Plastic Plants From Ebay...... :/

[MrsM]

hi just wanted to warn anyone wanting to buy ebay plants...i bought a dozen, possibly more, and they all had some white stone/ceramic/plaster kind of base. Not sure what it was but they made my water cloudy and VERY high ph, kh and gh...i struggled for ages to work out how come any new fish i added died within a day...but after extensive testing and research ive found that it WAS indeed the "stone" bases from the ebay plants....so, just a warning...

 

[Tuxyu3]

Out of curiosity did they feel porous, rough and relatively soft or smooth and hard or perhaps something different entirely?

 

[MrsM]

they were pourus, quite rough but looked smooth and yes they were hard....ill get a pic if you like, just so you know?

 

[Tuxyu3]

I personally do not use plastic plants so i am not at risk of falling into this trap. I was curious because most people warn against any stone/rock that feels porous as they are prone to dissolving in the water so i wondered if this was the case

 

[MrsM]

yes well, i know this now...dohh...never mind all plants removed i want a real look tank so the purple and red flowers had to go!! i could have done with you telling me that weeks ago

 

[crazyforcordoras]

The base was probably made of lLimestone, something commonly used in African Cichlid tanks.

 

[MrsM]

well i got a load of them if anyone wants them!! they arent going in my tank again

 

[TetraFin]

hi just wanted to warn anyone wanting to buy ebay plants...i bought a dozen, possibly more, and they all had some white stone/ceramic/plaster kind of base. Not sure what it was but they made my water cloudy and VERY high ph, kh and gh...i struggled for ages to work out how come any new fish i added died within a day...but after extensive testing and research ive found that it WAS indeed the "stone" bases from the ebay plants....so, just a warning...

Im thinking of buying some plastic plants very soon, and possibly off of ebay.... can you advise of the manufacture name of plants you bought, so I can avoid getting the same ones? Or even the shops name, (if you bought them from an ebay shop!) Thank you!

 

[MrsM]

ill sort out some pics and ill list where i got them from, i think they come from 3 different ebay shops....i still think it was only the bases that disrupted the water chemistry, so maybe if you could find another way of "weighing" down the plant...they may be fine...

 

[MrsM]

ok here are some pics of the plants and bases...and also a pic of the test i carried out....the 2 glasses have tap water in and in 1 i put a few of the bases to see how they effected the water after a day or so....well the gh, kh and ph were VERY effected...sky high infact...maybe if i only used 1 or 2 of the plants id have been ok but as i wanted a heavily planted look i got a "few"...... you can see that the 2 glasses look different, the one with the bases in has gone a murky cloudy colour, that was one problem i found hard to shift too at the time they were in my tank....cloudy water, it was never really crystal clear as it is now theyre gone...

hi just wanted to warn anyone wanting to buy ebay plants...i bought a dozen, possibly more, and they all had some white stone/ceramic/plaster kind of base. Not sure what it was but they made my water cloudy and VERY high ph, kh and gh...i struggled for ages to work out how come any new fish i added died within a day...but after extensive testing and research ive found that it WAS indeed the "stone" bases from the ebay plants....so, just a warning...

Im thinking of buying some plastic plants very soon, and possibly off of ebay.... can you advise of the manufacture name of plants you bought, so I can avoid getting the same ones? Or even the shops name, (if you bought them from an ebay shop!) Thank you!

most of the plants on ebay have these stone bases...theyre from china, hongkong and i also got some from frankfurt and even UK!! so just be carful keep an eye on your water params...

 

[TetraFin]

Thank you!

 

[MrsM]

 

[cpwebsite]

That stinks. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[Smelliot]

Shame I just bought about 20+ plants off eBay oh well some of them have the nice safe plastic bases.

 

[DrRob]

Drop of limescale cleaner on them (or neat vinegar if you haven't got the limescale cleaner), if they fizz, they don't go near anything sub malawi hardness level tanks. My guess is that they're using plaster of paris to make the bases.