Where to buy aquarium plants - The Great Seller List

[Art]

As a public service, why don't we start a list of quality retailers where hobbyists can purchase aquarium plants? This should help all of us when we need to go plant hunting.

I will update this first post with the current list of retailers that are recommended in the thread. I will list the number of upvotes next to each.

Please reply to this thread with your recommended aquarium plant seller BUT please see the rules below first.

Rules:

• You can only recommend a retailer that YOU have purchased from.
• Retailers cannot recommend themselves.
• Silence is golden. If you had a bad experience with a retailer, please do not post here. Let's keep this thread positive and helpful. The quality retailers will bubble up to the top.
• If the retailer you want to recommend has already been recommended, simply upvotethe post that is recommending them.
  • To upvote, simply click on the up arrow to the right of the post as shown in this picture
  • 
• You can recommend from any country and I will list on the list. Just make sure you note what country they ship to.

The Great Aquarium Plant Seller List​

1. Aquarium Plants Factory (USA) - 4 votes​
2. Aquarium Co-Op (USA) - 1 vote​
3. Aquariums West (Canada) - 1 vote​
4. Tails and Scales (Canada) - 1 vote​
5. Angelfins (Canada) - 2 votes​
6. AquascapeRoom (Canada) - 2 votes​
7. ABC Plants (Canada) - 1 vote​
8. The Plant Guy (Canada) - 2 vote2​
9. Green Leaf Aquariums (USA) - 2 votes​
10. Buceplant (USA) - 4 votes​
11. Aquarzon (Australia) - 1 vote​
12. The Wet Leaf (Canada) - 1 vote​
13. Sousleau Aquarium (Canada) - 1 vote​
14. Aquariumplants.com (USA) - 1 vote​
15. Aqua Forest Aquarium (USA) - 1 vote​
16. BuyPetShrimp.com (USA) - 1 vote​
17. PremiumBuces (Spain) - 1 vote​
18. Aquasabi (Germany) - 1 vote​
19. Olivetti (Italy) - 1 vote​

 

[Grobro]

I shop at Aquaforest Aquarium for ADA tissue cultures. Aqua Forest Aquarium They are my home store, so I try to support them as much as possible.

I really like BUYPETSHRIMP.COM for buceps and moss, he has crypts too. I spent a fair bit of time in the shrimp hobby. During that time I attended a shrimp hobby event at Erik's house (the owner of buypetshrimp.com). He puts a great amount of effort and care into his supply. He isn't just churning and burning plants. I have purchased large quantities of buceps from him and I have always had a good experience. side note: he has this funny thing of putting highchews candy in each order.

I have also used aquariumplants.com so I will give them an upvote and buceplant.com but I have had mixed results with their plants.

 

[Koan]

Breaking the stated rule for this thread

I wanted to bring attention to Aquarium Roots New Jersey a relatively recent local aquarium plant startup with a retail store. Haven't yet purchased from them but they're about to expand into a new space, looking forward to trying them out!

 

[riioKen]

Europe is here too
PremiumBuces (Spain shop that ships to Europe) very nice selection of Bucephalandra (even the rare "original" brownie ghost 2011)
Aquasabi (Germany shop that ships to Europe) big selection of ludwigia and rotalas
Olibetta (this is the "italian version", but im sure that there is DE and probably others country based site) they ship in Europe, general purpose site

 

[Unexpected]

In my endless obsession to find certain plants, this place popped up. Ordered 2 plants and I’ll update how they come in. They have a nice selection and quite a bit of cultures.

Glass Aqua - Aquascaping and Planted Aquarium Tank Online Store

We provide quality aquarium goods for planted tank beginners and enthusiasts such as rimless tanks, aquatic plants, rocks and wood, substrate and LED lighting

shop.glassaqua.com

 

[Firestorm]

I typically order my plants from Buce Plant. It can be hit and miss with some orders, but overall, the experience is positive as they have a great variety of plants and affordable shipping cost, which makes things very convenient. From my experience, their customer service has improved dramatically over time.

 

[DTWGulo]

Aquariumplantsfactory.com has been the best for me so far (Selection, quality, price). Three orders over a few years now.
I've purchased from Buceplant twice. One good experience one not so good.

 

[Unexpected]

Aquariumplantsfactory.com has been the best for me so far (Selection, quality, price). Three orders over a few years now.
I've purchased from Buceplant twice. One good experience one not so good.

