[AGA Member] Re: The Aquarium Plant Handbook?

["Robert H" <robertph3@comcast.net>]

>> I had no idea that the catalog was so well
known. As I was reading the question and answer
posted I had a spark occur and realized I have
this catalog. Then I realized that this catalog is
from The Oriental Aquarium not just some mail
order place in Singapore.<<

It is just a cagtalog. I have never quite understood the attraction of this
catalog to people outside the trade. People should also understand that it
is full of plants that are not commonly available in the USA, and importing
them is difficult.  OA is challenging to work with.  I can give you a few
ideas as to what's it like:

a) for the most part you do not know what is available until the shipment
arrives. If plants are missing from your shipment, then that means they are
not available.  You can re order the same plant for months and never get it.
There were a couple of cryps I ordered every two weeks for two years and
never got. They finaly took them out of their catalog.

b) The size of the plants can vary drastically.

c) About a third of the plants in their catalog are not available, at least
they are not making them available to the USA, and several they have not
even given prices to yet. Their price list is older than their current
catalog.  Communication is very difficult.

d) for those familiar with the Pets Warehouse lawsuit against fellow
hobbyists... it all centered around PW importing plants from Oriental
Aquarium.  All the complaints of plants being too small, mis labled,
missing,  whatever was all due to the fact that they were just fowarding the
plants still in their original packaging from Oriental and were subject to
the wims of Oriental Aquarium. (Of course this had nothing to do with all
the other types of complaints against Pets Warehouse, but it was at the core
of what started a lot of the whole mess )

Its a nice book. Just like the Tepoot book... pictures of many plants you
may never actually get to have.  But they are still a great way to get the
not so common plants, and the German hybrids. Eventually most of them
trickle into the USA if you are patient enough.

Robert Hudson
www.aquabotanic.com
Wet Thumb Forums with moderators
Diana Walstad and Roger Miller


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