Frequently Asked Questions

I am proud of the place we keep all of our plants for your planted aquarium. In the spring of 2012, while my wife was in Las Vegas at a bachelorette party, I started building the greenhouse that is now the home of Dustin’s Fishtanks.

From the start it was designed for one thing. GROWING AQUARIUM PLANTS. I paid $3,000 bucks to have a 12×24 foot concrete slab laid down. They guys who did it were great and got it done before my wife was home. (Our yard was still ripped up pretty good from the bulldozers, but at least she could see where we were headed) They put a massive drain smack in the middle of the floor with two drain pipes that shoot out into my yard. One of the drains actually flows into the roots of one of the luckiest maple trees ever. The tree is 4 years old and has grown at a fast pace with all the dirty tank water we are feeding it these days.

The greenhouse was purchased from http://www.completegreenhousekit.com/ and they were super helpful. I’d love to tell you that the greenhouse was put together in a weekend. Ha Ha. Anyone following my YouTube Channel, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MraGiwtPNMI will know that it took ALL SUMMER.   Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was my 12 X 24 greenhouse. Building it was mega validating and a great “Man” project. I have to give my buddy Steve a bunch of credit as he was a tremendous help. I will say that the greenhouse was completed around September of 2012, started in April. I probably could have put it together a little faster, but why rush it and make it stressful? I also wanted to make sure it was done right, so I went slow and took my time, planning it out every step of the way.
I never could have imagined that I would have a greenhouse full of both great aquarium plants and some fish as well. It makes me happy to just go out there and chill in the mornings. The sun blasts its left wall all morning and both the fish and plants love it and looks amazing.

It is also a riot to have so many tanks that are made for only one species or separated out for different plants. If get something new in, I can throw a smaller tank up in no time and get it rolling for just that plant alone.   I have three 10 gallon aquariums that are each setup for their own moss. Currently I have Java Moss, Taiwan Moss and Flame Moss. I am still growing out the Taiwan Moss and Flame Moss before I put them up for sale on here.

The greenhouse aquariums are as follows.   We have 3 – 125 gallon tanks along the left wall when you walk in. These get hit with a pretty substantial amount of light in the summer months as they are on the east wall. When you walk in the door and look straight ahead you will see 4 – 75 gallon tanks.   All of these 7 tanks have sand on the bottom and our own special fertilizers to help feed your future plants at their roots. I mention this as I am known for how I keep my plants in a dirted aquarium, or using dirt under my gravel in my tanks. While this will always be the case in my display tanks, we are simply too in and out of the tanks in the greenhouse. The combination of us constantly removing plants and the extreme amounts of light the tanks get resulted in significant amount of algae. We tried it for awhile but you simply can’t get a good balancing point in the tanks that you are constantly changing the bioload. So today, (after a battle with Bryan to keep them dirted- which I lost) we are now running pool filter sand along with our own root ferts in all of these main tanks.

But you can’t keep a dirted man down. I have a few tanks that I still use dirt in. One of these tanks is a 55 gallon which we call “The Jungle” This tank is where I plant all of the more exotic aquarium plants that might require a bit more nutrients out of the gate. The tank houses Crinum Natan, Red Tiger Lotus and a bunch of Crypts. It is also a great spot plant aquarium plants that come in that are under sized or are cuttings off of a larger plant that need a place to grow out. I also have a 40 tall which i keep exclusively Baby Tears in. While it is kind of a waste to keep such a low growing plant in such a tall tank, it certainly looks cool   This video is all about those baby tears: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzdcxUf1abI.   I recently setup a 29 gallon as well which isn’t dirted that houses nothing but Anubias (which, I will add, I always try to have a bunch of different species of Anubias in stock as it is Bryans favorite plan).

Speaking of taking great care of plants. I am really proud to talk about just how we take care of our tanks out in the greenhouse. Unlike a regular aquarium in your home, we are faced with different environment for growing and caring for aquatic plants. For starters we are dealing with plants that come in straight from Florida, Africa and even Taiwan. We do our best to get those plants in top shape before sending them out to you.

EVERY WEEK WE DO %50 WATER CHANGES ON ALL OF OUR TANKS.

Weekly water changes is a great rule for your tanks at home and I take a great deal of pride in sharing that we do this EVERY week. If a tank gets really bad, we will simply take it down to nothing and start over, before putting any new aquarium plants into it. Not sure how you or your fish tanks feel after a big water change but imagine that feeling times 13 tanks!
p.s. In case you are counting, 125, 125, 125, 75, 75, 75, 75, 55, 40, 29, 10,10,10 for a total of 829 gallons, my goal is 1000 .

We are excited to hook you up.
Tank On!

Shove clay under them, if you aren’t using dirt. They are adjusting and are hardy. Look for new growth and trim back dying leaves that are taking away energy from the new ones that are more built for your water and tank. Give the plants a month to really get adjusted to your tank. (this goes with all plants really…)

They will be fine.

If yellowing continues after plants are established you should try adding potassium to your tank.

Put the clay in soft as it is. Do it quickly and place it at the base of the roots of the plants.

I have a 20 gallon with rock gravel(no dirt). Light provided by LED, can you keep live plants with LED lights? Lights are on about 12 hours a day.

I would be more concerned about the lack of food that your plants have in an all gravel tank. You’ll need to be adding nutrients.

Some LED’s are better than others – I was not a fan until I found – and extensively tested – the lights I now carry: http://dustinsfishtanks.com/aquarium-plants/lights/.