Thank you for posting. This is a good thread to keep going. I, like you l, have had a good experience with them. That said, they have messed up on orders more than three times but immediately refunded any issue. I feel, as a big retail operation, they are the best.

To add to this post, I’m finding other people in the hobby who sell plants to be the most consistent for plant sales. I’ve not had a single problem with buying plants from those who love this hobby as much as I do.

 

[Art]

Thank you all. Updated.

 

[ElleDee]

I want to give a shout out to I Wet My Plants. The guy that runs it lives in my metro area and I first bought plants from him in person at AGA and recently had an order shipped to me (he's not *that* close and shipping wasn't too bad). I have been super happy with the quality of the plants, the portions, and the prices. His inventory isn't huge, but he's got a nice mix of common and more rare plants, and he does seem to restock fairly frequently. I don't know if every single thing he sells is submerged, but everything I bought from him has been and the transition to my tanks has been pretty seamless.

I've ordered from similar operations in the past (i.e. somebody running a small business out of their house) and most have been ok, but not great. I Wet My Plants has surpassed my expectations and I'd love him to get more business.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

@ElleDee Ingenious name for a business

 

[Asher E.]

I’ll add S21 aquatics.
these are what I ordered. Really healthy plants. The rotala macranda was just pale, but that’s normal for it to do that when getting shipped.

S21 Aquatics LLC

S21 Aquatics LLC

s21aquatics.com

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

I’ll add S21 aquatics.
these are what I ordered. Really healthy plants. The rotala macranda was just pale, but that’s normal for it to do that when getting shipped.

S21 Aquatics LLC

S21 Aquatics LLC

s21aquatics.com

I JUST bought some staurogyne purple from S21 last week. Order went well and plants were healthy (though crazy expensive!).

 

[Sb1415]

I JUST bought some staurogyne purple from S21 last week. Order went well and plants were healthy (though crazy expensive!).

Looks like they don't have TC plants. Do you quarantine plants from a new source ? or do bleach/h2o2 ? I have been sticking to TC plants from online source and only get non-tc plants from a LFS that i trust (and probably from users such as Burraqua who have great feedback).

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Looks like they don't have TC plants. Do you quarantine plants from a new source ? or do bleach/h2o2 ? I have been sticking to TC plants from online source and only get non-tc plants from a LFS that i trust (and probably from users such as Burraqua who have great feedback).

Quarantine them for anything specifically?
All plants have some algae on them, the most important thing is to just grow healthy plants from the get-go. I have found bleach and h2o2 dips both seem to affect the plant's initial health and make things worse for it from the start. I haven't quarantined plants for algae issues in years and have seen no difference, if the tank they're being added to is well-balanced and high-energy.

For snails? That ship sailed for me a long time ago. I just accept that snails will come from all sorts of sources and I just have to deal with them. Not worth the headache.

I think the most important thing to do when buying plants from anywhere is to get them planted into your tank as quickly as you can, and get them transitioning to your CO2/Ferts/Light ASAP.

There are also some Tissue Culture plants I will never use again. TC stem plants like rotala, pogostemon, AR Mini, S repens. etc, all seem to do well when transitioning, but I will never buy a TC buce or crypt again. Or, if I did, I would grow it out emersed first to harden it off, then transition it to underwater growth.

ALL of the TC buce I tried melted upon transitioning, from multiple sources and different species. Both Crypt Wendtii 'Brown' and Crypt Parva from TC melted... the wendtii survived but never took off. I purchased a potted wendtii 'brown' that has been 100% more robust and puts the TC stuff to shame.

A big reason that tissue cultures plants are so popular is that they're extremely shipping-and-shelf-stable, which is good for business. It's also very easy to clone tissue samples from sensitive/rare plants (like crypt flamingo, buce brownie ghost, etc) into TC, and keep them stable during shipping.

Remember, plant factories don't really care if your plants struggle to transition to submerged growth. They care about getting some form of plants to your doorstep alive. Tissue cultures are an amazing way to clone, transport, and store plants, but for more sensitive species/slower growers, they can actually be a FAR worse option to go straight to submerged growth with.

Summary:
Will 100% buy robust, weedy, or fast-growing stem plants via TC
Will not buy slower, or more sensitive species via TC.

 

[Jeff Miotke]

Quarantine them for anything specifically?
All plants have some algae on them, the most important thing is to just grow healthy plants from the get-go. I have found bleach and h2o2 dips both seem to affect the plant's initial health and make things worse for it from the start. I haven't quarantined plants for algae issues in years and have seen no difference, if the tank they're being added to is well-balanced and high-energy.

