100 Live Aquatic Aquarium Plants Easy Grow Best on Ebay

Aquatic Plant Collection 100 Easy to Grow Plants

These are probably the best aquatic plants for sale on Ebay. Don't take our word for it, see our feedback and our guestbook for what customers have said about our plants. We have been selling live plants on Ebay since 2005 and have had many thousands of satisfied customers, many of whom return time after time.

Please note we only despatch orders of plants received between Monday and 12:00 Noon Wednesday the same day, all other orders of live plants are carried forward to the following week. All other items we sell are despatched Monday to Friday within 24 hours of the order being placed.

For this collection we have only chosen species of aquatic plants, both stem plants (cuttings) and crown plants which are quick growing, hardy, and undemanding, you won't find an easier to grow collection anywhere. If you after more specific plants please see our other listings. The exact contents of your order may vary as aquatic plants vary in quality and supply, but we guarantee you will get a varied and beautiful collection with many traditional favourites as well as others less well known.

We receive more queries (and there is more confusion) about the plants than anything else we sell, so here are a list of the most FAQs, hopefully they will answer the vast majority of questions you may have, please read them. 

FAQ PLEASE READ:

• Why do you only despatch plants Mon- 12:00 Noon Weds? This is because the plants are posted first class via Royal Mail and previous experience has shown that plants posted later in the week were often not arriving until Weds-Thurs of the following week, sometimes in poor condition. Please be aware this means any orders placed later than midday on Weds will be carried over to the following week, they will not be despatched on Weds afternoon, or later in the week.
• How are the plants posted? The plants are packed in plastic bags which are then packed in a specifically designed cardboard box of appropriate dimensions. This has proven the best compromise between: protection, weight and cost. The boxes are often small enough to go through a large letterbox, but that doesn't always guarantee they will be delivered that way.
• Do you deliver outside the UK? No, sorry, this is not possible for live plants, all other items can be posted by arrangement.
• When can I expect delivery? The plants are posted via Royal Mail using First Class packetpost, and SHOULD arrive within 48-72 hours (2-3 working days) of being posted, please be aware that Royal Mail do not ALWAYS meet these targets and it is realistic to allow up to 5 working days. Please note we don't post live plants after 12:00 on Weds through to the following Monday, so any orders recieved then should be posted the following week. Please contact us if the plants don't arrive within 5 working days of usual posting date (e.g. Monday of the following week for orders after 12:00 Noon on Weds).
• What happens on Bank and other Holidays? What is special about the Chinese New Year? We do our best to fit the plant schedule around the various holidays and Bank Holidays of the year, but these can lead to some disruption and obviously there is no postage at those times, please be patient - if you urgently want the plants on a specific day it may be better to wait another week, or to get your order in a fortnight early! Due to the plants being ordered from the Far East, the Chinese New Year also tends to cause disruption every year, although we do our best to minimise this by planning ahead.  
• What should I do with the plants when they arrive? It is best to gently unpack the plants and let them soak in a bucket, or sink of cool (NB: not tepid, warm, hot or cold!) water, for some time. When you have time spread some damp newspaper or towels on a surface and sort through the plants timming off any dead, or broken stems and leaves with sharp scissors, it is advisable to trim even healthy roots and stems slightly. The plants will dry quickly, so keep them damp. Finally, rinse off well under a running tap and store in a bucket/sink of cool water until ready to plant. There is no need to dechlorinate the water. 
• What happens if the plants don't arrive when expected? Allow 5 working days after expected date of despatch and then contact Royal Mail first at your local collection point, often the plants are waiting collection by you there, if not then please contact us via Ebay or email.
• What happens if the plants arrive dead/damaged? Contact us immediately, please be aware aquatic plants are often very fragile items, especially out of water, and all kinds of things can happen to them if they get dehydrated or exposed to extremes of temperature. We are usually happy to replace any plants that arrive in poor condition, but may demand photographic evidence.
• What do you mean by 100 plants? As is standard in the international trade we mean 100 cuttings of stem plants and/or individual crown plants (NOT bunches of plants), occassionally we may also include bulbs, rhizomes and/or floating plants, if we have large quantities of any currently in stock.
• Aren't stem plants rubbish? No, definitely not, they have many advantages and are actually usually much faster growing and more adaptable than rooted crown plants. Many of them don't need to be anchored down at all and will quite happily float, and due to their rapid growth they are one of the best things to combat algae. In fact it's probably fair to say that many of the easiest, most attractive, and most truly aquatic plants are stem plants. For those who believe cuttings of stem plants are some how 'cheaper' than crown plants this simply isn't true at all!  
• What happens if the plants don't meet my expectations? This is a difficult one as people often have strange expectations, and those who have had little experience of dealing with aquatic plants can jump to odd conclusions when confronted with the unfamiliar. Firstly, be aware that this is a mix of individual cuttings and crown plants, it is not a collection of bunches, also aquatic plants are often quite different to terrestrial ones, they do not necessarily grow roots, for example, and may only propagate via small cuttings which do not necessarily transport well out of water. To judge aquatic plants by the standards of terrestrial ones is to invite failure when attempting to grow them submerged and people's expectations of them being the same is one of the prime reasons so many purchase non-aquatics which will simply not grow submerged. It would be best to judge the plants after a couple of weeks of growing them in an aquarium. 
• Where can I find out more about growing the plants? Please read our guides about growing aquatic plants here on Ebay:

  http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Growing-Aquatic-Plants-in-the-Aquarium-pt-1_W0QQugidZ10000000002332654

  http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Growing-Aquatic-Plants-in-the-Aquarium-pt-2_W0QQugidZ10000000002357748

