Plant Guy Review
I want to give a plug to my plant vendor
freshwateraquariumplants.com
Here is a quick mini-review:
Initial Contact:
I originally sent an email via the
freshwateraquariumplants.com website, which was fairly lengthy. I received a reply that day saying that the plant grower "Don" would call me later that day. He did call, and basically at the end of the conversation he had me giving the credit card number. I had not originally planned to go with the first vendor I contacted, but I had been lurking on their site for probably 6+ months and I felt comfortable after talking to him, so I really didnt see the need to go price hunting.
Grade: A
Suggestions:
Don suggested several things to me, namely, that I should not spend a lot of money on a planted tank without CO2. I quickly agreed, and I am VERY happy he changed my mind about this. He suggested that I get the Red Sea Reactor 500 and the Red Sea Indicator. In hindsight, I would rate the RS500 very low as it is way too fluky and underpowered for a 75g tank. I ended up replacing the indicator as well, since it was hard for me to judge blue-green from green from green-yellow. I did like the co2 tubing and timer I bought from them, although they are pricier than other vendors.
Grade: B-
Concepts:
Over the course of 3-4 phone calls, Don spent perhaps 2 hours talking to me, which I was not expecting but pleased with. He wanted to make sure I understood co2, fertilizer, GH/KH, ammonia, cycle, etc. I already had a concept of most of these ideas, but he filled in some blanks, and if you are brand new to planted tanks, he would be a wealth of knowledge. I am not sure if he is always correct about the firm statements he makes, since other trusted sources here on AC and elsewhere contradicted a few points he made, overall I would say he wants to make sure people know there stuff before the plants are mailed out.
Grade: A-
Format:
I took some notes during the phone conversations, but could only get a fraction of this in notes. I also did not tape the calls, so I can't go back to them. As much as most people probably prefer to talk to a live person on a phone instead on emails, I think lack of detailed emails is a major weakness. I really wish the entire conversation beyond the first call was handled via email, so I could have permanent record of what was said, the ideas, the suggestions, etc. I also spend the time to send detailed water parameters, questions, etc but they were always followed up with a phone call instead of a replied email, and Don did not necessarily have my emails in from on him when he called. Since he talks to a lot of customers on the phone, I think it was easy to forget who he said what to. Emails would solve all of this, IMHO. He did email me order receipts and after the plants shipped with tracking info, the layout, some planting tips, etc. Don’s voice is very deep; I think he should have been in radio, very nice to listen to. If anyone else were reviewing this, it would probably be an A+. But I really do not like the phone since there is no archive.
Grade: C+
Plant Quality:
Plants arrived the day after they shipped, well packaged, well labeled, in what looked to me to be very high quality stems, pots, and bunches. Reds and purples and greens all looked as they should. Nothing was rotting, or wilted, each had a small amount of water in the bag. See my photos in previous posts. The only thing I was surprised by was the short size of the background plants. Obviously they will grow, but I was thinking for the number of plants I paid for (65), that they tank would look some-what full. Since all the plants were babies, or maybe teenagers, my tank definitely did not look "full" once the planting was done. This is a minor point.
Grade: A-
Directions:
Directions were emailed and send printed out in a sealed zip lock bag. Well written, but general, not specific to my plants. Some additional directions were on a few of the plant zip-locks, and also special directions for the HC were emailed.
Grade: A
Selection:
This one is hard, since I knowingly and willingly went with a plant vendor who chooses the plants for you. If you do this, you can’t really fault the vendor. I think I did get quite a few different species, I am not really sure if they are common or rare, or what they will look like together when they are full grown. I think it will look nice, and Don has been doing these layouts for people for a long time, so I think it will work out. If you want particular plants, you’re better off on your own.
Grade: A
Quantity:
The plant package I ordered was for 75+ gallons, with 65 plants. I technically did receive 65 plants, including one they call the “free” plant. I think that I was expecting a baker’s dozen in the sense that 8 stems off XX plant would be more like 10 stems, or 8 really big stems, but I got exactly what was listed. No big letdown, but not a totally amazing surprise is a good way either.
Grade: A-
Price:
Again, price is something I knowingly sacrificed in order to have a one-stop-shop for my plants, with one person to talk to and deal with. I could have paid less, I could have paid more. Overall, I am very happy. But if price is a major issue for you, look to AC classifieds. I paid $144.00, but just today saw a pretty extensive AC classified for at least as many stems as I got, for like $35.00. Of course, you don’t see deals like that every day, and that price doesn’t get you phone calls, layouts, directions, etc. I would still go with freshwateraquariumplants.com to start, but future purchases will be made in classifieds for specific plants as my need arises. I had to pay $20.00 extra of have them shipped overnight so they would not be even more delayed (see delay below).
Grade: B
Issues:
If you have been reading this thread, you know that they plant shipment was delayed 3 times. The first delay was a week, and I asked for it. I was not ready for plants yet. The second time was due to a tank crashing on Don, (what he told me), and some of the plants needed for my package would have to come in from some of their suppliers. When these arrived late, and for other unknown reasons, my plants were delayed a few more days. In the end, it didn’t really matter. But when you are waiting for plants, and your boss wonders where his money went, it kind of stinks. Don did keep me updated though, so I never really thought I was getting scammed. If plants were DOA, it was my understanding Don would replace them. Thankfully, all my plants seemed fine.
Grade: B
Misc.:
From what I can tell, the plants were totally snail free. This may be a plus for some people. The layout I received was supposedly tailored for me and my specific tank, but in the end I think it was a standard boiler plate layout, which is fine, since it probably have a proven track record for success. I am not 100% sure on this, but reasoning behind this is that I actually told Don I was planning on NOT having driftwood or rocks in time for the layout design and plant arrival, and yet there they were on the finalized layout. Again, emails back and forth would have solved this I think. Again, not a big deal, I left in two cichlid stones I had and a small piece of driftwood from my kid’s tank. In the end, I think it will look great. I however, would not spend the extra $20.00 for the professionally designed layout, since I think it is redundant with the price you pay for the plant packages. As far as I can tell, you get a nice color printed layout with any plant package. Maybe this cost goes to the time Don spends on the phone with customers?
Grade: B
Follow-up:
Don has not called since the plants shipped, but I think he might check in after a week or two. I’ll let you know. He did send me the tracking info and I confirmed via email when the plants arrived. I plan on sending him a picture after a month, and I think he is genuine about wanting to help people and make sure they are happy.
Grade: TBD, probably A.
Look of Layout:
Until the background plants grow tall, and the foreground plants spread out, I am not going to make a call yet. I think for now, it looks a little too “planted” in terms of neat little rows, etc. I am hoping more for “jungle”, which I think will happen soon enough.
Grade: TBD, probably A.
Overall:
Overall I am happy. I would say to save some money and buy equipment elsewhere, but Don actually recommended Dr Fosters for some of my stuff, so there was no pushy sales for equipment, this was appreciated. Don is very knowledgeable, but no one should take all their advice from one person. I would say Don is an excelled teacher, but if you are not going to spend hours, days, weeks lurking on AC or other planted tank enthusiast sites, there is no way he alone can walk a person start to finish, nor should he have to. I think on a few points, he was also mistaken. But everyone who posts here is also wrong or at least misunderstood on occasion. Can’t fault them for that. I actually did not expect the amount of time Don takes with customers on the phone. I thought it was just a matter of getting my tank size, wants, driftwood placement, water parameters, livestock plans, etc. So that was nice little surprise.
Grade (not an average): B+
Did I leave anything out?
Check them out here.
:mwave:
