Val Not Growing?

[HHH]

so i bought sometype of val labeled as jungle val but im not too sure now. I bought this plant about 2 monthes ago and i do think it is settled in my tank (no more melting ) but its not growing tall. It sent out 2 runners and a 3rd coming along but its just not getting tall. Another concern of mine is that the leaves are slightly brown. they have a brownish stripes on them even the new runners with grew brown in stead of green! Is this normal? Here is what i have in this tank to grow plants.
2 t8 bulbs at 32w each at 6500k
soil capped with gravel
Iron ferts
no CO2
and no excel.
my tank is a 55 gallon thank you in advance

 

[zoopkamol]

growing plants is a great balancing act.
lights ferts co2

lights usually a constant in your case 64w for 55 gal. T8's
CO2 will be fairly constant but unknown.
ferts ....

lights time on?
lights time off same time every day (timer does this quite nicely)

runners are a good sign ...brown not so good.
i would guess need some ferts and co2 wouldnt hurt. micros what your prolly missing but could be anything
tank temp up/down?
soil depth
keep at it and it will happen dont give up!!

 

[greenmumma141]

When I first started up my 60 gallon, I had a little over 1 wpg as well, and i didn't use co2. All i did was daily dosings of flourish and my vallis grew very nicely good luck!

 

[Sophie]

What's your water hardness like?

 

[HHH]

well my ph is at 7.6 while my high range ph is at 7.8 so i guess i have quite hard water my depth of soil is about 1 inch
light are left on for about 8 hours

 

[Sophie]

well my ph is at 7.6 while my high range ph is at 7.8 so i guess i have quite hard water my depth of soil is about 1 inch
light are left on for about 8 hours

Sounds exactly like mine except I use t5 lights.. Strange, mine grows like a weed. I did notice it grew better when I used RO water, started to brown out when I slowly converted to tap. Perhaps prefers softer water? Which is a complete contradiction on what I've been told. We need a plant expert here!

 

[daizeUK]

I have hard water and my vallis did exactly the same as yours.  Sent out runners, melted then the new growth melted and now it won't grow higher than about 2 inches and just goes brown.  I chucked it out.  I think there's something in the water (or not enough of something in the water) that vallis is picky about.

 

[HHH]

so what do i do? So far waiting more and hope seems like the best thing. Or mabye these guys arent vals ill try to get in a picture tommorw thanks guys!

 

[Sophie]

Yeah sounds like a plan, post a pic so we can ID it.

 

[greenmumma141]

My ph is 8.0, very hard and my vallis does great... It took about two weeks to adjust and finally start growing. Are you sure it's fully settled???

I think it needs more than an iron fert imo. I think if you started dosing something like flourish, you would see a difference.

 

[HHH]

http/m1287.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/OnlyH/20130703_104526_zps95e549fd.jpg.html?o=1&newest=1
not the best pic but its better than nothing
http/m1287.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/OnlyH/20130703_105852_zps39be786c.jpg.html?o=0&newest=1
ok here is a much much better picture the first was kinda shameful

 

[Sophie]

http/m1287.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/OnlyH/20130703_104526_zps95e549fd.jpg.html?o=1&newest=1
not the best pic but its better than nothing

http/m1287.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/OnlyH/20130703_105852_zps39be786c.jpg.html?o=0&newest=1
ok here is a much much better picture the first was kinda shameful

 
http/www.tropica.com/en/plants/plant-articles/vallisneria.aspx

Have a little hunt around on Tropica and see what you can find? My number one resource for plant information.

 

[HHH]

Thanks for the website i looked on there and it seens i have the tiger variant. Im not too sure however. So would the best thing for me to do is to wait some more? And i really cant get flourish becuase the only store that carries it sells for around 20 dollars a bottle . Im currently using Kents marine Iron and Magnesium

 

[Sophie]

Thanks for the website

i looked on there and it seens i have the tiger variant. Im not too sure however. So would the best thing for me to do is to wait some more? And i really cant get flourish becuase the only store that carries it sells for around 20 dollars a bottle

. Im currently using Kents marine Iron and Magnesium

 
I have to say I have no idea on ferts that would be available in America (sorry, assumed because of dollars).
 
Perhaps leave it for a few more weeks, see if it settles and bounces back, if not we can have a good look into particular ferts you can use

 

[Sophie]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/416755-pressurized-co2-equipment-flow-and-fertilization/

Could be of some use