# Aquadise on ebay = con artist



## bartak (Feb 18, 2007)

I'm not normally one to speak poorly of others but this has really gotten my feathers ruffled. I ordered plants from aquadise on ebay, apparently this person is also an active member on this forum. So I placed my order on Feb 2 and did not receive the plants till Feb 20. all plants were dead except some java moss and what was suppose to be Echinodorus tenellus. now this is enough to deserve some negitive feedback but here's the kicker. It turns out the tenellus was actually mondo grass. I can't believe they're trying to pass that off on unsuspecting ebayers. I complained and got a refund but there was no response to my emails, they just credited my paypal account. Also the plants were very small, hardly worth the money even if they would have been alive.
Just wanted to give people a warning to stay far away from this seller. 

on a better note I just received an order from aquariumplants.com and was absolutely amazed by quality and size of the plants I put them in my tank last night and today they are all pearling like crazy.


----------



## Boz (Jan 8, 2007)

Wow, thanks for the head's up! I was just about to place an order with them. I hope for their sake that this is a one time "mess up" and that it's not the norm for their business. I'm glad they had the integrity to refund your money.


----------



## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

I find it hard to believe that someone would mistake Mondo Grass for Tenellus. They look totally different. In fact I can't understand why anyone that is selling aquatic plants would even have Mondo Grass around.


----------



## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Rex Grigg said:


> I find it hard to believe that someone would mistake Mondo Grass for Tenellus. They look totally different. In fact I can't understand why anyone that is selling aquatic plants would even have Mondo Grass around.


Thats exactly what came to mind for me while reading it as well.

Thats why I tend to always prefer buying from a fellow member or buy the plant at a LFS where I PICK it out, opposed to having some Ebay person ship me it.

At least you got your money back!
-Andrew


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

uhumm. petSmart sells mondo grass.


----------



## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

mistergreen: I know they do. But IMHO they don't count. 90% of their stock is non-aquatic. 

Maybe if we all wrote letters to them they would stop the practice but I doubt it.


----------



## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Rex Grigg said:


> mistergreen: 90% of their stock is non-aquatic.


That's not fair. My petsmart has mostly aquatics including some nice plants at good prices. Yeah they have some terrestrial crap too, but not 90%, more like 25% crap. :hihi:

I ordered from aquadise. Took 16 days and they shipped me 10 3" stubs when it was supposed to be 10+ stems of alternathea. Oh yeah, and they weren't shipped in moist paper or anything so most died. I have a few that survived that I am nursing back to health. Would NEVER buy from again.


----------



## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

Mac, you are the exception, not the rule....
Every Petsmart I have been to sells crapola bog plants as aquatuc, and many people buy them only to have to remove their rotting corpses later...lol

I got some great reds from Aquadise way back when on the SNS area of this forum with no problems. Sad to see it go south when I was so pleased back then.


----------



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

My local Petsmart used to have a few small tanks with a nice selection of plants for sale, and they were all aquatic plants. This was about 5 to 7 years ago, at most. But, now they have a lot of plastic tubes, each with what appears to be a terrestrial plant in them, all sitting on a shelf for sale as aquatic plants. I was there yesterday, wanting them to post a flyer about my new Sacramento Aquatic Plant Society, so I didn't complain - yes, I'm chicken!


----------



## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

Hmmm Aquadise lives about 15mins from me and I have ordered from him recently. 

He does not allow pick-up and the reason I think that is so is because he sources from someone else and just collects money like some internet business. 

I got my plants in perfect shape though a bit later then I would have expected. The guy is only 15mins away but I didn't get the plants till a week later and his reply to my email was that he was out of stock on a plant I ordered so he waited till he got it all. 

Another thing is I ordered Limnophila Aromatica and it came in emersed form and when I asked him about it he didn't know what I was talking about and says that everything is grown submersed. 

All in all though the plants were stupid cheap and free shipping.


----------



## Color Me Blue (Nov 10, 2005)

About a year ago, I ordered from him and his plants were GREAT!! So last month I decided to buy some again. Totally different experience!! Most of the plants were in emersed form and I was not expecting this(as it is not advertised on his eBay auctions). They were stupid cheap and free shipping though(as eklikewhoa stated above) and most of the plants are doing really well growing into their submersed form. For me, he packed them really well, but he should really declare that the plants you are receiving are either in emersed or submersed form.