• Where do these plants come from? We order all our plants in direct from growers in the Far East, they are grown in ponds, some of which are covered with polytunnels, some of which are open to the elements. This does mean that there are occassional 'hitchhikers' in the form of water insects and the like to watch out for, but they are rare. It is also the reason there can be disruption around the time of the Chinese New Year every year, although we store thousands of extra plants here in the UK to attempt to counter that and other international delays. 
• Can I order specific plants? We are happy to consider all reasonable requests for specific plants within those we normally stock for collections, please email us.
• What affect does water chemistry and temperature have on the plants? Water chemistry can be important for some species, some preferring soft and acidic conditions (e.g. some Rotalas and Cryptocorynes) others only hard and alkaline (e.g. Vallisnerias), but for the majority in this collection it is not critical. Temperature is less important than most people think, most plants, even those truly native to the tropics prefer cooler temperatures to hotter ones and it is not strictly necessary to heat a planted tank in a centrally heated house.
• Can I have coldwater plants? Softwater plants? Yes, we do specific listings for both of these, please note that softwater and Discus are the same thing when it comes to plant collections and that the 'coldwater' collection is primarily aimed at people with Goldfish. Less destructive coldwater fish would suit a 'standard' collection fine. Our 'standard' collection is primarily made up of hardwater species, or those that don't mind the water chemistry (as most of the population in the UK live in hardwater areas).
• How big are the plants? Why don't you divide the plants into: 'background', 'midground' and 'foreground'? The plants naturally vary in size when we ship them into the UK, this is inevitable, but they will all grow to their natural limits given the right growing conditions. Please be aware that with the exception of certain 'dwarf' varieties and species, virtually all aquatic plants will grow to the height of most tanks quite rapidly, you can keep some of them smaller with heavy pruning, but this has limitations and is labour intensive. In nature most aquatic plants struggle to get sufficient light and will grow as close to the surface as they can to ensure they get as much light as they can, if the light is insufficient they will often grow as tall, but more straggly as a result. We find the division of aquatic plants into 'background', 'midground' etc.. rather artificial, patronising and impractical, please judge for yourself where various species would look best in YOUR tank, you can always move them later should you change your mind, but don't be afraid to experiment.
• What species are included? Species typically included are: Bacopa monniera Bacopa, Cabomba caroliniana Cabomba, Ceratopteris thalicroides Water Sprite, Echinodorus amazonicus Ruffled Sword Plant, Echinodorus bleheri Amazon Sword Plant, Egeria densa Pondweed, Egeria najas Ditchweed, Hygrophila corymbosa Hygro/Stricta, Hygrophila polysperma, Hygrophila difformis Water Wisteria, Lagarosiphon major Anacharis, Limnophila sessiliflora Ambulia, Ludwigia repens Ludwigia, Rotala rotundifolia, Sagittaria subulata, Shinnersia rivularis Mexican Oak Leaf Plant, Vallisneria nana Narrowleaf/Dwarf Vallis, Vallisneria spiralis Common (Straight) Vallis and MANY more.       
• Where can I find out more information about the species and varieties of plants? Please consult a good book (such as the Tropica book we sell) and/or websites and forums on the subject. There is a massive amount of information on the subject on the internet including many excellent images and some very good advice, but please be aware that opinions differ and not everything you read on the internet is likely to be correct.
• How come some of the plants don't look like images I've seen? Many aquatic plants are somewhat amphibious by nature and the emerged growth form is often tougher and more robust than the submerged growth, thus it is best transported in it's emerged form. Once it is planted and growing in your aquarium the aquatic growth should quickly sprout and the more 'normal' submerged forms of leaves and stems will prevail quite quickly (usually 2-4 weeks). Note that some species also have different growth forms due to the local water chemistry and availability of light. To get the brightest colours (reds, oranges etc...) very intense light is required, in dim light even 'red' plants tend to become green, whereas in very bright light many otherwise 'green' plants will sprout new growth of red, yellow or pink.  
• Will there be snails in the plants? Possibly, we do our best to remove any snails and spawn, but all nurseries add live snails to planted ponds due to their advantages (which far outnumber their disadvantages in most cases), so it is impossible to remove all risk of them completely. In moderate numbers small snails will eat algae and dead/dying leaves, thus converting them into nutrients useful for the living plants, they will also turn over the substrate preventing it getting anaerobic and circulating nutrients. Snails can become a pest due to explosive population growth, this says more about the overfeeding of the fish and lack of cleanliness of the tank than it does about anything else and the best preventative is to drastically cut back on the feeding and to increase the frequency of cleaning.  
• Are the plants dangerous to shrimps, snails or other crustaceans? The plants themselves certainly aren't, but they may be treated (in the Far East) to kill off any live snails and spawn, these treatments typically contain copper which is harmful to shrimps and crustaceans as well as snails. It is STRONGLY advisable to rinse any live plants going into a tank with shrimps, snails, or other crustaceans well. Cherry Shrimps in particular seem to succumb to copper poisoning so make a special effort in their case, soaking the plants in a bucket of clean water for several days, changing the water daily, if you want to ensure no harm is done. Ultimately live plants are virtually essential for the well being of most shrimps, so don't be put off adding them, just take care.
• Why aren't the plants bunched/weighted/labelled? Quite simply because weights and 'bunching' don't do the plants any good, cost additional money and are completely unneccessary (if aquatic plants needed lead weights they would have evolved them). Labelling of individual plants would be possible, but not at the price we're charging, it's simply too time consuming, if you'd like to pay extra for it then please get in touch.

This entire advertistment, including ALL text and images, is copyright Amazon Aquatics, 2010.