Our Philosophy and Guarantee.

Our Aquarium Plant Nursery. I have been growing aquarium plants since I was 11 years old. And I maintain several "enjoyment aquariums" in my house. I honestly wish I had time for "additions". The whole family enjoys them so much that they ask me from time to time why we can't have another one. Unfortunately I just don't have the time to take on more. Now a little about how we do it. There is more to growing aquarium plants than just "sticking them in the gravel". There is lighting, water chemistry, filter maintenance, pruning, propagation, fertilization, and many other factors to take into consideration. We actually grow (not hold!) our plants, we do not order them from the middleman and then just ship them on to you. Occasionally when we run low or are out of stock we need to replenish our grow stock to keep up with the demands for a particular plant. We restock with aquarium plants shipped from the wholesale nursery, but they are still top quality aquarium plants that have had some grow time in our tanks.

Our Growing Methods. We use tried and true methods in growing our aquarium plants. We optimize their health and beauty with "tricks of the trade" that we have learned over many years of experience. There are methods we use for algae control (elimination of), fertilization, and propagation that are unique in the overall planning and planting, only to us. We maintain an inventory of Sword plants that are growing submerged so that when you order them they do not have to go through the transformation from emersed growth to submerged (many plants like swords are grown emersed in the large nurseries and lose their emersed leaves to grow submerged leaves). Some plants like Anubias are ordered and then acclimated to aquarium growth, as it is not cost feasable to propagate them due to their very slow growth patterns (however they are top quality and beautiful). Our bunch plants grown in our nursery are superior to the plants shipped from a harvested wholesale nursery. Why? Because they benefit from our tried and true optimum conditions. Thus they have more reserves in terms of time from the tank to you. As to the bulb plants like Aponogetons and Lotus we grow them from the bulbs, and optimize the conditions for that species. We do not use one central system because each aquarium plant has their own requirements as to temp, water hardness, PH, water movement, and other factors to produce beautiful specimens. And yet they are adaptable to your conditions. We are also continually adding new species that are not available to you yet, but will be in the near future. Some are specimens that are relatively rare in the aquarium plant industry.

Our Philosophy.We are hobbyists first and foremost. What that means is that we are aquarium plant and tropical fish enthusiasts. We like sharing information with new hobbyists as well as more experienced aquarium plant hobbyists. We know that questions are an important part of the ordering process and we pride ourselves on being able to answer all of your questions in a timely manner. While this is how we make our living, we really do it for the love of the business of aquarium plants and aquariums. We even get excited when one of our plants flowers! See the Rotalla Wallichi below. We know that once you get started in this hobby that you will get excited about having an aquarium that is not only functional for the fish, but beautifully planted as an underwater garden! There are few things in life as stunning as a well planted underwater garden in my humble opinion. I hope you enjoy our aquarium plants as much as we enjoy growing them for you!

In Conclusion. We are committed to offering you the premium aquarium plants that we grow along with the advice on how to keep them beautiful. If for any reason you are not happy with the quality or they are damaged in shipping we will replace them at our expense. We would also like to receive pictures of your setup and to have you let us know how "things are growing". We know you will be "hooked for life" when you experience your own underwater garden.
Don Matakis, Owner and Aquatic Grower & Senior Aquaculturist for Freshwater Aquarium Plants