6 replies to this topic

[maurizio]

Since my hornwort just couldn't make it in there, I decided to try something supposedly "easier", like Vallisneria, and in particular I'm considering the varieties Mini Twister or Asiatica (Tropica 56B and 56A).

1) Has anybody tried both in low-end, low-tech brackish, and if so, which one performs better?

2) I had acclimated the now gone Hornwort for months from freshwater to SG 1.002, and now I'm not very willing to go back to SG 0 again: can I plop these plants straight in there, given the low salinity?

2*39 W T5, sandy substrate.

[nmonks]

Ordinary Vallisneria does fine in brackish, including V. americana and its varieties (in fact some naturally occur in slightly brackish water).

I've never found the tightly-coiled varieties easy to grow, even in freshwater.

Cheers, Neale

[iliveinazoo]

I have the same experience, my Vallis Americana died off over a couple of months but my Vallis Tiger lasted much longer before I killed it off by knocking the SG above 1.005.

[maurizio]

Thank you guys,
any alternative you'd recommend for my case? I'm looking for something tall (20-30 cm) and slender, to make a little corner forest where my glassfish could hide.

Cheers!

[iliveinazoo]

Thank you guys,
any alternative you'd recommend for my case? I'm looking for something tall (20-30 cm) and slender, to make a little corner forest where my glassfish could hide.

Cheers!

I like Aponogeton Crispus, it thrives in brackish water and if you feed it regularly it will produce many leaves, grow quite tall and even flower if you have a humid space above the water level.
Also the Vallis Tiger that I had only died because I pushed it to the brink, it's still worth trying out.

[nmonks]

Ordinary glassfish *are not* brackish water fish, and there's absolutely no reason to keep them above SG 1.002. So, an aquarium designed for them, and perhaps some low-end brackish species that are also happy at SG 1.002 (horseface loaches, bumblebee gobies, mollies, knight gobies, etc) could be planted with almost anything that does well in hard, alkaline water. Vallisneria will be good, but so will Aponogeton crispus, as mentioned above, and the hybrid Aponogeton sold in pet stores as dried-out tubers. Other possibilities include Cryptocoryne ciliata, C. wendtii, Echinodorus bleheri, Java fern, Java moss, Anubias and Crinum calamistratum.

Cheers, Neale

any alternative you'd recommend for my case? I'm looking for something tall (20-30 cm) and slender, to make a little corner forest where my glassfish could hide.

[maurizio]

Thanks to both!

I am indeed at SG 1.002 @ 25 C, and not going anywhere else!

I'll definitely give it a try with a couple of species of Vallis.