Lessons learned buying plants for a large build

[PNW_Nick]

I have a 120p and it is basically impossible to find any hardscape locally for a tank of that size. When my the local shops do have driftwood in stock it's usually for smaller tanks. The plant selection is meager and usually not in very good shape. Of course I realize it's a pretty niche hobby so you can't really expect a local shop to be well stocked with hardscape, etc. I order most of my items online and have had pretty good luck with a couple of vendors so I stick with them.

I would be ecstatic to have one shop within three hours that specialized in planted tanks. I can see myself going for a visit every so often.

I'm planning to make a separate post about my experience, but someone on this forum recommended Belinda's Driftwood on Facebook. This was shipped to me via USPS and the packaging blew me away. I'd highly recommend stalking her page for a piece that speaks to you! I paid $160 for the driftwood + $113 shipping.

Sorry for the weird angle, tried to reduce as much reflection on the glass (this tank is a 120p btw!)

 

[JayP]

I'm planning to make a separate post about my experience, but someone on this forum recommended Belinda's Driftwood on Facebook. This was shipped to me via USPS and the packaging blew me away. I'd highly recommend stalking her page for a piece that speaks to you! I paid $160 for the driftwood + $113 shipping.

Sorry for the weird angle, tried to reduce as much reflection on the glass (this tank is a 120p btw!)

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I recommended Belinda, but I'm surprised you had to pay that much for shipping. Her low shipping costs are one of the reasons to check out her offerings. I imagine, even with her unique wrapping and packing, those really long single branches are what raised your cost.

 

[PNW_Nick]

I recommended Belinda, but I'm surprised you had to pay that much for shipping. Her low shipping costs are one of the reasons to check out her offerings. I imagine, even with her unique wrapping and packing, those really long single branches are what raised your cost.

IMO the shipping wasn't that bad for the piece. Base cost was $91.90 and non standard size was $21. She asked me if I wanted to remove the large branches to save on shipping, but that's a big part of what drew me to this piece. Shipping in general is ridiculously expensive and USPS recently increased what they charged due to fuel charges. For comparison a small flat rate box is now nearly $11 at a discounted rate. Not to mention, the amount of packaging material/time Belinda uses that she doesn't add to the cost of the shipping is baffling. I'll do a full post once I have some time, but this thing was packaged like a tank. It arrived standing like an A on the 2 long branches. She doesn't mess around with the packaging. It took me easily 45 minutes to free the wood.