----------



## ganjero (Aug 4, 2005)

yep, this seller post nice pictures etc but the plants arrive dead or they send the wrong ones, I will never order from them again


----------



## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

I dunno if I would call him a con artist. I ordered from him and altho the order was messed up he refunded the whole cost. I offered to pay for the parts that wern't messed up and he would not take my money. 
I've been watching his auctions for a while and I don't recall him offering tenellus. But he dose have some stuff that is pictured and obviously mondo grass. 
Not to mention his auctions are dirt cheap. I mean what did he get you for 3 bucks? He sells his plants thru Ebay for cheaper then most people here offer RAOK's.



eklikewhoa said:


> Another thing is I ordered Limnophila Aromatica and it came in emersed form and when I asked him about it he didn't know what I was talking about and says that everything is grown submersed.


He accidentally sent me some. it was submersed. Its been growing back well in my tank. I will toss some in with that drop checker. no extra. but I also make no promises how shipping will fare on them. they seem like somewhat delicate plants so I'm not suprised shipping on them is rough.


----------



## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

Blacksunshine said:


> I dunno if I would call him a con artist. I ordered from him and altho the order was messed up he refunded the whole cost. I offered to pay for the parts that wern't messed up and he would not take my money.
> I've been watching his auctions for a while and I don't recall him offering tenellus. But he dose have some stuff that is pictured and obviously mondo grass.
> Not to mention his auctions are dirt cheap. I mean what did he get you for 3 bucks? He sells his plants thru Ebay for cheaper then most people here offer RAOK's.
> 
> ...




Huh?

What drop checker? I got the emersed form but like the $0.69 bunches sold at the asian market they converted to submersed form and doing super good! Maybe you have me mixed up with someone else but if you want to send me a drop checker and free plants I will gladly pm you my address or even post it here for anyone else that wants to send me free stuff....:biggrin:


----------



## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

Hahahah Yeah I did get you mixed up. haha I'm sending stuff to another member who also has some zebra plecs as their avatar. I totally thought you were him and didnt even notice the dif name.


----------



## Mr.ThomasWalls (Feb 11, 2007)

FWIW I think he is a con artist too. He send me plants that were not aquatic and were crushed. I ordered ludwigia inclinata and got a who knows what that was spotted with brown patches and looked nothing like the picture posted. I got a refund,but it was in a keep quite kinda way.<--Me keep quite yah when pigs fly.:hihi: I will never buy from and suggest you do not eather.


----------



## argblarg (Aug 7, 2006)

I bought a big plant package from him last year, it was my first plant buying experience. Everything arrived perfect, he even threw in some extras and was quick to answer my questions. 

It seems like he hasn't posted here in a long time, maybe this isn't even the same person. If you search here for posts containing his name it is mostly people complaining. Everyone should probably search for vendors before buying anyway as some sort of feedback system.


----------



## bartak (Feb 18, 2007)

Blacksunshine said:


> I dunno if I would call him a con artist. I ordered from him and altho the order was messed up he refunded the whole cost. I offered to pay for the parts that wern't messed up and he would not take my money.
> I've been watching his auctions for a while and I don't recall him offering tenellus. But he dose have some stuff that is pictured and obviously mondo grass.


Here is a link to what I ordered
eBay: LIVE AQUARIUM FISH AQUATIC PLANTS ECHINO TENELLUS L084 (item 110093988368 end time Mar-20-07 21:44:23 PDT)

Here is a photo of what I received









That is not an honest mistake. but the mondo grass is doing well in a pot on my windowsill


----------



## frozenbarb (Dec 16, 2006)

yea the plants seem to cheap to be good, 5 plants for 3.00 and free shipping? its like he buys a swimmin pool and throw plants in therer wait for it to grow and then start selling it in a pool of mess


----------



## confuted (Jan 31, 2007)

bartak said:


> Here is a link to what I ordered
> eBay: LIVE AQUARIUM FISH AQUATIC PLANTS ECHINO TENELLUS L084 (item 110093988368 end time Mar-20-07 21:44:23 PDT)


I got swindled the same way, only on something he claimed to be 'Ophiopoton pusillus' (made up name). I liked it because it was blue in the picture, which seemed unusual. Also, he had it marked as extremely rare:
 LIVE AQUARIUM FISH AQUATIC PLANTS OPHIO PUSILLUS B101
Needless to say, it was mondo grass, and I threw it away.

I also ordered some hair grass and java moss. I think the hair grass was grown emersed; most of it arrived brown and dead, and the rest of it quickly turned brown under water. It has finally recovered and I have a few small clumps of green growth ... a month and a half later. The java moss arrived mostly dead as well. I attached it to two pieces of driftwood; it died completely on one, and is just starting to show some new growth (light green on a background of nasty) on the other piece. Compared to the java moss I got from a seller here, aquadise had garbage - cost more too, as I paid shipping on the moss. The packaging was decent though; plants were wrapped in a wet paper towel placed in a paper bag in a box.


----------



## frozenbarb (Dec 16, 2006)

damn everyone who got the mondo grass and doesnt want it ill take it


----------



## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

I saw that blue plant too but I steered away from it cause nothing gets that good.....


