Anubias and Vals

[Slough Shark]

What kind of wattage would I need to grow these quickly in a 50 Gallon (36" long) tank? I would want to supply some flourish excel as well right?

Thanks,

Taylor

[geleen]

<br />What kind of wattage would I need to grow these quickly in a 50 Gallon (36" long) tank? I would want to supply some flourish excel as well right?<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Taylor<br />

<br /><br /><br />

In my experience,anubias are fairly slow growers and like low light (shady) with very good substrate.

Vals will grow in anything, even 1 watt /gallon but do not like excel. Excel will keep val to 2 " high,or kill it outright. It will like some ferts in the water where anubias likes mostly substrate and some in the water.

I grow val in 1.3 w/gal and need to thin it out at least once a month.

John

[jvision]

Val and Anubias grow very well in my 135 w. 6x40W T12 bulbs. I used the Estimative Index method and get a new leaf on my Anubias about twice per week. Val, of course, grows quite well.

I have found that if you have normal flourescets, 2 wpg will grow pretty much everything. Give the plants some CO2 and ferts and they'll love you forever!

[gobies et al]

I have had Anubias barteri for about 5 years and have had to cut them back 3 times for growing to the top. The water is ~18" deep. They have bloomed, gone to seed, and have a few small seedlings from them. They have been abused every which way, including thrown outside in my 150 gallon tank (they got sun burn) but still keep on. The Hero notatus are using some of them for munchies. They are also in my brackish tank.

They are fine in low light with fine gravel substrate. I also have them in sand but is harder anchoring them there unless you resort to stones, ornaments, etc.

They have always been in a heavily stocked tank with just Plant Gro enriched with iron added every 1-2 weeks and weekly water changes.

On the other hand, I can't grow Val!

Yet! I'm starting to learn what I should be doing.

[Slough Shark]

Thanks for the help guys, I know what kind of lights to get now.

[firestorm]

My vals are growing rapidly in a 5 gallon tank with 26 watts of light, and even more rapid in my 40 gallon with 108 watts of light. I find they can accept some excel, but in very very small doses. I would take an eye dropper and just add a few drops if you want to use that for CO2. My anubias are also in the 5 gallon tank, but of course are growing slower than the vals. I find once they root themselves and establish in the tank, they will do rather well with the right nutrients. I feed mine flourish comrehensive every few days with about 1 dose of iron a week.