae in P@H and check for snails before you put the plants in your aquarium!

Greg