where to buy plants in Sacramento/Davis area

I have been to quite a few pet/fish stores in the area and the plant
selection is limited and the quality poor. I am looking for some low
light plants for a small aquarim. Anyone have suggestions for shops or
plants to sell? I would rather not have to buy online.

Thanks,
Chris

I have been to quite a few pet/fish stores in the area and the plant
selection is limited and the quality poor. I am looking for some low
light plants for a small aquarim. Anyone have suggestions for shops or
plants to sell? I would rather not have to buy online.


Hey, I live in Davis and I've found the best place in town is Petcetera,
over by the corner of 4th & D. streets. There isn't ever much there, but it's
restocked constantly with random stuff, and the old man half of the couple that
runs it really knows his stuff if you get him talking. You can normally find
java ferns, crypts and anubias there which might work out for you. He gets a
variety of random plants frequently from whatever magical fish markets he goes
to in Sacramento and a few locals like myself. You can always drop me an email
if you are in town and I could dig up some clippings if you're interested in
any of the junk I keep in my tanks.
As for Sacramento, give Capitol Aquarium a try. They're huge, they've got
lots of stuff, including a decent plant selection.

Wasted Nyght wrote:

I have been to quite a few pet/fish stores in the area and the plant
selection is limited and the quality poor. I am looking for some low
light plants for a small aquarim. Anyone have suggestions for shops or
plants to sell? I would rather not have to buy online.


Hey, I live in Davis and I've found the best place in town is Petcetera,
over by the corner of 4th & D. streets. There isn't ever much there, but it's
restocked constantly with random stuff, and the old man half of the couple that
runs it really knows his stuff if you get him talking. You can normally find
java ferns, crypts and anubias there which might work out for you. He gets a
variety of random plants frequently from whatever magical fish markets he goes
to in Sacramento and a few locals like myself. You can always drop me an email
if you are in town and I could dig up some clippings if you're interested in
any of the junk I keep in my tanks.
As for Sacramento, give Capitol Aquarium a try. They're huge, they've got
lots of stuff, including a decent plant selection.

Heh, neat that there's three of us from Davis that are on this newsgroup.
Maybe we should form a club or something so we can talk about these things
(like the other half of that couple, heh) in a less permanent medium and
swap plant clippings or fry or snails (want some MTS? please, take some).
Ask me in another month when I'm done with my qualifying exams though.
Until then I'll be lucky enough to get enough sleep and free time to just
do regular tank maintanence and nurse the sick calvus I purchased at
auction back to health (still have one refusing to eat). Maybe attempt yet
again to get rid of the brush algae in the betta tank. Just have to love
the algae battles in Davis water when the tank's too small for most good
nutrient sopping plants and also too small for SAEs.

Heh, neat that there's three of us from Davis that are on this
newsgroup.
Maybe we should form a club or something so we can talk about these things
(like the other half of that couple, heh) in a less permanent medium and
swap plant clippings or fry or snails (want some MTS? please, take some).

Sounds like a good idea. I would be interested in an informal club for
the Davis area. I just bought a tank (Haven't had one since moving to
Davis from the Seattle area four years ago). I should be getting the
equipment I ordered on line in a week, and then I will be good to go. I
will check out Pet Cetera again. I think it had been a while since they
had got new plants in last time I was there.

Ask me in another month when I'm done with my qualifying exams though.

Good luck on your quals! My email is: cjdugaw at ucdavis dot edu
Drop me a email when you are done.

Chris

As for Sacramento, give Capitol Aquarium a try. They're huge, they've got
lots of stuff, including a decent plant selection.

Captiol is good also. Also SAS sells plants at their monthly auctions
along with great fish prices and the $ goes to the club.

Nearby: In Albany off of I-80/580 in the bay area(1-1.5 hrs), there is
perhaps the best plant store in the USA. Albany Aquarium on San Pablo
is a planted tank store with many rare species.

If you go down that way, stop in.

These are some of the better options.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Chris wrote:
I have been to quite a few pet/fish stores in the area and the plant
selection is limited and the quality poor. I am looking for some low
light plants for a small aquarim. Anyone have suggestions for shops or
plants to sell? I would rather not have to buy online.

