[Robert Henry]

There's also the general impression that staple freshwater fish are a diime a dozen. An individual who spends $40 or more on each saltwater fish or coral is willing to spend $1,000 or more on an appropriate setup. People are less reluctant to spend that amount to house some $3 freshwater fishes or plants.

 

[Robert Henry]

I agree that stores generally don't promote planted tanks as we'd like them to, but remember that it's a business, and if they can make a buck by cutting costs - they will. Very few stores equip their tanks with suitable lighting, Co2 injection, suitable substrate, etc. just to sell plants. The few that do are typically smaller mom & pop stores that have trouble competing with mega-giant fish-mart chain stores. I've lived on Long Island all my life (a long time) and I've seen many many local fish stores close their doors - it's rather disheartening that here in the New York City area it's getting harder and harder to find a good LFS.