----------



## Mr.ThomasWalls (Feb 11, 2007)

It seems very clear that this seller has no class and should not be selling plant he can't even identify. Just my take on it.


----------



## Blitzhill (Oct 25, 2006)

My experience was different. I was skeptical with the low prices and free shipping, but the plants I ordered off of Aquadise's ebay store arrived fully alive and I got about twice as much as was said in the description.


----------



## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Actually Ophiopogon pusillus is a valid species name. Quite common, along with Ophiopogon japonica.


----------



## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

http://i9.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/8c/b9/8475_1_b.JPG

Does this picture look familiar to anyone else?  He calls it his "Sanctuary" package. I wonder if the owner of this picture gave permission for its use. As a matter of fact, I see several photos in his listings that I recognize.


----------



## Mr.ThomasWalls (Feb 11, 2007)

Overfloater said:


> http://i9.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/8c/b9/8475_1_b.JPG
> 
> Does this picture look familiar to anyone else?  He calls it his "Sanctuary" package. I wonder if the owner of this picture gave permission for its use. As a matter of fact, I see several photos in his listings that I recognize.


That is a valid question. Is there any way to find the answer?


----------



## riverrat (Jul 14, 2005)

Yes I recognize the tank. AGA award winner a couple years ago or so. I think maybe a Gomez tank? 

Aquadise use to go by a different name in this and another forum. I am sure someone remembers. Ocean...something rings a bell. I think he was verbally reprimanded before about using others photos without permission.

I ordered some plants from him a year ago and got what I paid for. It's a shame that doesn't seem to be the case these days.


riverrat


----------



## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Has any of you contacted eBay about what you deem to be fraudulent transactions?

As an outside observer it seems to me your energies would be put to better use seeking some sort of eBay sanction against this seller than just talking about it here at this point.

There is power in numbers. Organize yourselves and adress the situation with eBay once and for all!


----------



## Mr.ThomasWalls (Feb 11, 2007)

Good idea all those who have been cheated by this guy chime up

I am one:help:


----------



## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

OceanAqua was his previous name....
I received a good plant package from him a year ago. Since the summer I've seen more and more complaints about him.....prior to that it was just his use of unauthorized pics on his auctions.

I agree with Momotaro, you should look into whatever avenues in ebay/aquabid there are available.


----------



## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

Has anyone contaced the person or made attempts to?



From what I got he is a small business trying to make it big so someone like that wouldn't purposely drag his name through the dirt.....


----------



## Burks (May 21, 2006)

Momotaro said:


> As an outside observer it seems to me your energies would be put to better use seeking some sort of eBay sanction against this seller than just talking about it here at this point.


Talking about it in the open forum is a good thing though. It lets people, who has been previously ripped off, know they aren't the only ones and they will come forward.


----------



## Buckeye_Robert (Jul 29, 2005)

I thought I was buying Subwassertang but he sent me pellia as subwassertang instead.
we know how that one turn out and bit me in the A##.


----------



## IceH2O (Sep 29, 2006)

I had the same problem with this person at APC. Don't bother with them in fact run from his name.

Mine was a trade not a buy but he got mine in great shape while his wasn't what I asked for and wasn't in good shape. Never paid me for shipping or tried to make right with new plants. Got tired of emailing him with no response.


----------



## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

> you should look into whatever avenues in ebay/aquabid there are available.


That was my exact intention when I first posted in this thread.



> Talking about it in the open forum is a good thing though. It lets people, who has been previously ripped off, know they aren't the only ones and they will come forward.


Sure! A bunch of you have come forward. Now what? I could understand if you all started to exchange email addresses and compile all the details about the dis-satisfactory transactions you have had to build a case against this person with eBay. To simple come forth and complain just creates a list of flames, a thread people grow tired of really quickly and accomplishes nothing.

Turn your disappointment and feelings of transgression into action! roud: 

Mike


----------



## Burks (May 21, 2006)

Momotaro said:


> Turn your disappointment and feelings of transgression into action! roud:
> 
> Mike


Very true.


How do he ship the plants? With free shipping it can't be anything more than a padded envelope.


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Burks said:


> Very true.
> 
> 
> How do he ship the plants? With free shipping it can't be anything more than a padded envelope.



That's what it is.

But with plants, everyone should know to upgrade to Priority mail. I got some plants from him this past week via Priority mail. Everything came fine and looked good.


----------



## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

I got my plants from him in a nice big box very well packed.


----------



## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

bartak said:


> Here is a link to what I ordered
> eBay: LIVE AQUARIUM FISH AQUATIC PLANTS ECHINO TENELLUS L084 (item 110093988368 end time Mar-20-07 21:44:23 PDT)
> 
> Here is a photo of what I received
> ...


