Substrate dilemma

[gimme301]

Thanks Rusty I was hoping that'd be the case. I'll give it a few more weeks before I rip it out in disgust and replace it with dancing skeletons.

Sometimes I think I’ve found one I’m doing well with and all that’s really happening is that they’re taking longer to die

That's funny and my thoughts exactly. Man with the amount of money I've thrown away on plants I could have bought a TON of Varget, or paid Salma Hayek to do my water changes for a few months. I'm sure she'd be willing.

 

[Back in the fold14]

@gimme30 and @Rusty_Shackleford Have either of you guys ever heard that Vallisneria is a hard water plant or that , lacking hard water , it does something to harden the water ? Vallisneria is a cool plant and I like that grassy look and I like how it sends out runners to propagate itself . There is a picture in Dr. Innes’ book “ Exotic Aquarium Fishes “ of Italian Vallisneria that makes me drool . It’s so thick and luxurious . Dr. Innes even mentions that Vallisneria is his favorite in words that only he can use to say so .
The old time aquarists did not have the fancy lighting we have today and were able to grow these plants so well that I wonder if the hobby has forgotten something or if there’s something we’re over complicating .

 

[Rusty_Shackleford59 174]

Yes Val like harder water, and there is a reason for that.
Val belongs to a group of plants that uses bicarbonates. They actively intake bicarbonates and use enzymes in their leaves to separate out carbon (CO²) which they use for photosynthesis. This is why Val can thrive in a tank with no CO² supplementation. It's more expensive energy wise and the plant would prefer to use CO² in the water column and put the extra energy towards growth.
So in harder, more akaline water there is more potential carbon for Val to use.

 

[Back in the fold14]

Yes Val like harder water, and there is a reason for that.
Val belongs to a group of plants that uses bicarbonates. They actively intake bicarbonates and use enzymes in their leaves to separate out carbon (CO²) which they use for photosynthesis. This is why Val can thrive in a tank with no CO² supplementation. It's more expensive energy wise and the plant would prefer to use CO² in the water column and put the extra energy towards growth.
So in harder, more akaline water there is more potential carbon for Val to use.

Yes ! That’s almost word for word exactly what I once read and was trying to remember . Thanks Man !

 

[Rusty_Shackleford59 174]

You want to know how well Val does in harder water? Check this out.
This is from when I swapped substrates from gravel to BDBS in April.

Now here is the same Val in July.

Inert substrates, no root tabs, just water column ferts.

 

[Back in the fold14]

That is cool ! That’s a really nice stand of Vallisneria ! How are you lighting it ?

 

[Rusty_Shackleford59 174]

That is cool ! That’s a really nice stand of Vallisneria ! How are you lighting it ?

I have 2 Finnex 3.0 fixtures, one in the front, one toward the back. It's a 23.5" deep tank so I needed something with power, but not too expensive. I've got the lights at 80% intensity.

 

[Back in the fold14]

I have 2 Finnex 3.0 fixtures, one in the front, one toward the back. It's a 23.5" deep tank so I needed something with power, but not too expensive. I've got the lights at 80% intensity.

And you are satisfied with them I assume ? Have you had them long ? Are they LED ? Do they make your electric meter spin like a top ?

 

[Rusty_Shackleford59 174]

And you are satisfied with them I assume ? Have you had them long ? Are they LED ? Do they make your electric meter spin like a top ?

I like all the Finnex LED lights I've tried. I have an older Stingray model as well as a Planted + 24/7 SE which was one of the first lights with a 24/7 light cycle, it just didn't have the power to provide enough par for a deep tank. Now if I has a 20 gal. long, which is much shallower I would use it in a heartbeat.
I have the 24" 3.0 and I believe they only draw 29 watts. I bought them in January 2025 and I'm happy with them. Of course a few months after I got them Finnex came out with 3.0 Vivid model. It's basically the same thing with RGB LEDs in addition to the 6500K white LEDs. The 3.0s have the 6500K white leds, 660 nm reds, and some blue lens. The spectrum is not adjustable like it is on the Vivid.
The price point is good though. I bought mine for just under $70 per light. So a lower price point then Chihiros or Week Aqua. If I recall they are also made in the USA which most lights are not.

 

[Back in the fold14]

@Rusty_Shackleford The price is fair enough and the wattage doesn’t sound like it could bankrupt a guy . I’ll look into those . All this talk about Vallisneria is getting to me .