# Plants in a tube from petco



## Bigj713281 (Nov 28, 2012)

I'm new to all of this betta stuff and I was wondering if those plants they sell in those tubes are any good?


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

I've had mixed results. My Amazon Swords and Anubias from tubes are super healthy and probably twice as big as when I bought them last summer. The Peacock ferns died right away. My best advice is, go with hardy plants that will easily weather the transition from the emersed gel they're in to being submersed. And if there are more than 2 visible brown leaves, don't buy the plant.

I also tried those plant bulbs they sell. Only one grew, it was a lily and it was gorgeous, but got too big for my tank fast


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## Xeek (Sep 28, 2012)

As long as you buy ones without too many dead leaves and a plant that can survive the environment in your tank (lighting, etc.) Then I have had more success with these plants than plants I have ordered online.

They don't seem to go through as much meltdown as plants I have shipped to me and so far they are doing very well now outnumbering the plants I originally ordered online. The anubias or wisteria from petco I have are doing especially well (I have more than 8!) The tropica fern (which is a type of java fern) is doing ok but still needs time for me to trust it, I've ahd java fern from petco die before.

The petco anubias I've had the most success with.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

I bought Mondo Grass and Peacock Fern in those tubes, and later on found out they're not aquatic plants. -_-
But I got a Rosette Sword in one of those tubes, and it's still doing awesome in my tank and it's been about 5 months.


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## Xeek (Sep 28, 2012)

OrangeAugust said:


> I bought Mondo Grass and Peacock Fern in those tubes, and later on found out they're not aquatic plants. -_-
> But I got a Rosette Sword in one of those tubes, and it's still doing awesome in my tank and it's been about 5 months.


Yeah, you have to watch for that. I wish the tubes had at least some basic instructions about the specific plant it contained. For example you would buy the anubias in the tube and bury it in the substrate - unless you look it up online you wouldn't have known not to bury most of the root area or it will rot.


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

I buy the tube plants all of the time & have had successes & failures. Read the tube; it'll tell you if its full or partially aquatic.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Petstores shouldn't really have to inform you. You should always know what you are buying and if it will work in your tank or what ever it is. Why would you want to trust them any ways?

Some of the plants in the tubes are aquatic and some aren't. Before you buy them familiarize yourself with plants and the lighting and co2 requirements.


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## Juicebox (Oct 24, 2012)

kfryman said:


> Petstores shouldn't really have to inform you. You should always know what you are buying and if it will work in your tank or what ever it is. Why would you want to trust them any ways?
> 
> Some of the plants in the tubes are aquatic and some aren't. Before you buy them familiarize yourself with plants and the lighting and co2 requirements.


 i strongly disagree

if you are buying something from someone no matter what it is,they should be able to give you some info on the product. wether you are buying diapers,food,alcohol,fish,plants,a car, a house, whatever you buy its the sellers responsibility to inform you of the ingredients or origins if questioned


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I would go write down the names of the ones you like and go home and research the species at home.


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## Juicebox (Oct 24, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> I would go write down the names of the ones you like and go home and research the species at home.


or do a quick google on your iphone in the store


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I got my argintine sword from Petco. I bought Kyoto for an exiperiment. I put one in water with leaves above the water and rootin water. I put the other in peatmoss. the one in peatmoss seems better. Leaf wise there the same.


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## sandrac8388 (Sep 4, 2012)

you can also buy online. I've only gotten anubias from the tube and so far so good. But they feel different than "real" anubias..Maybe it is just me..who knows.

I buy my plants at http://www.plantedaquariumscentral.com/ 
They have awesome quality at a very good price. I like being able to trust the seller.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I prefer to buy anuibus rooted onto lava rock.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Do you really want Petco, that knows nothing about fish and planted tanks(dog and cat care isn't that difficult), to educate you on something? I can see if it is an aquarium store. It is a petshop, most employees aren't hobbyists and need money. At a store that specializes in aquariums, like the one by me (Neptune Aquatics), they are all hobbyists and I doubt you would even be able to work there if you weren't a hobbyist.

I always look and see what people say about something and what it needs. Would you go in and buy a dog with no knowledge expecting someone to tell you everything? You need to really do you're own research because they can also be biased.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Our Petco is great and knowledible. Dogs and Cats are more difficult than you think.