I understand that you got sent the wrong thing. and that the auction cost you a whole 3 dollars. Considering he also sells that plant, it was a mix up. I don't think he intentionally "conned" you. Did you opt for the free shipping? and you live in Il? Isn't it freezing ass cold there right now? maybe you should have upgraded to priority and added a heat pack. 
As to the dead plants have you attempted to contact him and make him aware of the issue? or was this your first stop?
I also ordered from him and got some wrong plants. He was prompt to refund the whole cost of my order. Thats why I have a hard time calling him a "Con Artist" as you are calling him.

I also noticed that most of the people that give him poor feedback are idiots that opted for free ship and live in cold areas or had no idea of what shipping plants consist of. Most of his bad feedbacks are from idiots that simply expect too much for free. 




Burks said:


> Very true.
> 
> 
> How do he ship the plants? With free shipping it can't be anything more than a padded envelope.


Thats exactly how he shipps for free. and the postage on that costs him about 1.39. (price on my packages) I don't know what people are expecting as far as packaging goes when your not paying for it. Or how the plants getting damaged thru shipping is his fault. For us warm weather stat people this shipping works well enough. for you cold weather ppl. upgrade your shipping. -Duh. 

As for wrong items getting shipped. Contact him. I'm sure he will refund. 

BTW the quality his plants are is actually pretty damn good compared to alot of ebay sellers that charge more. And all seem to come from VERY clean tanks as there are no hitch hikers. Take that for what its worth. I've delt with much worse sellers on the bay.


----------



## Mr.ThomasWalls (Feb 11, 2007)

I wanted to plug that I did get a FULL refund for the shipment I got from him.
That being said I think con-artist is a bit harsh. He should charge the 2-3 extra dollars per order so shipping poorly is not a issue. That and perhaps making sure he sends out the correct plants folks order. That's just my take on it. IME anyone who is trying to con money out of you will NEVER refund it. This seller did refund my money,and has said he will reship the correct plants for free. While I couldn't care less about $10 the gesture was a nice one.


----------



## bartak (Feb 18, 2007)

Let me clear up a few things. This is especially for blacksunshine and momotaro. 

The reason I posted this thread was 1, to let people like myself who are looking to this forum for help and useful information about starting and keeping a planted aquarium a warning that aquadise may not be the right place to purchase plants. And 2, in hopes that aquadise will see this post and perhaps make an effort to do things a little differently. My intentions are not and never were to put this person out of business or get them kicked off of ebay. 




Blacksunshine said:


> I understand that you got sent the wrong thing. and that the auction cost you a whole 3 dollars. Considering he also sells that plant, it was a mix up. I don't think he intentionally "conned" you. Did you opt for the free shipping? and you live in Il? Isn't it freezing ass cold there right now? maybe you should have upgraded to priority and added a heat pack.
> As to the dead plants have you attempted to contact him and make him aware of the issue? or was this your first stop?
> I also ordered from him and got some wrong plants. He was prompt to refund the whole cost of my order. Thats why I have a hard time calling him a "Con Artist" as you are calling him.


I cant imagine any one mistakingly mixing up mondo and tenellus. Perhaps I'm wrong but I doubt it. They have given more than one person the bait and switch and that's a con artist in my book. Sure if you if you call them on it they will give you your money back, they're just banking on the fact that the the average Joe ebayer won't notice.

As far as the shipping goes, they just recently changed there shipping policy when I purchased my plants priority shipping was free. And they didn't offer anything else. Everything was well packaged and a heat pack was included. why it took 19 days no one will ever know, but the dead plants are not really my gripe. 



> I also noticed that most of the people that give him poor feedback are idiots that opted for free ship and live in cold areas or had no idea of what shipping plants consist of. Most of his bad feedbacks are from idiots that simply expect too much for free.


 I agree to a point but It's ridiculous to say that just because something is free or inexpensive that It's ok if the quality and/or service is less than 100%. Think about this. I ordered plants from aquariumplants.com and received 20 + stems of Rotala rotundifolia for $1.99 you get 5+ from aquadise for $2.99 Is this really free shipping? they're just adding the shipping into the price. 

This is just my opinion like it of not. This thread is not here to give people a place to bash aquadise, but to provide people with some information and let them form there own opinions. hopefully this information will do some good. Thats all I have to say on this matter. I'm now going to focus my efforts on something much more important, My beautiful planted tank.


----------



## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

bartak- Don't get me wrong. I understand where you're comming from. I'm thinking that the issue with him is he has bitten off more then he can chew. It would seem that because of his great prices that he has put himself in a high demand position. I'm not trying to defend him in the respect to the fact that he does need to get his **** in order and put some quality assurance in place to make sure the right number of plants and the right plants are going out. 

