Vallis? Vallis?

[seantheprawn]

hi all


i was just wondering, would you say 1.5 wpg is enough to keep vallis healthy and happy?

also what type of fertiliser is good for them, the one you put into the roots? or the 1 you put straight into the water? like so do they take it up through the leaves or roots?

thanx
sean

 

[simonbrown403]

Vallis usually draws most of its nutrients from the water through its leafs.

I've grown them in 1wpg without a problem as long as there leafs can grow up close to the light, they will do fine.

Sand is fine, you don't need to use root tabs or nutrient rich substrates although it do help, just a good fert dosed once a week if you want to keep it simple.
Something like seachem complete, tropical master grow.

 

[seantheprawn]

hmm thats interesting lol, i got two completely contrasting pieces of information, so weve got the heavy root feeders, yet they also draw up most of the nutrients through the leaves. i dont know who to believe, i mean you both look like very distinguished and experienced aquarists.

so anyone willing to help to tip the scales n let us know if vallis is actually a root feeder or leaf feader?

cheers

 

[Qays]

And to make it harder, they didnt comment on eachothers difference of opinion!

I have no idea about vallisneria, and i want to know if it can be grown in 1.3wpg

 

[Themuleous]

Haha nice one simon and FKNM! You've confused a relative newbie (to TFF at least ) in two easy moves!

I cant say Ive had any luck with valls, but they are indeed heavy root feeds and root tabs or a plant substrate is a must. They also do best in hard water as they do remove minerals from the water, think this might be what simon is talking about.

Basically they do best with root ferts and hard water, that clear it up?

Sam

 

[seantheprawn]

lol, trust me to come back after a big break and start lots of confusion.

owell it all seems to be cleared up, vallis are root feeders, so some root tabs etc should keep em healthy.

and thanks Themuleous for the last post clear up, and to Qays, id say 1.3wpg would be enough to keep vallis, i mean im going to keep em at 1.5, so its only .2 above you, so we should be fine


well thanks for the help fellas
cu round the forum.

 

[nmonks]

I have Vallisneria spiralis in a 180 litre (~47 US gal.) tank with 60 W of light, and my vallis grow just fine. Vallisneria tortifolia and Vallisneria asiatica didn't seem to do well (i.e., they died out) but that might have been more to do with the soft, acid water than the lighting. I've certainly kept Vallisneria asiatica "gigantea" in tanks with remarkably little light at other times.

Whether or not they extract nutrients from the water I do not know, but pond soil or laterite are, in my experience, best if you want rapid growth. As mentioned about, soft, acid water isn't optimal. Hard water seems best, and the do grow very well in slightly brackish, too.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[simonbrown403]

Haha nice one simon and FKNM! You've confused a relative newbie (to TFF at least ) in two easy moves!

I cant say Ive had any luck with valls, but they are indeed heavy root feeds and root tabs or a plant substrate is a must. They also do best in hard water as they do remove minerals from the water, think this might be what simon is talking about.

Basically they do best with root ferts and hard water, that clear it up?

Sam

Now he knows how we all felt when we first started .

I was just trying to illustrate that you can grow vallis without special substrates, as i have grown them just as well in sand with just weekly liquid ferts.
(my wife has vallis in her chiclid tank with play sand and no ferts apart that which the fish produce)

Best thing is to try it for yourself, as plants grow differently in different tanks.

Simon.

 

[Themuleous]

Interesting, dont know that simon

 

[TammyLiz]

I had corkscrew val in a low light tank, and the older leaves died as fast as the new ones could sprouted up. Not sure if it was because of the lighting or something else, but when I moved them to a slightly brighter tank they stopped losing leaves. Keep in mind that smaller tanks need higher wpg than larger ones, so to get a better answer on whether they would work or not, you may want to post more details.

 

[phlawed]

i have both straight and corkscrew vals....my corkscrews did as someone else said, they shed all their original leaves but cam up with almost double more, only thing is they didnt grow to half the height as the original leaves, my straight vals stay green and look healthy, but have not noticed any growth in height as of yet....but only been husing eco-complete substrate on them for 1 week, so will keep you updated if this helps them.