USA folks: where you do get your plants online?

[mcordelia]

so even my awesome LFS's selection of plants is tiny, underwhelming and expensive, so I'm thinking I might be better off trying my hand at ordering plants online. That being said, I should probably order ASAP, because winter is coming....

I've found a couple of websites, and I wonder what your guys' thoughts are on these/have you ever used them:

liveaquaria.com -> I know they are a trusted name in livestock, so presumably their plants would be fine, but holy hell shipping prices!!! ($30 unless you buy >$150 worth of stuff!!)
https://www.modernaquarium.com/live-aquarium-plants/plant-packages/ -> the reviews seem good, the "bundle" prices seem reasonable, and free shipping over $50
https://aquariumplants.com/plant-assortments/ -> seems more expensive, but flat rate shipping at $10. Also portray themselves as the longest history in the industry, whatever that means lol
https://www.wetplants.com/collections/package-deals -> seems like a tiny company that is doing some nice black friday sales right now. "$11 average shipping" whatever that means lol

Have any of you used any of these sites? Do you have a favorite site not listed? Any other experiences ordering plants online? Thanks!!!

 

[Crispii]

Got good experiences from ordering PlantsFactory on eBay.

 

[Herpin Man]

I've ordered from a few, including live aquaria and modern aquarium. Both have worked out fine for me.

 

[mcordelia]

Awesome! Thanks to both of you for your thoughts. I'm thinking of testing out one of the "plant packs" from modern aquarium since it'll get me free shipping and saves me from having to understand anything about what I'm ordering I'm off to a great start....

 

[corylover5]

I'm thinking of testing out one of the "plant packs" from modern aquarium since it'll get me free shipping and saves me from having to understand anything about what I'm ordering

If you need advice on plants or info about any you can ask on here and many people will be able to help you out Good luck!

 

[mcordelia]

Yes, without a doubt, thank you! My brain is so full of new fish info that I think for the time being my plant hobby is going to have to be along the lines of "throw the spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks". Maybe one day once I figure the fish part out I'll have more bandwidth for learning about plants, but hopefully if I order a variety pack something will still be alive after a couple of months haha. I'm also planning on ordering hornwort and java moss, since I hear those are good beginner options

 

[mcordelia]

totally forgot to order the hornwort and java moss since I got so excited that my 18 plant pack was also on a black friday deal I ended up going with modern aquarium (though, @Crispii I went and did a full price comparison with APF trying to package out myself 18 plants with their "buy two get one" deal, and it almost came out to be the same, but the modern aquarium deal gets me 18 plants plus a pack of flourish root tabs for $61 and free shipping, so at least on the level of price it was enticing). I guess I'll find out later this week if I ended up with a bunch of copies of the same plants, or what my 18 pack actually looks like! only thing I can say is IM SUPER EXCITED!!!

 

[eatyourpeas]

I have ordered from Modern Aquarium and their plants are nice and healthy. However, some Montecarlo I got had been treated with pesticides and caused a major disaster that killed my Amano and RCS. My fault because I did not properly quarantine them, so make sure you do the proper treatment to clear any pesticides. They are vey nice people and I still buy from them.

Also, Buce Plant has nice tissue cultures.

 

[mcordelia]

Oh, awesome, thanks! I looked at buce plant tonight too, but then concluded that NY was closer to me than CA, despite the snowstorm we are currently having....

Also thanks for highlighting the importance of quarantining plants as well

 

[FishBR]

I ordered all my plants from Buce Plant https://buceplant.com/ and was very impressed with quality. Their website is also very well designed with lots of info.

 

[Stan510]

I had ordered Trident ferns from Jacob..and they came very small and in poor condition. It took months to get them look good. THEN, they died when I added hydrogen peroxide last year-my fault. Ok,so months later I order again figuring for $3 what can you expect? Again small,puny barely alive Trident ferns came. The catch this time? As they regrow,they might be longer narrow leaf Java fern,not trident..no lobed leaves so far.
He has sales,and many things at regular price are less than his competitors...but just be ready for some small not-in-show-conditions- plants.
There is a Reddit post about a $41 order from him and like 2 stems of this and 3 of that. Like I said,he does sell low..so up to you to make the adult decision-lol.
I order...all over. Aquarium plants factory is ok. No complains.
My complaints are the many YouTube fish channel who show off "typical order"..from whoever AND those are huge plants!..lush bundles..and get this "So,Dustin tossed in for free, this gorgeous Buce"..Well,nobody ever tossed in a thing extra for me. Not one...to that!
Hey my emojis...not showing.

 

[mcordelia]

Thanks for the feedback! that is good to know.

I put in my order for modern aquarium on Monday. According to their website it should have shipped today but I am going to take a wild guess that they might have gotten an order or two during their sales I'll see if I get a shipping notification in the next day or so, otherwise it's probably a safe bet to not expect them until next week. OTOH, I had to run to home depot today to buy a board of plywood to go under the tank since the top of my "stand" flexes too much (it can hold the weight, it's just not happy with how I'm trying to position the tank on it), so I'm not all that unhappy about the extra time

 

[eatyourpeas]

totally forgot to order the hornwort and java moss since I got so excited that my 18 plant pack was also on a black friday deal I ended up going with modern aquarium (though, @Crispii I went and did a full price comparison with APF trying to package out myself 18 plants with their "buy two get one" deal, and it almost came out to be the same, but the modern aquarium deal gets me 18 plants plus a pack of flourish root tabs for $61 and free shipping, so at least on the level of price it was enticing). I guess I'll find out later this week if I ended up with a bunch of copies of the same plants, or what my 18 pack actually looks like! only thing I can say is IM SUPER EXCITED!!!

Did you get them? I am very curious about their packages...

 

[mcordelia]

haha, I think you and I hit send at the same time still waiting, will update as soon as I hear something!

 

[Stan510]

you might MCordia place a styrofoam board under it also. Especially if its a glass aquarium over 55 gallons. I find that 30 gallon and under glass tanks almost never spring a leak...but all I ever hear about large glass tanks is "it leaked" after weeks,months,18 years later. Large acrylic? leakless for decades. I was even told that if my 40 year old 240 ever did leak? They are easy to fix. Nice to think so.