As to if he is banking on not getting called out. I don't know there either. In my mind if he were called out and trying to maximize profits he would have only refunded me the part of the order that was incorrect. But he refunded me everything. even the parts I had no complaints about. To me that is his acknolagement that there are issues and he is willing to work on them to some degree. 

As for the aquarium plants vs him. Sure pay a buck less upfront but the cheapest shipping option is an additional 8 bucks and has no gaurentees. (the pulldown menus words it with the expectation that your plants will arrive dead.) = 10 bucks for an order of rotala
Word it how ya like 2.99 with free shipping or 1.50 with 1.50 shipping. Either way he is really the cheapest place to get single order plants from. And he does carry some less common stuff for cheap. = 3 bucks for the same plant.

Don't think that I intended to disarm your warning. I aggree that ordering from him needs to be done with care and understanding of potential problems. 
But I just think the term con artist was a tad harsh. considering he is pretty good about working with you if the order is messed up.




eklikewhoa said:


> Has anyone contaced the person or made attempts to?
> 
> From what I got he is a small business trying to make it big so someone like that wouldn't purposely drag his name through the dirt.....


Yes I've delt with him on my own problematic order. He was fairly quick to respond and issued a complete refund. Tho I was highly irritated with the way the initial order went, I was very pleased with his customer service. I just wish I had been able to get the plant I originally was after since its semi rare.


----------



## Alexplosive (Mar 24, 2006)

I had a negative experience buying plants from ebay too so I think I'll just stick to buying from forum members instead. I purchased some plants from someone by the name of "*aquatic6414*" on Ebay. She sent me some plants that arrived completely dead and blackened. Before I placed the order, she was quick to answer questions but when the plants arrived dead and I tried contacting her, she wouldnt respond at all. Completely ignored all my emails. Finally I had to use Paypal "buyer protection" to get my refund.


----------



## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

*Fanning the flames?*



Mr.ThomasWalls said:


> That being said I think con-artist is a bit harsh..... IME anyone who is trying to con money out of you will NEVER refund it. .....This seller did refund my money,and has said he will reship the correct plants for free.


Far cry from what you wrote in your first post in this thread:



Mr.ThomasWalls said:


> *FWIW I think he is a con artist too.* He send me plants that were not aquatic and were crushed. I ordered ludwigia inclinata and got a who knows what that was spotted with brown patches and looked nothing like the picture posted. I got a refund,but it was in a keep quite kinda way.<--Me keep quite yah when pigs fly. I will never buy from and suggest you do not eather


or this one:



Mr.ThomasWalls said:


> It seems very clear that this seller has no class and should not be selling plant he can't even identify. Just my take on it.


How can you jump into a thread, all kinds of derogatory things and just take non-chalantly recant everything?

Holy crow. I need a Tylenol.



> Let me clear up a few things. This is especially for blacksunshine and momotaro.
> 
> The reason I posted this thread was 1, to let people like myself who are looking to this forum for help and useful information about starting and keeping a planted aquarium a warning that aquadise may not be the right place to purchase plants. And 2, in hopes that aquadise will see this post and perhaps make an effort to do things a little differently. My intentions are not and never were to put this person out of business or get them kicked off of ebay.


bartak, I do understand your intentions. It was my intention to try and take this thread and steer it into a direction that would be slightly productive. These threads always start of with the best of intentions, however inevitably turn into "rant-fests" (there is another word I'd have liked to have used :icon_wink ) with no conclusion other than a group pile-up and a lock down. That is something I think you should take into consideration next time you find yourself ready to submit something like this to the forum. You were very clear in directing me about your intentions, and I believe you 100%. The only thing is, some don't share your same good intentions. No harm or bad feelings! Trying to direct this into something more positive than a gripe session was my way of trying to keep the thread afloat and on a positive note.

This is


----------



## Mr.ThomasWalls (Feb 11, 2007)

I think you misunderstood my words or a wrote them wrong. I was only trying to state that I was refunded after bashing and e-mailing said person. 
I just think con-man is criminal is nature. Crooks don't give money back. I am still not a happy customer,and will never order from again.


----------



## chaznsc (May 1, 2006)

bartak said:


> I'm not normally one to speak poorly of others but this has really gotten my feathers ruffled. I ordered plants from aquadise on ebay, apparently this person is also an active member on this forum. So I placed my order on Feb 2 and did not receive the plants till Feb 20. all plants were dead except some java moss and what was suppose to be Echinodorus tenellus. now this is enough to deserve some negitive feedback but here's the kicker. It turns out the tenellus was actually mondo grass. I can't believe they're trying to pass that off on unsuspecting ebayers. I complained and got a refund but there was no response to my emails, they just credited my paypal account. Also the plants were very small, hardly worth the money even if they would have been alive.
> Just wanted to give people a warning to stay far away from this seller.
> 
> on a better note I just received an order from aquariumplants.com and was absolutely amazed by quality and size of the plants I put them in my tank last night and today they are all pearling like crazy.