For snails? That ship sailed for me a long time ago. I just accept that snails will come from all sorts of sources and I just have to deal with them. Not worth the headache.

What about reverse respiration?

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

What about reverse respiration?

It's a good idea, though it won't likely kill snail eggs. Maybe I'll give it a try with a future setup with my existing plants. Have you tried it with success?

 

[Sb1415]

Quarantine them for anything specifically?
All plants have some algae on them, the most important thing is to just grow healthy plants from the get-go. I have found bleach and h2o2 dips both seem to affect the plant's initial health and make things worse for it from the start. I haven't quarantined plants for algae issues in years and have seen no difference, if the tank they're being added to is well-balanced and high-energy.

For snails? That ship sailed for me a long time ago. I just accept that snails will come from all sorts of sources and I just have to deal with them. Not worth the headache.

I think the most important thing to do when buying plants from anywhere is to get them planted into your tank as quickly as you can, and get them transitioning to your CO2/Ferts/Light ASAP.

There are also some Tissue Culture plants I will never use again. TC stem plants like rotala, pogostemon, AR Mini, S repens. etc, all seem to do well when transitioning, but I will never buy a TC buce or crypt again. Or, if I did, I would grow it out emersed first to harden it off, then transition it to underwater growth.

ALL of the TC buce I tried melted upon transitioning, from multiple sources and different species. Both Crypt Wendtii 'Brown' and Crypt Parva from TC melted... the wendtii survived but never took off. I purchased a potted wendtii 'brown' that has been 100% more robust and puts the TC stuff to shame.

A big reason that tissue cultures plants are so popular is that they're extremely shipping-and-shelf-stable, which is good for business. It's also very easy to clone tissue samples from sensitive/rare plants (like crypt flamingo, buce brownie ghost, etc) into TC, and keep them stable during shipping.

Remember, plant factories don't really care if your plants struggle to transition to submerged growth. They care about getting some form of plants to your doorstep alive. Tissue cultures are an amazing way to clone, transport, and store plants, but for more sensitive species/slower growers, they can actually be a FAR worse option to go straight to submerged growth with.

Summary:
Will 100% buy robust, weedy, or fast-growing stem plants via TC
Will not buy slower, or more sensitive species via TC.

Thanks. Snail dont bother me as well, and not sure about algae; i was more concerned about things like planaria and other bugs that i have seen in some posts being transferred from plants.

 

[Kwyet]

Rachel O’Leary said one of her biggest mistakes was not quarantining plants. Apparently a batch she ordered (years ago) had been treated with pesticide and killed a bunch of fish. Also at one time I remember reading that stem plants from Buce plant should be soaked and rinsed because they sometimes had pesticides applied. I don’t remember the source for that. I just soak and rinse all plants from untrusted sources for a few hours, and haven’t had a problem. Mostly I buy from trusted sources.

I don’t bother with reverse respiration for new plants. I’ve used it for staghorn on mosses with great success. I tried it recently on Ludwigia and Echinodorus for green fuzz algae with 0 success. There was no harm to plants. I have read that some people had terrible experiences trying it though. I assume they probably didn’t do it correctly, or didn’t check the plants periodically.

 

[Jeff Miotke]

It's a good idea, though it won't likely kill snail eggs. Maybe I'll give it a try with a future setup with my existing plants. Have you tried it with success?

I haven't tried it yet as my plants are nearly 100% from Tropica TC. They list that it does kill snail eggs and everything from algae to pests that they thought to look for within 24 hours without damage to the plants.

 

[Jeff Miotke]

Rachel O’Leary said one of her biggest mistakes was not quarantining plants. Apparently a batch she ordered (years ago) had been treated with pesticide and killed a bunch of fish. Also at one time I remember reading that stem plants from Buce plant should be soaked and rinsed because they sometimes had pesticides applied. I don’t remember the source for that. I just soak and rinse all plants from untrusted sources for a few hours, and haven’t had a problem. Mostly I buy from trusted sources.

I don’t bother with reverse respiration for new plants. I’ve used it for staghorn on mosses with great success. I tried it recently on Ludwigia and Echinodorus for green fuzz algae with 0 success. There was no harm to plants. I have read that some people had terrible experiences trying it though. I assume they probably didn’t do it correctly, or didn’t check the plants periodically.

Good feedback. As the write up on it makes this method sound like the holy grail for preparing plants.