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## Juicebox (Oct 24, 2012)

i just bought a bunch of snails from petco and the guy i spoke to in the store knew everything about them,i allready did research on here and other forums before i went into the store and the guy knew what he was talking about,he said he had many tanks himself for many years,sometimes your lucky u get good people other times u get kids doin part time work with no knowledge of anything but i find u can always tell when someone doesnt know what they are talkin about


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

There are knowlegible pet stores. I used to have an LFS I did not like them. They said plants were bad for fish tanks. They put cold water bottles in aquariums.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Juicebox said:


> i just bought a bunch of snails from petco and the guy i spoke to in the store knew everything about them,i allready did research on here and other forums before i went into the store and the guy knew what he was talking about,he said he had many tanks himself for many years,sometimes your lucky u get good people other times u get kids doin part time work with no knowledge of anything but i find u can always tell when someone doesnt know what they are talkin about


That is why you do research. If the person is telling you the right information and it isn't obvious then you can listen. I have had to correct employees saying cichlids were gouramis. Sometimes you get someone good, but one of my rules of fish keeping is "Don't take a petstore employee's advice" this can be broken because once in a while you have a legit hobbyist. Most of the time, you have someone that says a goldfish in a 1 gallon tank/bowl is fine.


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

I have yet to find a petshop employee who knows a darn thing about fish or the more exotic pets like chinchillas. Even if they claim to be hobbiest, they still might be wrong. I had one girl at petco tell me the reason my bettas were not breeding was because I need to have the male in a tank with 3 females so he can choose which one to breed with :shock:. She said she was a fish breeder. No idea what fish she was breeding but it obviously was not bettas. I hope. 

Anyways - the tube plants. Some are Aquatic and some aren't. The Anubias, Amazon sword and wysteria are all aquatic but most of them are not true aquatic plants at all.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

On the tube it says for aquariums and terriums.


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

if they happen to have the same plant available in the actual plant tank, you should get it from there instead (they usually have large supplies of the general standbyes, such as wisteria, hornwort, primrose etc) since they'll usually be healthier than the ones in the tubes.some of them (most swords and ferns etc) you'll have to use the tubes, since they take up more room and therefore more "retail space" and hence usually aren't planted in the tank. steer clear of the "plant bundle" ones, though, they're notorious for having large quantities of non-aquatic or semi-aquatic plants that will do nothing but die and then poison your tank as they decompose unless you're set up to plant them with emerged leaves.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I love the look of my Kyoto. One is semi submerged and the other is potted.


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## Bigj713281 (Nov 28, 2012)

So I bought one at petco today and the manager I think told me how I shouldn't have live plants in a 5 gallon tank just a rock or a small driftwood


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

There are plenty of plants for a 5 gallon you can have semi submerged plants growing from the lid. You can have Marimo, Anarchis, Crypts, Java Fern/Moss, and ect.


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## njnolan1 (Oct 16, 2012)

Juicebox said:


> i strongly disagree
> 
> if you are buying something from someone no matter what it is,they should be able to give you some info on the product. wether you are buying diapers,food,alcohol,fish,plants,a car, a house, whatever you buy its the sellers responsibility to inform you of the ingredients or origins if questioned


I think it's up to the buyer, since it you who is spending YOUR money, to have done some research and not rely on someone else for answers. This works for smaller products, although if you're buying a house or car then yes, the seller should be honest and knowledgeable. Why would I think this? Well, the employee who answers your questions about plants they don't care about brings home 0 dollars whether or not you buy that plant. Plus, they make crap money and have hundreds of animals and products to learn about. They also don't get trained very well for the job. 

Now, the guy who has a car to sell you is going to make in one car sale what the other guy would take a week or two to make, usually. Also, they have one product to learn about, cars. I know they're different cars but the Petco employee is expected to know about all the animals and every product they sell. That being said, there are some crappy employees out there who don't care about animals and it's just a job to them. I can tell you from experience that most of what the employee knows is going to have to be learned on their own time and most people don't have an interest in all animals so they will only research animals they like if they do any research at all. 

I personally feel that even you're going to buy a house or a car you should research that yourself too. The house will have public records, find them. The car is going to have ratings and reviews, find them. Also, the make and model will have information on the manufacturers website.


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## njnolan1 (Oct 16, 2012)

Juicebox said:


> i just bought a bunch of snails from petco and the guy i spoke to in the store knew everything about them,i allready did research on here and other forums before i went into the store and the guy knew what he was talking about,he said he had many tanks himself for many years,sometimes your lucky u get good people other times u get kids doin part time work with no knowledge of anything but i find u can always tell when someone doesnt know what they are talkin about



Unfortunately, these companies don't pay enough money so they often don't get people with years of experience but people who are desperate enough to work for the pay they offer. 

Since they don't pay enough, it's hard to get experience when you can't afford to buy any of the animals since most of the other products are ridiculously marked up. 

I spend hours and hours of research and it's hard when one can't afford to gain experience and one is not getting the promised training. The employee usually has to learn all this on their own and don't forget, there's not one perfect way to crack an egg.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I personaly think it is up to the consumer to learn about there product.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

Well, the tube of all the plants all said "Aquatic Plant". So how was I supposed to know that they'd sell semi-aquatic plant and label them as aquatic? I know you can't really trust most pet store employees because they've told me dumb things that I knew were wrong, but you'd think the higher-ups in the company would know what they're talking about and I should be able to trust the labeling on what they're selling, but with these plants you can't because they're all labeled "Aquatic", and then when they started melting in my tank I researched them and found out they are not aquatic.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Ours say for aquariums and terriums.