Anyone with a 97% pos rating on ebay should be avoided like double pnumonia.


----------



## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

fresh_lynny said:


> Mac, you are the exception, not the rule....
> Every Petsmart I have been to sells crapola bog plants as aquatuc, and many people buy them only to have to remove their rotting corpses later...lol
> 
> I got some great reds from Aquadise way back when on the SNS area of this forum with no problems. Sad to see it go south when I was so pleased back then.


I hate to say it, but if they sold real aquatic plants those same people who buy the bog stuff would still end up pulling a dead load of plants out of their tank-- just a little bit sooner . . . :icon_lol: 

If petsmart were to really jump into real aquatic plants, I think they might have to jump into educating people about planted aquariums too (oh no!). :hihi:


----------



## Chrona (Feb 25, 2007)

Meh, here's my experience with Aquadise. Take it how you want. I ordered a rhizome of Anubias nana, and was shipped (placed order Friday, shipped Tuesday, arrived Friday) an Anubias Afzelii. Ok....at least the anubias part was right. Probably an honest mistake . I contact him and he tells me he'll replace it free of charge. Next Friday, I recieve ANOTHER Anubias afzelii (completely frozen too, but I took the chance with free shipping, so it's not his fault). I contact him again, and the following Friday, TWO large (7+ leaves) rhizomes of Anubias nana arrive in perfect condition. All in all, the process took forever, but I ended up with 3 great plants for 4 bucks. I'm a fairly patient person, and I like good deals. In my opinion, his willingness to work out mistakes more than makes up for his apparent inability to tell plants apart.


----------



## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

what I find interesting/perplexing is that the person formerly known as Oceanaqua was pretty up on aquarium plants. The fact that he has mondo grass suggests to me that he is getting plants from a distributor. And the fact that he can't tell mondo grass from tenellus, or one anubius from another suggests to me that he probably has people working for him completely clueless about aquarium plants. If I remember correctly, he was a student as well...maybe even high school? Maybe he has his younger brothers/sisters working for him.

If I were him I'd get rid of the bad labor, no matter how cheap it is


----------



## bartak (Feb 18, 2007)

chaznsc said:


> Anyone with a 97% pos rating on ebay should be avoided like double pnumonia.


It's funny you say that and I completely agree. when I placed my order on Feb1st he only had 2 or maybe 3 negative feedbacks. which is normal for an ebay store. he got those 40 or so negatives just this past month. but it looks likes like he's doing better, hopefully he'll get his act together


----------



## chaznsc (May 1, 2006)

Steven_Chong said:


> I hate to say it, but if they sold real aquatic plants those same people who buy the bog stuff would still end up pulling a dead load of plants out of their tank-- just a little bit sooner . . . :icon_lol:
> 
> If petsmart were to really jump into real aquatic plants, I think they might have to jump into educating people about planted aquariums too (oh no!). :hihi:


This is hitting the nail square on the head. You cannot even find decent lighting in local FS' in my area. I asked the guy at petsmart if they injected co2 into their plant tank and he looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. 

The whole concept of fish keeping is only half seen because without live plants, all you are really doing is keeping some fish in a foriegn environment. Even my local LFS which is great has little in the education of planted tanks.


----------



## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

chaznsc said:


> Anyone with a 97% pos rating on ebay should be avoided like double pneumonia.



Hah, that's so true. :biggrin:


----------



## IceH2O (Sep 29, 2006)

Steven_Chong said:


> If petsmart were to really jump into real aquatic plants, I think they might have to jump into educating people about planted aquariums too (oh no!). :hihi:


too???? 

stupid 10 letter rule


----------



## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

to discourage this seller from con'ing buyers, please help by doing
the following steps which only involves about a dozen mouseclicks;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110093988655
this auction is one of his most blatantly misleading ones.
scroll to the very bottom till you see;
Report this item click this link then select;
Listing Policy Violations
Misleading Title
Intentionally Misleading or Deceptive Title
*Continue* click this link
Email Us just click this link
you will be asked to login to ebaY
then you will get a message screen like;
_To: eBay Customer Support 
From: spypet
Subject: Intentionally misleading or deceptive titles 
Enter the item number(s) that you wish to report:
110093988655_
just hit *Send*

Hopefully if enough people at least target that one listing
ebaY will actually do something about this jerk.