I see that you're from UCD as well. There's a place on 4th St in Davis
called Pet Cetera that usually has java ferns and crypts for fairly
reasonable prices. I don't care too much for the attitude of one of the
owners so I rarely shop there, but the plants (those mentioned above) I
got from them last year are growing like weeds. They're really good
species for Davis' hard water.

In Sacramento, there's Capital Aquarium downtown near the 99/80/50
interchange. I can't remember the exact address as I just know how to get
there, but do a web search and that should get you some contact info. They
have a whole row of tanks for plants, but there's not always a wide
selection. Strangely enough, the PetCo on Arden Way across from Arden
Fair Mall also seems to have a lot of plants. Actually found some
hairgrass there recently. First time I'd seen it in a store in the area in
a long while.

I'd offer you some of my java fern, but I've been battling green hair
algae for a long while. Davis tap water has a ton of fertilizers in it and
I got a plant with some algae and it went wild. It did sop up much of the
nitrates, but is rather unsightly and almost trapped my Cyprichromis
several times.

Try Petcetra downtown (4th & D). Ron is really knowledgeable and has
excellent
stock. He doesn't have a ton of plants, but what he's got is good and very
affordable. I'd guess that if you wanted a specific plant, he's try to get
it for you.

You could try Capitol Aquarium in Sacramento (29th & X). They have a broader
selection, but the quality is average-to-poor and the prices are high. And
the staff
is not particularly knowledgeable--they seem to really only be interested in
marine
reef tanks. And they stock painted fish!

-coelacanth

P.S. Maybe we should form a Davis Aquarium Club and Plant Buying Club ;-)

"Chris" wrote in message ...
I have been to quite a few pet/fish stores in the area and the plant
selection is limited and the quality poor. I am looking for some low
light plants for a small aquarim. Anyone have suggestions for shops or
plants to sell? I would rather not have to buy online.

Thanks,
Chris

WOW, this thread took off. It seems we all had the same idea with Petcetera
and Capital Aquarium. I also totaly understand the battle for algae control
with Davis tap water. My own efforts involve a pair of 20 gallon tanks that go
crazy with algae. And yeah, they're too small for SAEs. I'd have to have a
horde of amano shrimp or something to even make a dent, so it's a very manual
task each week. Anyway, if anyone wants to form a Davis Club, or something
less official, send me an email at . I'll compile whomever
writes and we can start a little email thread in private and see if anyone's
got anything they want to pass around, algae be damned. I know I don't need
any more MTS, but I've got a few types of grass that I need to prune back, a
couple crypts, hornwart, duckweed(like anyone WANTS that), and some random
stuff that I'd be happy to help anyone out with. Mostly, I'd just be happy to
meet some people in the area who are into this. I got into the hobby a couple
years ago to raise fish, but fell in love with plants when a friend's roommate
had some awesome tanks that inspired me. He up and moved right as I set up my
planted tanks a year ago though. Grrr.

Let me know if anyone's interested. Ken

Hello, I live in the Davis area but I have a sal****er tank. I've
been to petcetera many times and have gotten tons of stuff. Anyone
else have a sal****er? (I realize that this is a freshwater newsgroup
but no harm done)

mm (Wasted Nyght) wrote in message ...
WOW, this thread took off. It seems we all had the same idea with Petcetera
and Capital Aquarium. I also totaly understand the battle for algae control
with Davis tap water. My own efforts involve a pair of 20 gallon tanks that go
crazy with algae. And yeah, they're too small for SAEs. I'd have to have a
horde of amano shrimp or something to even make a dent, so it's a very manual
task each week. Anyway, if anyone wants to form a Davis Club, or something
less official, send me an email at . I'll compile whomever
writes and we can start a little email thread in private and see if anyone's
got anything they want to pass around, algae be damned. I know I don't need
any more MTS, but I've got a few types of grass that I need to prune back, a
couple crypts, hornwart, duckweed(like anyone WANTS that), and some random
stuff that I'd be happy to help anyone out with. Mostly, I'd just be happy to
meet some people in the area who are into this. I got into the hobby a couple
years ago to raise fish, but fell in love with plants when a friend's roommate
had some awesome tanks that inspired me. He up and moved right as I set up my
planted tanks a year ago though. Grrr.

Let me know if anyone's interested. Ken