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Ihave, some val. Spiralis that I planted in the background of my tank about a month ago. It is has been sending runners out like mad, which I am fine with. However, I purchased it to provide plant height in the background. At its best it is getting about 12 inches tall and then the blades begin to deteriorate.
Does any one have a clue as to why?
By the way, I don't use flourish excel. No "fake" co2. All other plants are growing like mad.
JOHN CHAMPAGNE
55gallon/4wpg t05/pressurized Co2/moderately planted 9 goldbarbs,10 olive nerite snails,3 ottos, one guppy, 4 green cories, 4 amano shrimp and 6 cardinal tetras.
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| I have problems getting corkscrew val, a pretty similar plant, to grow tall in my tank. How much light are you using? I really think that the val doesn't feel the need to grow as high in my 4 wpg tank. At Petsmart, where I got them, they were much taller and darker green - more chlorophyll. In 4 wpg, they don't grow as tall and the plants are a lighter, almost neon, green. I have yet to see any of my val growth get over 8 inches. I'm using DIY CO2 and it's loving it, though. If the recent upgrade in absorption prompts better growth, I'll let you know. Also, I have soft water and a pH of 7.4. I guess that if high lighting is the culprit, you could shade the val to get higher leaf growth...that would force the plant to grow higher to get the same amount of light. Lot of work, though, or you could use floating plants. I typically have problems with my val with staghorn algae. It overtakes the old leaves and I have to trim them away before they attain max growth. Right now, though, the plants are photosynthesizing like crazy - I can see the oxygen inside their leaves. So hopefully I won't get as much algae and resulting plant death on the bigger leaves - if that's the case, I'll give you an update on whether high-light CO2 val gets any taller. Some val that has grown as runners along the front of the tank where there is absolutely nothing to shade them, not even other val, has yet to grow higher than 3.5 inches. It's been two weeks. Well, I hope my experience with the related plant might be helpful to you. Let us know how it goes!
In the Mountains Of the Mountains For the Mountains
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Thanks for such a thourough response. I too supect that the intense lighting might be the cause. When I added 2 more watts per gallon to my tank, I noticed that my tiger lilly became (over time) much shorter and more compact.
I really like val. Spiralis. The runners are really a cool way to witness one form of propagation in action. It really blows my 4yr old son's mind at how quickly they send out runners. I just am not sure, that under high light conditions, it should be considered a background plant.
I have a plant book and I wonder if mislabeling is a possibility. Vallisernia tortifolia spreads rapidly producing daughter plants from runners. It is listed as a midground plant. It also looks like what I have and it blades do twist. Although, not as much as the cork screw variety.
JOHN CHAMPAGNE
55gallon/4wpg t05/pressurized Co2/moderately planted 9 goldbarbs,10 olive nerite snails,3 ottos, one guppy, 4 green cories, 4 amano shrimp and 6 cardinal tetras.
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Neither am I. Given the short growth of my newest val plants, I'm seriously considering growing it as a foreground or midground plant instead. I just got some foxtail so hopefully it will take the val's place in the background. Stem plants don't seem to have a problem growing to the top. ;)
In the Mountains Of the Mountains For the Mountains
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JCHAMPAGNE (11/13/2008)
Ihave, some val. Spiralis that I planted in the background of my tank about a month ago. It is has been sending runners out like mad, which I am fine with. However, I purchased it to provide plant height in the background. At its best it is getting about 12 inches tall and then the blades begin to deteriorate.
Does any one have a clue as to why?
By the way, I don't use flourish excel. No "fake" co2. All other plants are growing like mad. What type of lighting to you have over the tank?
How big is the tank? Lighting may not be a factor. Is it the tallest plant in the tank?
__________________________________________ 46 Gallon Tank Planted-1 Female German Ram-5 Gymnogeophagus Sp. Norte-6 Class N Endlers Black Bars (Pure Strain)-4 Otto Cats 25 Gallon Planted (High tech)- Two Bolivian Rams- 10 endlers/guppy cross 10 Gallon Tank Planted. (At the office)-6 Class N Endlers Black Bars (Pure Strain)
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My tank is a standard 55 gall. 48" long x 13" wide X 24" tall. I have a total of 4 48" t5 bulbs at 54 watts a piece. I am at 4 WPG.
It is not the tallest plant in the tank, but it has direct access to light and is not shaded at all. I have stem plants like Ludwigia Repens and Rotalla Indica that have no problems making it to the top.
JOHN CHAMPAGNE
55gallon/4wpg t05/pressurized Co2/moderately planted 9 goldbarbs,10 olive nerite snails,3 ottos, one guppy, 4 green cories, 4 amano shrimp and 6 cardinal tetras.
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