----------



## dennisfermin (Feb 7, 2007)

You get what you pay for!. He takes forever to ship the items that's for sure. I just recently placed a large second order with him on Feb. 27th and still have not recieved it. That was after giving him a second chance because the first order I placed with with him, he apparently forgot to ship out altogether. Wish me luck! I wish I would have seen this thread before I placed my order. What are some of the best places to buy good quality plants? How about from you guys? Is there a store section I missed on this site?


----------



## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

Try here
Best Aquatic Plant source on the internet!


----------



## confuted (Jan 31, 2007)

dennisfermin said:


> How about from you guys? Is there a store section I missed on this site?


Yeah, sorta. Look for the swap and shop board ... people are always buying and selling plants, shrimp and snails there. If you don't like the selection one day, check again the next.

Edit: Ninja'd!


----------



## Hewer_07 (Feb 25, 2007)

i bought a plant before this thread was started, i just got it yesterday, took about two weeks!!! i bought a java fern and ended up getting what looks like a melon sword


----------



## chaznsc (May 1, 2006)

the only way to stop them is to neg them to death, report their listing as SP said, and just plain stop buying. 




spypet said:


> to discourage this seller from con'ing buyers, please help by doing
> the following steps which only involves about a dozen mouseclicks;
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110093988655
> ...


----------



## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

confuted said:


> Edit: Ninja'd!


----------



## windy (Feb 21, 2007)

Perhaps my experience was a fluke compared to the majority of the thread, but I ordered some java fern last month and he sent two plants instead of one as listed. They arrived in perfect condition, completely alive. Normally I just go to my LFS, but after a month of asking they still had no java fern so I spent the 3 dollars with aquadise and am still pleased.


----------



## Vitae (Oct 25, 2006)

Well, I'm going to this guy a shot. I ordered a bit of Dwarf Sag from them.. if it fails then I've only lost about 3$.
I'll let you know what I get.


----------



## frozenbarb (Dec 16, 2006)

i wanna try to buy some alternanthera reinkii on aquadise since its very cheap and only place i could find it, if i buy one plant would you refund it if its is DOA?


----------



## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

Burks said:


> Talking about it in the open forum is a good thing though. It lets people, who has been previously ripped off, know they aren't the only ones and they will come forward.


Just a caution: in the past, folks have been hit with multimillion dollar lawsuits for doing just that, in a case involving an aquatic plant seller.

Make sure you have your umbrella liability insurance policy paid up.


----------



## DKShrimporium (Nov 23, 2004)

*My Experience*

Facts only:

Two of three plants I ordered were not correct when I received them.

Shipment was significantly delayed and no communication to expect this, took several weeks.

At least one of the pictures used to market the plants I KNOW to be stolen, without permission of the person to whom the photograph belongs. (I did not run across this picture until AFTER I had ordered.)

'Nuff said.


----------



## Reefcrack (Oct 19, 2005)

*Good deals with Aquadise*

I am sorry to hear about these bad experiences with Aquadise.
I found him to be top notch. Ordered a dozen different plants from him and received all in good condition. Some were pretty small, but oddly enough, they were the fastest growing plants I have ever had. Hopefully, things will workout for all involved. He has a great guarantee if you need to use it.

Happy plantings!

Jim


----------



## skitterdoodle (Mar 9, 2007)

I ordered a bunch of plants from him (the solar breeze package, dwarf sags, corkscrew vals, an anubias nana and micra umbrosums) on March 6th (a day before discovering this thread!) and received them today (finally). To my disappointment, most of the plants leaves were rotten and had fallen off, even the anubia, which had great leaves, but the stem rotted off of the roots.

I just emailed him asking for a refund on all but the vals and dwarf sags, which don't look great either, but they're acceptable. I didn't ask for replacements because I'm just over it...I waited for 10 days and got a bunch of stems. *sigh*


----------



## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

I ordered from them a few months ago. the only problem(not really a probklem) was the wisteria was emmersed, but it's healthy now. i ordered 40$ worth of stuff from him, and i honestly believe i got about 100$ worth of plants out of it. of course, he doesn't have to ship far for me, but still, i think he probally has a supplier and just is a middleman.

most of the plants in this tank are from him.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/p...parents-tank.html?highlight=gallon+scape+tank


----------



## skitterdoodle (Mar 9, 2007)

I just got a refund on everything, including the plants that were acceptable  I won't be doing business with them again, but I must commend them for their customer service.


----------



## ihooklow (Sep 19, 2006)

I have ordered from him three times - A. reineckii x 2 and Corkscrew Vals. All three times I got way more than expected for $3.00 including shipping. The Corkscrews turned out to be Italian Vals, but that is minor. The shipping does take quite a while (a touch under two weeks to me in SoCal) but I will forgive him that for $3.00.

Everything came a little beat up but I knew that $3.00 would just be an envelope so I expected it. Some things just don't ship well in an envelope.

