val rapid growth / removal

[jimired]

greetings all

After the spring auction in calgary I planted some large vals in the back of the tank. The runners quickly spread within a few months I was agressively removing the small plants and runners from the forground. Now the vals have over run the back of the tank. reaching the top of the water level they grow along the surface and are reducing light in the tank. I would say they are about 50 % of the plant biomass. I want to safely remove some of them first. Later I would like to add a similiar but less agressive tall background plant.

Thanks in advance

[Vallisneria]

Do you have a question?

Vals are hardy plants and can be pruned a LOT. you can remove as many runners and plants you need to and if they are getting too long and covering the surface, you can give them a hair cut by trimming the tops off. It doesn't hurt them.

There isn't really a way to make them stop spreading. Take it as a good sign they are taking over your tank. You must be doing something right. Just prune them back and remove baby plantlets each week before they start taking over.

Swords are a good tall background plant for a med to large tank. They don't require as much maintenance as vals or stem plants.

Edited July 23, 2008 by degrassi

[byte]

I removed a lot of plants at one time and that brought on a algae attack a few weeks later. You might want to remove them slowly or you can just move them by sliding or replanting. Picking background plants is easy as most plants grow to the top of the tank with no problem. Find a plant that matches you lights.

[jvision]

I've had good success keeping Val and other runner plants contained with a barrier. One of the best barriers I've used is glass or plastic that comes with light hoods. I don't like cleaning the glass all the time, and I want more light, so I often remove the glass; and, if I have a big enough tank that I'm going to have a 4"+ gravel depth they're the perfect size. You'll want it about 1" higher than the gravel so the runners don't just hop over it and take over the tank.

[werner]

Are they the giant vals? Those things are crazy. You could try one of the smaller varieties- they won't get as long, but there will still be runners. If you've got lots of light, you could try an onion plant (Crinum thaianum). It will still have very long leaves, but won't spread. If you have high light and CO2, Cyperus helferi is one of my favorites. It doesn't get overly long, and is a slow grower that doesn't produce runners.

There's also Hygrophila salicifolia. It's a stem plant, but it has very long, thin leaves that will give a similar (although slightly bushier) appearance. Like most hygros, it's fairly undemanding.

[jimired]

thanks all

I will do it slowy and then I may try the glass barier.

[firestorm]

I've had good success keeping Val and other runner plants contained with a barrier. One of the best barriers I've used is glass or plastic that comes with light hoods. I don't like cleaning the glass all the time, and I want more light, so I often remove the glass; and, if I have a big enough tank that I'm going to have a 4"+ gravel depth they're the perfect size. You'll want it about 1" higher than the gravel so the runners don't just hop over it and take over the tank.

How do you put the barriers in the gravel? is it the part that covers the light, that you need for the barrier? Sounds like a good idea, I would like to know more. I just got some vals and only kept them once, in an african cichlid tank (you know how long that lasted). They were gone in a day or 2. I have the vals in a 40 gallon tall, with 2 Hagen natural plants systems (bubble ladder), and a 2L pop bottle DIY canister....attached to an airstone. Is this enough CO2 for vals to do well? I have other plants as well, about 50% is taken up with plants.

You know jimired, I had a 90 gallon planted tank, maybe only 40% was covered by plants if that. I had the 2 bubble ladders, plus 2 DIY systems on it. The tank was pretty well stocked though, so the fish also provided the plants with CO2. I would dose with seachem flourish excel twice weekly. They had the hagen power glo bulb, and an extra 20W plant grow light from hardware store. I did not have any plants that required high lights. Temperature was at 84F because they were in with discus. It worked out ok for me. But definitely the pressurized system is better for large tanks. You have to spend more money on excel, so what's the difference in refilling the tank and that. One of the reasons why I moved to a smaller tank for my plants. How much did you purchase your system for? Does anyone know if ebay is any cheaper to buy from?