Check out this video on the science of aquarium lighting: http://dustinsfishtanks.com/planted-aquarium-lighting/thursday-night-lights-plants/.

Have questions? Let us know at service@dustinsfishtanks.com

I wouldn’t for a long time until the plants are established. Right now you have plenty of excess co2. Give it like 3 months IMO.

Ahh, the goldfish planted tank. I love the idea. The trick is to have tons of plant out of the gate, not all will survive but some are better than others. I’d do anubias for sure, lots of duckweed floating at the top, the goal is to get them eating duckweed and leaving others alone… People have done goldfish planted tanks with Amazon Swords, Jungle Val and Java Fern.

I have an aquarium plant package specially designed for your goldfish tank here: http://dustinsfishtanks.com/aquarium-product/goldfish-planted-combo/
You never know with goldfish though. You can certainly pull it off, I love goldfish, but understand their are risks.

Cichlids can be tough on plants – depending on the species, they like to do a lot of digging. We recommend going with primarily rhizome plants like anubias which can be tied to rocks or driftwood. They also have tough leaves and, I’m told – don’t taste great.

I have an aquarium plant package specially designed for your cichlid tank here: Cichlid Plant Combo

YES- You can grow Aquarium Plants without dirt under your planted tank substrate. People do it all the time. The biggest thing is that you are going to be constantly be feeding your plants.

HOWEVER- With dirt under your substrate, your aquarium plants will have a constant supply of food. Plants eat nutrients primarily from their roots. So having a dirted tank feeds your plants right where they are hungry.

I have lots of videos on how to dirt a planted tank in less than an hour. (click here)

If you still don’t want to dirt your planted tank. You should consider buying aquarium plants that don’t require dirt in the substrate. We have plants like Anubia and Java Fern for sale that you can tie to a rock or piece of driftwood. No dirt needed.

If you already have plants with roots but no dirt. You can pick up some the great fertilizers we have for sale. Or just grab some clay, you just need to ball it up and shove it down in the roots of your current plants.

We take all major Credit Cards and Debit Card through Pay Pal. We use Pay Pal which is the most secured and trusted forms of Credit Card Payment.

We also recently started taking "Shop Pay" to split up your payments.

How quickly you get your plants depends on three factors.
1. What day of the week you ordered your plants.
2. Where you live in the United States.
3. What day we ship them out (Monday or Tuesday)
We ship all of our orders out on either Monday or Tuesday of every week. The Aquarium Plants will get to you 2 to 3 days after that. (4 Days to WA, OR, CA, AZ ect)

Tracking is sent automatically when the order ships and you can also sign up to text alerts for when it ships out and is delivered ect.

If you order on a Monday or Tuesday and are on the West Coast, your order most likely won't ship until the following Monday. If we ship a Washington order on a Tuesday- it is going to sit over the weekend and rot. So we ship them as fast as we can on Monday mornings.

Want a great start on your planted tank? Get an Aquarium Plant Package from Dustin’s Fish Tanks.

Not sure what kind of aquarium plants to get? Unsure of what species are hardy or which kinds of plants should go in the front of the tank and which ones should go in the back ground? Don’t worry, Dustin has an Aquarium Plant Package for you and your tank.

Over HALF of the aquarium plant orders we ship out are Aquarium Plant Packages. Yes, we call them “Killer Planted Combo’s” but it’s the same deal. Our aquarium plant packages are great.

Sometimes knowing which aquarium plants you want can be a challenge, especially if you are just starting out in the planted tank hobby. Why risk getting something that you aren’t sure will make it in your tank? Our Aquarium Plant Packages can get you off to a great start with plants that fit your skill level.
I’ve found that my niche in this great hobby is helping beginners get into it. If you are a beginner you need to check out our Beginner Planted Combo Aquarium Plant Packages. These Aquarium Plant Packages are designed to give you a nice mix of HARDY aquarium plants that will get you off to a nice start. We have several different beginner plant aquarium packages to choose from. If you are a rookie, get started with one of our Beginner Planted Combos.

After you have your tank up and rolling along good for awhile, you have to check out some of our higher level Aquarium Plant Packages. We work with you to make a combo to your liking. With our Standard Combos, on up to our highest level, “Golden Touch Combo” you get that next level of Aquarium Plant Package you are looking for. Happy customers are loyal customers so we talk with you about your current tank setup and develop an amazing aquarium plant package to fit your tank and your goals. These Aquarium Plant Packages are always top notch and are filled with the plants your are looking for or simply can’t get. We also throw in plants that aren’t even on the site.

The bottom line is that Dustin’s Fish Tanks DOMINATES at making a great Aquarium Plant Package for you. Call us or fill out the Contact Form to get your tank what it wants, get it a Killer Planted Combo from Dustin’s Fish Tanks.

We ship to the United States Only. We do not ship to any other countries at this time. (No Mexico, Canada or Puerto Rico- sorry)

Some plants cannot be shipped into certain states, so make sure when you order that a plant you want is not regulated in your state.

We do our best to make sure we don’t ship snails on your plants. HOWEVER THIS IS Nature. If you are concerned about snails getting into your tank. STOP, Before you add them, take 5ml of bleach (around the size of a cap off a 2liter bottle) and ONE GALLON OF WATER. Dip the plants in that solution for a good 10 count. After that, rinse the plants in separate tank water and add them to your tank. This should kill anything unwanted that might be on them.

If there are any items on your order that are back ordered, then entire order will be held until the back ordered item is available. Usually your order will only be delayed one week, but if it will be longer than a week we will generally offer a substitute or store credit for the unavailable item.