They did not send clipping of the A. reineckii either. They were rooted and about 5 - 6" long. They even took the time to put foam around the crowns to keep them from getting smashed in the envelope. This was just a few weeks ago.

All in all, I think you get more than you pay for with this seller - Mondo grass not withstanding.

Quick note: Anyone who expects an eBay Seller with 1500+ transactions per month (most of them at $3) to be quick to answer emails has obviously not been around eBay all that long.


----------



## Vitae (Oct 25, 2006)

I got my dwarf sag in today. Almost all the leaves were pretty brown, but after I cut off all the dead I still had a perfectly fine plant! Not bad! I would buy from them again honestly.  Good value.


----------



## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Well It looks like this topic may of helped some people out, and possibly the seller so I'd say you did a good job!

The seller seems to be a good guy, I would be interested in how he gets his plants. You guys mention that he might of been in HS a year or two ago, what if he's in college now and is having his siblings pick out the plants, and/or is using an overseas source?

I always tend to look on the forums before ebay though:hihi: And if Ebay contact the seller beforehand!

-Andrew

PS, It would be interested to get info from the seller... I personally haven't dealt with him, but it seems somethings a bit up. As for using others pictures... Well some of you know how I feel about that:icon_lol: :help:


----------



## yoko (Mar 16, 2007)

Are you guys refering to this seller?

http://myworld.ebay.com/aquadisestore

Man, I was totally going to buy from that seller, too!! I haven't yet, because I'm not ready, but is it true that a lot of you have had bad experiences with this seller??

Anyone know of any Ebay or non-Ebay sellers that are reputable?

I will be needing plants soon. Thank you :0)


----------



## teesherv (Mar 13, 2007)

I have to say that things have gone well when I've worked with Aquadise. I'm even waiting for a new shipment. I do live in an area that never freezes, and I was very specific in my instructions not to substitute any plants for the ones I ordered. My plants all arrived in a reasonable amount of time, and all were the correct ones. One plant arrived dead, but it was replaced with 2 new ones when I brought it to the seller's attention. Now that I've found this forum with Swap and Shop, I'll probably start there for more plants, but if I couldn't find what I want here, I'd go back to Aquadise.


----------



## confuted (Jan 31, 2007)

yoko said:


> Are you guys refering to this seller?
> 
> http://myworld.ebay.com/aquadisestore
> 
> ...


That's the one. Check the swap and shop section on this forum if you need some plants.


----------



## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

so this was my experence for what it's worth:

I paid for my plants on March 15th, I got them on March 23rd. The sellar said he was sending them Priority mail.

This is what I got

the packaging thumbs down



















No paper towel, newspaper to hold the water, nothing to protect the plants

As far as the plants:

Well the LUDWIGIA REPENS had way more then 5 plants but then again there was lots of dead leaves, all in all it was an ok purchuse ( not sure it's the right plant though)









the Java Fern "narrow" was in great shape










thats just my 2 cents


----------



## frozenbarb (Dec 16, 2006)

got to say it wasnt that bad, but usually when i ship i dont use any towels to cover that plants, it makes it more harder and seems easier for plants to get killed... especially in the cold the papers could freezes, as long as there isnt air on the bag the plants should be ok


----------



## Chrona (Feb 25, 2007)

I recieved my plants the same way and it seems to be fine. There was a tad bit of water in the bag, which kept the inside moist enough to prevent the leaves from drying out. It's ironic, because the only time I had plants freeze to death this winter was when they were wrapped in newspapers. Moist air makes a pretty good insulator. Water does not.


----------



## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

mine were in just bags, in a large box. but i had enough plants in each bag that there was no room for shifting or anything. he sent like 3x more than each stem or plant i ordered.


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

I think aquadise sux. He sold me the wrong plants. Not even close to what I had ordered. Beware dont buy from him


----------



## Chrona (Feb 25, 2007)

Orlando said:


> I think aquadise sux. He sold me the wrong plants. Not even close to what I had ordered. Beware dont buy from him


Did you try emailing him? He almost always corrects for his mistakes. Took him 3 tries to get my order of anubias nana right, but 3 weeks from the initial ordering date, I had 2 large anubias afzelli and 2 medium anubias nana for 4 bucks......


----------



## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

I live 15 mins from him and when I recieved the wrong plants after waiting 2wks for delivery(keep in mind his return address is spitting distance from me) I emailed and was told that the correct plants are on the way..... think it has been three months now.


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

His plants come from overseas. 99.9 % of his plants are drop shipped by somebody ellse. He has no stock. man ek 3 months no plants. I think that says it all. The best thing to do is to leave negative feedback so people know the truth. He sux and is a joke. He stole my money and hasnt replied to any of my emails. I do have an address maybe I can send Rocco over to visit


----------

