Live plants are what separate an aquarium from an aquascape. We have been selling freshwater aquarium plants in San Diego since 2007, across two stores, with new shipments landing most weeks.
Tissue culture, potted, or bunched?
Tissue culture plants arrive sterile in a sealed cup — no snails, no algae, no pest hitchhikers. They are the safest way to add plants to an established tank and the best value per portion, but they start small and take a few weeks to convert from their gel medium to submerged growth. Potted plants are further along and settle in faster; peel the rock wool off the roots before planting. Bunched stems are the cheapest way to fill space and the fastest to grow in — separate the stems and plant them individually instead of leaving the weight on.
Match the plant to the light you actually have
Most plant failures are a lighting mismatch, not a fertilizer problem. Anubias, Java fern, Bucephalandra and Cryptocoryne are low-light, slow-growing and forgiving — they do well in a standard tank with no CO2 injection. Carpeting plants and most red stems want strong light and CO2 to stay compact and hold color; under low light they stretch, fade to green and eventually melt back. If you are not running CO2, buy from the first group and you will have a planted tank that mostly looks after itself.
A word on melting
New plants often drop their first set of leaves. That is the plant shedding growth it made emersed — above water, at the farm — and replacing it with submerged growth. Trim the dying leaves, leave the roots alone, and wait. It is not a sign you have killed it.
What we carry
Stems, rosettes, swords, crypts, mosses, epiphytes like Anubias and Bucephalandra, and carpeting species, in tissue culture, potted and bunched form. Stock on the floor changes weekly with our shipments and the two stores do not always carry the same species, so call ahead if you are making the drive for something specific.
New to planted tanks? Start with Aquarium Plants 101, then look at fertilizers and dosing, lighting and CO2.
