Tropica Plants

[George Farmer]

hello to all you planted fans, ive opened a trade account with tropica as im thinking of adding live plants to our website, if im honest im not a big planted buff. so i would be looking for any input as to what varieties to stock, ideally id like to keep 30 more common, popular plants constantly in stock and then get more exotic stuff in once a month maybe

any input would be greatly appreciated

That's interesting news. It's always nice to see a potential stockist of quality plants.

Unless you have appropriate holding facilites I would recommend simply ordering plants for customers in as necessary.

Trouble is, I'm not sure on the viability, as many orders will be for just a few pots, so the frequent shipping costs may not justify the relatively low volume turnover.

If you are willing to invest in a hydroponics system, or at least, a heated holding tank with good light and CO2, then ordering in bulk would be more viable, IMHO.

Food for thought, anyway. Let us know any progress. I'm sure you could create a good customer-base from the regulars on here alone...

BTW, as a TFF sponsor you are welcome to start your own thread on this.

 

[Themuleous]

Bargain! Always nice to get a new tropica stockist! Keep us posted. Oh and yeh advertise yourself a bit! I hadn't a clue who you were until Fwapp chipped in!

Sam

 

[efish]

yeah i should have mentioned our website and being a sponsor really.

i'll be buying in bulk thats why i wanted some suggestions, i'll start off with easier plants, as ive confessed im not a pro when it comes to plants, but if all goes well i'll rig up a co2 system and get some more difficult stuff in the future.

holding tanks is not a problem, ive got 30 300 litre tanks sitting around not being used, so i may rig an overflow from some of our fish sytems into them, they should help with filtration too i guess

Underwurlde thats like a quarter of their stock list there lol.

fingers crossed plants to be avaialable by november

 

[Themuleous]

Awesone, just in time for my rescape!

 

[Underwurlde]

Is that a Tropica list? Seems a good few missing...

Underwurlde thats like a quarter of their stock list there lol.

The list I provided above is not based on anything Tropica. It is simply a list of plants that though my reading (alone) I reckon are plants that are considered easy, low light, low / non-CO2 type plants. In otherwords, those suitable for an 'El Natural' setup - Hence they are easy to keep & hence trouble free to stock & sell. Yes, it is quite a list, which is why I highlighted those ones in the list I'd considered stocking IF I was lucky enough to own a shop.

I am not saying the list is by any means complete or indeed accurate!

BTW efish, Q) What is your shop called & where is it?

Andy

 

[efish]

www.tropicalfish4u.co.uk

we are based in kent but we dont have a physical browseing shop, we do mail order fish, and soon plants and corals,

 

[Underwurlde]

If you can do a good range of plants, supplied well packed & offer good after sales, expect MANY customers. As you can see from my thread, the options for a good range of good plants are pretty poor in the UK (now THERES are surprise).

You could do a basic range (for fast turnaround) and HOPEFULLY support the full range from Tropica (albeit on a longer turnaround). If you gave us that, you'd be pleasing many, many people. Me included!

On the basis of supporting the full range of Tropica plants with the mind to bulk orders, it may be a possible idea to gather a monthy order from the members here via a thread: 'Order your tropica Plants here'. Orders get placed for everyone at the same time at the end of the month, in bulk. Will obviously need squaring with the mods though...

Fingers crossed......

Andy

 

[entersandman]

Have you tried Southern Aquatics in Christchurch mate? I go there and they stock Tropica plants, very helpful staff as well.

 

[efish]

that would suit me, keep 20 or so common constantly in stock and a monthly rarer species order

 

[Underwurlde]

Have you tried Southern Aquatics in Christchurch mate?

Ha! Yes I do! Walking distance from where I work, so it is my LFS. Plant selection is OK I guess, but they are covered in snails, poorly kept and IMO, expensive. There is no planted guru in there apart from some chap called 'Little' Mark, who visits the shop infrequenctly (or so I've been told) so he's never therer when I want to talk 'planted' - he set up that lovely little planted tank on the counter. (I know how to replicate that set up ).

Perhaps I'll be lucky next time I go in...

Andy

 

[bobarobadus]

My local MH aquatics (Morden in Surrey) occassionaly has Tropica plants! was there recently they had some HC, Narrow leaf java ferns etc as well as lots of other dutch potted plants all in good condition. Apparantly they will Order Tropica plants when they have enough requests to get an order together!

 

[jimbooo]

yeah i should have mentioned our website and being a sponsor really.

i'll be buying in bulk thats why i wanted some suggestions, i'll start off with easier plants, as ive confessed im not a pro when it comes to plants, but if all goes well i'll rig up a co2 system and get some more difficult stuff in the future.

holding tanks is not a problem, ive got 30 300 litre tanks sitting around not being used, so i may rig an overflow from some of our fish sytems into them, they should help with filtration too i guess

Underwurlde thats like a quarter of their stock list there lol.

fingers crossed plants to be avaialable by november

i'd be a regular customer i'm sure. i'm about to order a ton of plants from somewhere or other to fill my 100G. if i had access to tropica plants then i would have no hesitation in getting them. i've gone to greenline in the past which aren't bad but you can't beat tropica IMO

good luck with the shop and make sure you shout about it on here when it all comes together.

 

[efish]

ive had one request already for a price quote, and aparantley it was a bit high, can anyone tell me what tropica plants cost when youve bought them before?

 

[nry]

www.birstall.co.uk seem to have prices which were similar to those AquaEssentials were charging. Having seen the trade price list for Tropica products, the prices charged by shops can often seem rather high! Personally I think the cheaper range starting around £3-£4 seems about right, with £4.50 upwards for the more expensive ones - having a standard percentage mark-up on all plants seemed a bit dodgy when I considered things as some plants come from Tropica at a much higher price than others, it made the more expensive plants very expensive to the consumer!

 

[lisa_perry75]

How come some places can sell tropica plants much cheaper than others? The LFS I worked in had them all in pots at £2.50 each yet the quality was a bit rubbish tbh... Does tropica sell different quality types?