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Umbella Plant/ For Byron

3K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  Tigris 
#1 ·
This was a topic and question the other day. I was at Petsmart today and found another Umbrella plant, I thought since the first one did really well why not do another one. Here is the scientific name Spathiphyllum Wallisuii. Its a 8" plant with long slender leaves, I will post a picture later tonight when I have more time. It is in one of the topfin plastic tubes.
 
#3 ·
I'm not surprised that plant does not last in the aquarium. It is a terrestrial house plant, common name is Peace Lily. I have one actually--but in the corner of my living room.
 
#4 ·
LOL cool! Atleast we know now. I also googled it and found the same info. Oddly though I had one of these in my tank for two years and it was really pretty. I would argue that it was prettier than my Sword plants and stayed healthy looking. PetSmart, wow they do not put much effort into their plants. It was seven bucks so no biggie if it dies.
 
#5 ·
Yes, this plant will sometimes last for a time submerged. Hiscock even has it in his Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants, in the section on terrestrial plants that may live in an aquarium--or may not. As soon as it begins to die or rot, pull it out. Why Petsmart and others keep selling these as aquarium pants when there are so many true aquarium plants is beyond me; buying what one thinks is a good plant for their tank and having it repeatedly die is discouraging and likely loses some planted tank aquarists.
 
#6 ·
I was fooled into buying some of those plants in a tube from the chain stores before I knew better.

Some did better than others but not one of them lasted more than 6 months or so. And the smell when they rot is hideous.
 
#7 ·
Agreed but I have purchased some nice plants over the last two years in the tubes. They are not all bad and most of them are plants that you see written about here everyday. I only noticed two that were odd with the other being called a ribbon plant which I think grows out of the water as well. In saying that however PetSmart should put more effort in what they choose to sell just as Byron mentioned, it makes no sense to sell these when there are so many to choose from that would be much better.
 
#10 ·
Next time I am there I plan to talk to them about this subject. I do not think they have a bad motive, just not informed about plants. The salespeople know nothing at all about plants and not much about fish. They need a better training program for their employees.
 
#11 · (Edited)
The employees are just following orders - if they were hired for the job that they're not properly trained for, it's the fault of the employers. Maybe TFK forum members can send a group letter to the upper ranks of management and see if we can get a response.

And besides, SOMEBODY in the chain surely knows that this is a terrestrial plant and not aquatic, as in somewhere in the line from production to retail; somebody is purposely deciding to sell them next to Anubias and Amazon swords as suitable for aquariums.
 
#15 ·
I'd be totally up for it, heck I'd even draft the letter. I'm up for some activism from time to time. Are there any other common complaints about big petstore chains? If we have permission of the mods, maybe we can use the Tropical Fish Keeping forum name (make a nice letterhead, or something) to give the message some authority? It'd be great if a mod would sign off on this one (hint, Byron?).
 
#16 ·
My biggest complaint is that the people that staff the aquatic department, can apply to other areas as well, do not have the passion or knowledge. There are many instances where employees try selling products because it's an easy fix instead of explaining or educating fish owners.

My favorite thing I hear is that employees tell people their pH is too high7.8-8.4 when they have live bearers and cichlids.
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#17 ·
Do you guys think it might be like lucky bamboo? Lucky bamboo does fine in an aquarium as long as most of it's leaves stick out of the water. Perhaps that would help it last longer.
My petsmart sells this plant, but they have it on a raised platform and only the roots are in the water. Weird that they're actually doing something right?
 
#18 ·
Tigris, I did some searching and others have made similar initiatives on other forums to send letters to Petsmart (and others) about mistreatment of Bettas, and they sent them back cookie-cutter responses saying that they have experts telling them that "bettas and labyrinth fish live in puddles so it's fine."

Perhaps another strategy needs to be thought through - maybe social media like Facebook can be used to spread the word? Maybe if we do it right we can make enough of a noise for them to actually listen and realize that their customers DO care about humane treatment of animals and that it's in their best interests to start caring as well.
 
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