# Petco plants, please help



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

The "aquatic" ferns in tubes are typically either java fern (which is aquatic) or _Trichomanes javanicum_, which is NOT aquatic. 
_Hygrophila compacta_ and _Cardamine lyrata_ are both fully aquatic.
All _Pilea sp._ are non-aquatic.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

AzFishKid said:


> The "aquatic" ferns in tubes are typically either java fern (which is aquatic) or _Trichomanes javanicum_, which is NOT aquatic.
> _Hygrophila compacta_ and _Cardamine lyrata_ are both fully aquatic.
> All _Pilea sp._ are non-aquatic.


Thank you. I bought the Peacock fern, and people say that it is not aquatic. Then there is this dark purple color fern, and it only says "Aqua fern", not really sure on this one. So I am hesitant to purchase it.


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## nilocg (Jul 12, 2010)

Just purchase the plants here, you will get much nice plants, and normally a better deal.


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

green_valley said:


> I went to petco, and saw those plants in containers. I love the way they look. But I know that I bought some and next thing you know they're not even aquatic plants. So may be some of you guys can help on the following, are these aquatic at all:
> 
> - Cardamine yrata
> - Compacta
> ...


Have you considered buying an aquatic plant id book and taking it with you on a plant buying excursion ?


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

Steve001 said:


> Have you considered buying an aquatic plant id book and taking it with you on a plant buying excursion ?



May not be necessary other than for your own education. Petco does not carry that many plants. You go visit there few times, you pretty much get an idea how many different plants they carry. I only live maybe 10 minutes away from my local Petco. I generally go check them out. If I see any plants I like, I would go back home. Look it up, then, heading back again the next day.


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## D9VIN (Aug 23, 2011)

Warning: do not buy an aquatic plant book, or you will spend the rest of your life tracking down crazy plants to spend way too much money on. Or maybe that's just me.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Yeah that sound like fun, where do you get these books, I've never seen a good one.


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## shinycard255 (Sep 15, 2011)

Every time I've looked at plants at PetCo, they don't look healthy at all. I never look at the ones in the tubes because I don't feel like digging through them all to find what I want and most of them can't be submerged in an aquarium either. The plants that are in the tanks are usually FILLED with algae and I don't really want to deal with that at all. I've never bought plants from them and probably never will.

Look on the SnS. A lot of people sell their plants on there (whether it be trimmings or extras) for a decent price too.


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## Naekuh (Oct 19, 2011)

waaaaaaaaah avoid petco....

lemme tell you my pain im in.


So petco... u figure oh maybe you can gamble and get a decient fish or plant.
So you buy it.

They tell you, oh dont worry, if they die, you can get new ones within a month.

Doesnt sound so bad.... fish die... u return and get new ones.

Well....

The thing u dont assume is what happens in the worst case scenario. 

Well, lemme tell you what happens....

You bring along not only a sick fish, but a biological weapon which can take out your entire tank... ie.. paracites / bacteria..

So that cheap fish you thought... ends up being 3 times the work, and 3 times to cost after you factor in the medicine required to nuke your tank.


so yeah.. im currently in my fallout stage with fish after a bio nuke that tagg'd along on HC on Lava rock from petco and a few other fish.


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

I found that petsmart, at least the one near my house, had some pretty cool plants kept in decent shape, like Telanthera roseafolia, criniums, hornwort, cabomba, spiral vals, ludwigia, etc. All for good prices too. As of lately though, they got new employees and the plants are just covered in nasty hair algae and in tattered pieces.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

Naekuh said:


> waaaaaaaaah avoid petco....
> 
> lemme tell you my pain im in.
> 
> ...


It depends which petco you shop. My local one has a very experienced fish person. I got all of my fish there. So far so good. Their plant tank was OK. The tank is underlight and probably low on nutrients. I usually pick up few plants there only when they have new shipments. Most of their plant stocks won't survive for more than a week.


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## hakishimiei (Oct 13, 2011)

i bought mine in petsmart so far everything is doing good.. no algae no parasites.. its been 3 weeks now..
it just depends where you are and the people that work there

i bought one thats in one of those tubes they sell thats not in the water it didnt die yet and ive had my tank for 2 months and move them constantly looking for a good place to put it.
and before i have like probably 3 of them now i break them down and now i have 7 or 8 of them and theyre still growing hahahahaha

so go check those place and if you dont like what you see then dont buy from them


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## D9VIN (Aug 23, 2011)

Anything you put in your tank is a gamble really, right down to your hand. 

Sometimes you can find books on aquabid, other than that just scour the Internet. Most of them can't be found for really cheap, they don't do a whole lot of printings usually. The one book I would recommend above all others is Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad. It isn't a species book, but man is it informative.


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## Rich Conley (Jun 10, 2008)

tetra73 said:


> It depends which petco you shop. My local one has a very experienced fish person. I got all of my fish there. So far so good. Their plant tank was OK. The tank is underlight and probably low on nutrients. I usually pick up few plants there only when they have new shipments. Most of their plant stocks won't survive for more than a week.


 
This.


There's a petco/petsmart where I used to live that had better plants/reef stuff than most of the good LFS around. Its all about who is managing that particular store. 


There's one about 5 miles away from that, and its terrible.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

I have to say when I got into this hobby last October I would buy all my plants form Petco, before I knew about this and other forums. All of the plants I bought were good and I never had a problem. So I do not know how some are saying they are not aquatic when all of them grew in my tank without CO2 and lasted a long time. I do not shop their anymore because I like the plants that are sold here a lot more. That is my 2 cents.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

In my experience, really it's a matter of how you look at the plants at petco. There are some nice and great plants. I have some from them and they grow perfectly fine and have not had any problem. At the same time, i bought some from forum, and they die the next day. So it really hit and miss sometimes. I have seen some petco that are really really dirty and full of algae and there are some very clean and nice. If I were to get them, i would go on Thursday, when they got new shipment.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

green_valley said:


> In my experience, really it's a matter of how you look at the plants at petco. There are some nice and great plants. I have some from them and they grow perfectly fine and have not had any problem. At the same time, i bought some from forum, and they die the next day. So it really hit and miss sometimes. I have seen some petco that are really really dirty and full of algae and there are some very clean and nice. If I were to get them, i would go on Thursday, when they got new shipment.


I agree and I have had the same experience with forum plants as well.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

green_valley said:


> In my experience, really it's a matter of how you look at the plants at petco. There are some nice and great plants. I have some from them and they grow perfectly fine and have not had any problem. At the same time, i bought some from forum, and they die the next day. So it really hit and miss sometimes. I have seen some petco that are really really dirty and full of algae and there are some very clean and nice. If I were to get them, i would go on Thursday, when they got new shipment.



It is always better to purchase plants locally because it can reduce your acclimation period, and less stress for the plants. Same with fish too. If you can't them locally, you have to order them online. Then, you have to take some risk. With USPS shipping speed goes lately, some shipment may not arrive until 3 to 4 days later.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

tetra73 said:


> It is always better to purchase plants locally because it can reduce your acclimation period, and less stress for the plants. Same with fish too. If you can't them locally, you have to order them online. Then, you have to take some risk. With USPS shipping speed goes lately, some shipment may not arrive until 3 to 4 days later.


I really wouldn't say one is better than the other. I got some plants shipped from New York, and they've been growing for months. I know that there are a lot of sellers here, and they have some of the nicest plants you will never find at petco. So, yeah, it really hits and miss sometimes. In the end, it's your own preference and choice.


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