Lack of plants available at the moment.

[ForestDave]

It seems I picked the wrong time to set up a tank. What with Brexit and sadly now Covid restricting imports, trying to recreate a similar look to a Tropica inspiration page seems a way off. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding suppliers/ cheap temporary plants to soak up nutrients/or any any other suggestions? It looks like stocks will be in by the end of February so I could wait but am itching to get started.
Thanks

 

[John q]

Hi, seems very hit and miss at the minute, I'd been looking all last week and most places were sold out but on Friday Aqua essentials seemed to get some stock in, got a Saturday delivery and plants were of excellent quality. Just had a look on now and it seems they are short stocked again. Point is just keep checking the usual suspect sites, I think they are getting some stock but when it comes it doesn't last long.
Cheers.

 

[Nick potts]

Yep, I am setting up another shrimp tank and some of my usual sites had literally only 1 or 2 plants in stock.

Best bet to find plants would be to ask on the classifieds here or try you local aquatics store.

 

[Simmo]

Lots of commoner species on Ebay, some very good others maybe not but feedback should tell you

 

[The grumpy one]

I think that Aqua essentials had a delivery. There are now 80 odd species available. Last time I looked there were less than a dozen.

 

[Andy Pierce]

Extracted from AquaEssentials newletter of 15-Jan-2021:

Tropica for example, are yet to deliver ANY plants or Tissue Culture Cups to us (or anywhere in the UK) this year. [...] But there's similar issues with Dennerle, the German plant grower. No plants from them this year even though we normally receive weekly deliveries and the last one was before Christmas.[...] Aquafleur on the other hand have been superb, delivering to us without fail and our latest delivery arrived yesterday.

 

[Andy Pierce]

Looks like AE has got a shipment in from Dennerle anyway... just placed an order from some now 'in stock' cryptocoryne lutea 'hobbit'. (although I do also notice the unit price has gone up £1 from last availability)

 

[Rollo790]

Has anyone tried buying Tropica tissue culture plants from companies in Europe? Like Olibetta for instance? I recently bought some stones from them, and it took two weeks due to Covid and Brexit restrictions, but everything arrived ok. It says you can preorder plants from them, I haven't tried going through the whole purchasing process to see what happens. They send stuff via UPS.
I also sent an email to Aqua Essentials and they said today (20 Jan) : "We cannot say at this stage when the Tropica tissue culture pots will be available again. This is due to Brexit".
Last but not least, I noticed that a company called Java Plants has quite a few of the plants in stock, but I was a bit surprised by this as no one else seems to have them in stock, so did some research and it the reviews are very mixed but more on the low side. Since it's a lot of money and I'm new to the hobby, I don't want to do the wrong thing. Any experiences or advice much appreciated.

 

[mort]

I don't think a lot of companies are bothering to deal with the uk for single orders at the moment (or potentially forever) as it's hard work to send to just one consumer. I'm not sure how much it would cost additionally as we are seeing some stupidly high amounts added to orders from the eu which includes a cost for doing the import paperwork, an administration fee from the courier, import tax and vat, depending on what it is and where it's come from. I don't know if aquatic plants also need to come with their plant passport and photosanitary documents but it could make it very pricey, without factoring in the problems with shipping delays.

I would personally just put in a provisional order with your retailer of choice and you may have to wait a little while but you will likely get very fresh healthy plants.

 

[not called Bob]

Maybe when the powers that be can work out a way to get us into the free trade zone that's reaches from Iceland to Turkey, businesses will have an easier time of it getting goods in and out. Till then who knows how much hassle shopping outside the UK and not using larger businesses with importation power will be.

 

[Forever Fishtank]

I can relate. We in Canada look to the much larger US market with envy. So many more choices that are inaccessible to us because the border/customs rules make shipping individual orders of many goods impractical or impossible, limiting our options in comparison, and causing the prices to be higher to boot.

 

[Gill]

If they use Aquafleur or Aquaflora they are shipping plants without any problems AFAIK. So maybe ask if they use them.

 

[ForestDave]

I can relate. We in Canada look to the much larger US market with envy. So many more choices that are inaccessible to us because the border/customs rules make shipping individual orders of many goods impractical or impossible, limiting our options in comparison, and causing the prices to be higher to boot.

Crikey, I'd have never thought that. Maybe it will improve now Trumps gone?

 

[Kingyfish1]

Java plants have stock and tropica ranges
Ordered from them this week and very good service and quality highly recommended.

 

[Driftless]

Even here in the US it is slim pickings. I am planning on setting up another planted Discus tank and most of the plants on my want list are out-of-stock. Nerite and other snails along with shrimp are also in short supply. Some of the big online aquascape merchants have plants, but that changes when you have a specific want list. I attribute it to the explosion in our hobby because of the pandemic. I am hoping that this will mean that we will have a good supply of merchants in the years to come.

 

[ForestDave]

Java plants have stock and tropica ranges
Ordered from them this week and very good service and quality highly recommended.

Thanks for the tip.
I’ve spent my cash now though. I’ve just got to finish the damn scape!

 

[ForestDave]

Even here in the US it is slim pickings. I am planning on setting up another planted Discus tank and most of the plants on my want list are out-of-stock. Nerite and other snails along with shrimp are also in short supply. Some of the big online aquascape merchants have plants, but that changes when you have a specific want list. I attribute it to the explosion in our hobby because of the pandemic. I am hoping that this will mean that we will have a good supply of merchants in the years to come.

I’m probably one of those, but in the UK. It’s definitely stopped me getting bored!

 

[aquascape1987]

I’m awaiting a decent size order from Java Plants any day now. Will report on quality when I receive them, as ordering from them is a first for me as well

 

[aquascape1987]

Plants arrived today all present and correct, and in great condition. Cannot fault Java Plants. Really good communication, and they supplied the goods, and in good time

 

[Paul Kettless]

Plants arrived today all present and correct, and in great condition. Cannot fault Java Plants. Really good communication, and they supplied the goods, and in good time

Good to know