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## FishFriend9292 (Oct 14, 2012)

I have also had mixed result. Xeek- how funny, i have had exactly OPPOSITE results, LOL. My water wisteria always dies, while my java fern thrives.


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

my petco has 2 people with a clue about fish but no one could even tell me if they had any java fern. the girl said no. then i went to the tanks and the tubes and found java fern in both.so i bought one of each to compare and found....no real difference they both are a little beat up yet. the one in the petco tube is giving off plantlets like crazy. also i picked up a windelov yesterday in the tube.i ended getting 4 plants off of it. i,ve had great luck with their mixed bulbs. only one didn't grow for me.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

If I remember right plantlets growing off crazy is a sign of bad conditions.


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

it can be from acclimation to my tank as the leaves they are on are older and damaged. this is how they divide. they are true ferns and have adapted to reproducing underwater . they still have pores under their leaves. this is normal propagation. have you tried growing java fern? mine looks great except for the older leaves. some people prune them because they look rough but i wanted baby plants first.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Remember they are very slow growing.


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Remember they are very slow growing.


haha tell that to our java fersn which grew from 3 inches to 15 in three months time!


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Normaly they are evolution might have given yours a mutation that helped growth either that or high nutrients.


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## njnolan1 (Oct 16, 2012)

OrangeAugust said:


> Well, the tube of all the plants all said "Aquatic Plant". So how was I supposed to know that they'd sell semi-aquatic plant and label them as aquatic? I know you can't really trust most pet store employees because they've told me dumb things that I knew were wrong, but you'd think the higher-ups in the company would know what they're talking about and I should be able to trust the labeling on what they're selling, but with these plants you can't because they're all labeled "Aquatic", and then when they started melting in my tank I researched them and found out they are not aquatic.


You should do your own research and know what you're buying when it comes to living things that may die but I totally agree that the actual company should have better labels and yes, it should be up to the company to tell you what you're buying. That's pretty messed up that they say that.


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

they generally sell the same varieties over and over again. there should be more info given to the consumer. either by hand out or even internet. i haven't seen much info about them online. even just a species list would be helpful.


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## Butterfly (Nov 13, 2012)

I don't know what sort of tubes you guys are talking about? xD Pic? At my petco they just have a tank with a bunch of plants submerged. The plants are in little baskets with 'rock wool' or something? 
I bought an amazon sword and a water primrose. Kind of pricey mehhh. The water primrose started dying right away. I threw it out. Too fragile -_- The amazon sword is doing okay, though. I really should have done more research into plants before buying them. I'm pretty sure the lighting in my tank does not have the correct voltage for high-light plants. I was too lazy to do a search on my phone. I bought the ones that looked pretty D: Don't do that, definitely do research and list plants you want to buy, then go to the store and see if they have.


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

butterfly.at my petco the tube plants are not in the fish area,but next to the nano tanks and accessories. they also keep the mixed plant bulbs in the same place. and amazon swords can do very well in low light applications.


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

OrangeAugust said:


> Well, the tube of all the plants all said "Aquatic Plant". So how was I supposed to know that they'd sell semi-aquatic plant and label them as aquatic? I know you can't really trust most pet store employees because they've told me dumb things that I knew were wrong, but you'd think the higher-ups in the company would know what they're talking about and I should be able to trust the labeling on what they're selling, but with these plants you can't because they're all labeled "Aquatic", and then when they started melting in my tank I researched them and found out they are not aquatic.


orangeaugust, look at the very bottom of this page.you'll see another link started by..dewdropfay .check it out.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Those higher up people also labe fiddler crabs as Freshwater.


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

I like the ones in the little packages. They are like 8.99. Snail and pest free. Mine are doing great and real green. Good luck  


Edit: Ah Petco, mine are from Petsmart.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I got my water wisteria is a tube.


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## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

I like the tube plants, ive had better luck with them than plants ive ordered and had shipped. Its not nec about the tube plants themselves, its more about the type of plant, regardless where you get them, some are easy some arent. Ive had the best luck with some ferns, javas and anubias. My swords are doing fine but seem to have slowed down :/..my crypts arent doing well.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Crypt Melt.


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

My crypts pretty much melted away at one point and now they're growing a new leaf almost weekly!


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## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

oh good! I was thinking of tossing them as I didnt think my tank was the right environment or something a long those lines, maybe ill just trim them and see if they regrow


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

My giants. From the same plant are redder in my 20 than my 10.


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