[pineapple]

Looking to buy Ludwigia sp. Pantanal. Do you know of a source?

Andrew Cribb

 

[Raul-7]

www.Fishvet.com

 

[shalu]

Yep, I got it from fishvet.net(aquariumlandscapes.net). They sent me the puniest little stems I have ever seen: stems thinner than r. wallichii, 1-2 inches long, tiny new leaves. 1 out of 5 survived and grew up to "adulthood" in couple of months. It is just starting to branch, much smaller and slower growing than L. 'cuba'.

 

[gmaniac]

pantanal

same here... ordered from the same place, got very small stems...none survived :-(

 

[fishfry]

try contacting Albany Aquarium in San Francisco, I think they sometimes are willing to ship plants to people and they get it in sometimes....much nicer people than the things I have heard about fishvet

 

[MatPat]

Try aquabid:

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?liveplantsb&1108418037

The shipping is a bit much but I have always received much better looking plants from others in the hobby than I have from "retailers".

 

[shalu]

try contacting Albany Aquarium in San Francisco, I think they sometimes are willing to ship plants to people and they get it in sometimes....much nicer people than the things I have heard about fishvet

I was at Albany Aquarium past weekend. They do have some 'pantanal', in fairly decent shape. Their holding tank is now CO2 enriched. It is just called "Ludwigia species", that's the name Oriental gives it in their catalog. I think they are trying to setup for online order as well.

 

[pineapple]

Thanks! I appreciate all the pointers and advice.

The last order I received from Singapore was badly packed (in plastic with no paper towel leading to squashed mush. That was a poor deal, even if the seller used fabulous photos).

Andrew Cribb

 

[gnome]

Hey, Andrew!

You could've asked me to look for them at Albany... Like Sha said, there was some we saw on Saturday but it was only like two stems and they were expecting a new shipment. I just checked and they haven't updated their site: http://www.albanyaquarium.com/ but they have one, now. As already mentioned, it's labelled as "Ludwigia sp. NEW" and part of me wonders if it is indeed L. sp. 'Pantanal'. Rayon Vert Aqua has a "Ludwigia sp." that looks exactly the same as 'Pantanal', but they have the two pictured separately.

Anyway, if you're interested in getting them from Albany, PM me. I spoke do the webmaster of the site, who is sort of "beta-testing" the shipping, and presently, he's only doing so for plant orders that are $100+. And I think he's only over-nighting them.

-Naomi

 

[Raul-7]

I heard Albany Aquarium's prices are sky-high. How high are they?

 

[shalu]

I think I paid $8 for 3 stems of L. 'cuba'. 1 pot HC will cost $9. I paid $5 for 4 plantlets of Ranalisma rostrata. Not that bad for hard to find plants, especially locally without shipping fee.

 

[gnome]

Not that bad for hard to find plants, especially locally without shipping fee.

Yeah! And then there's the added benefit of being able to cherry-pick. A lot of people complain about the prices, but I wouldn't call them "outrageous" at all. The fish may, for the unknowing, cause at least a mild case of sticker shock, but people don't realize that they're quarantined and that the shop absorbs all of the initial losses. Yes, it's definitely harder to have dead fish replaced, but it's also far less likely to happen, or worse, to have them spread diseases throughout your home tank. I'm too lazy to quarantine new fish, so I'd rather take my chances with fish from there than just about any place else. Plants? Since setting up their CO2-injected plant holding tank (which you can see on their website) they typically leave the store (as purchases) in better condition than when they arrived. It's really an amazing operation and if you're ever in the vicinity, it's worth checking out. Just make sure you're dressed for summer . It's dang hot upstairs.

-Naomi

 

[pineapple]

Naomi,

Many thanks for the input. Certainly, the HC I received which originally came from Albany was excellent. I think the pricing is very fair. Consider having to get plant packages past customs these days? Not only is the paranoia level very high, but delays are already common and lead to a lot of plant losses in transit. As Naomi says, the plants actually recover and grow at Albany.

Now let's hope this L. Pantanal is one I will not be killing with kindness! ;-)

Andrew Cribb

 

[shalu]

Andrew, if you have trouble getting it from Albany, I might be able to spare a (healthy)stem in a month or two. It is a slow grower.

 

[pineapple]

Shalu,

Many thanks for your kindness (and warning ). I'll let you know. I'm in this Flourite to ADA Amazonia/Powersand (when that arrives) mode and wonder if that is going to have a good effect....

Andrew Cribb

PS

I was asked to add something by Lorba (aka Roland of greenchapters.com in Singapore; "greenerist" on aquqabid.com). Roland says:

removed at Roland's request

The bad experience I had with a Singapore seller was not with Roland. I have not bought from Roland before. If Roland wants to send me something, I could then provide a reference to his packaging skills. ;-)

Andrew

 

[lorba]

thanks Andrew for the clarification. The PM was actually meant to clear up any misunderstandings.

I do agree with shalu on getting whatever you can within USA. Shipping is free/cheaper, much faster and there is lesser risk in dying plants at the door.

 

[gnome]

Wow - this is a first! I just checked Albany's website, and this time, it actually lists "Ludwigia sp. 'Pantanal'" in their most recent shipment. So now I wonder if what I was getting and sending people was, in fact, a different species...? I'll have to get the details from the owner. I'll try and give him a call, today.

Looks like they got in a BIG shipment!

-Naomi

 

[lorba]

it should look like this

 

[gnome]

This is what they were selling as "Ludwigia sp.":
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mizmo_naomi/detail?.dir=b26d&.dnm=d5b3.jpg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mizmo_naomi/detail?.dir=b26d&.dnm=6849.jpg&.src=ph

These were taken and posted back in June. Sorry about the poor quality of the photos. Also, they were *just* added to my tank before I took the shots, so they appear slightly ratty and bent. Actually, this was probably the best shipment of this plant that they ever got. Later ones typically came in pretty beaten up with the roots rotted off. Usually, they'd recover in the store after several days but the new leaf growth would be really weird.

-Naomi

 

[shalu]

Wow - this is a first! I just checked Albany's website, and this time, it actually lists "Ludwigia sp. 'Pantanal'" in their most recent shipment. So now I wonder if what I was getting and sending people was, in fact, a different species...? I'll have to get the details from the owner. I'll try and give him a call, today.

Looks like they got in a BIG shipment!

-Naomi

I noticed the same thing! Now come to think of it, the L. species does look slightly bigger than L. 'pantanal', could be a similar but different Ludwigia. The "girth" of my 'pantanal' is only about 1/3 of 'cuba'. Now I am going back there to get some L. species just to be sure. I am a sucker for all ludwigias and rotalas Or Naomi, you could bring me a stem of L. species at the next plant swap meeting.