Author Topic: Vallis (Read 7977 times) 16 replies

Puffin · « **on:** September 10, 2014, 07:23:41 AM »

Bought some more plants as the tank was looking sparse, a combination of melting crypts and snails eating the fanwort.
One of the plants I bought (from pets at home) may have been a vallis. It took me ages to get it planted in the substrate, kept floating off.
Last night I had a sudden thought... Is vallis one of those that needs to be planted with base out of the sand? If so, how do I stop it floating off round my tank?

Rich_D · « **Reply #1 on:** September 10, 2014, 01:27:03 PM »

I have both twisted and normal vals in my tank, and they have planted fine, I do have sand in my tank though and find that pretty much all plants seem to plant and. Take better in sand than in gravel.

chris213 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 10, 2014, 07:18:53 PM »

i to have both types planted in sand with a soil substrate underneath but my twisted variety has somewhat struggled compared to the straight version

Puffin · « **Reply #3 on:** September 10, 2014, 07:46:21 PM »

Thanks both, mine is twisted, so I recon definitely vallis.
Fingers crossed it starts taking root.
Tank looking good atm, but could all go down hill shortly.
Also have a question re Java moss. Tied it to some twigs to look like trees, and it looked great, but as it's grown it just looks like a mess of green fluff. Not attractive at all. Any tips? Or should I try a different moss?
I got a freebie of a liverwort with my moss, and it's doing well and is quite attractive, also tied to a twig.

Fiona · « **Reply #4 on:** October 14, 2014, 03:19:55 PM »

I keep my java moss trimmed down short as it does have a tendancy to get a bit 'leggy' and end up like a scruffy green fluff otherwise. I have another variety that is very low growing and looks much better, I'll try and dig the name out for you. Have a look at that article I found it quite useful

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3980

Puffin · « **Reply #5 on:** October 14, 2014, 04:06:55 PM »

Thanks Fiona, that was very useful. I do need to trim it!
I'd also like to hear the name of the other moss you have found.

Fiona · « **Reply #6 on:** October 15, 2014, 06:34:58 PM »

Fissidens Fontanus is the name, its quite slow growing though which I dont mind.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myPlants.php?do=view&p=177&n=fissidens_fontanus_fissidens_fontanus

Richard W · « **Reply #7 on:** October 16, 2014, 07:28:21 AM »

Tropica (suppliers of aquarium plants) consider Fissidens fontanus to be in the "difficult" class of plants to grow because of high light requirements.
All mosses will be more compact the higher the light levels.
There are other more compact types of moss which are probably easier, the most commonly available is often called "Christmas Moss". These can be found on EBay.

Fiona · « **Reply #8 on:** October 17, 2014, 12:24:34 AM »

Umm if I'm growing it, it can't be all that difficult to be honest, it just sits there and slowly does its stuff. Veeerrryyy slooowwwllyyyyy

Puffin · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2014, 12:08:23 PM »

Ok, thanks both.
I've given the java moss a good trim and it looks better.
I'll look out for that moss Fiona, as the fact it grips to the wood itself is a good selling point. I thought java moss would, and I could eventually get rid of the black cotton I tied it on with, but it just grew outwards into a messy ball of green fluff!
Next time (it's growing so I get more of it, whether I want it or not) I'll make sure I fix it on more sparingly.
I will also look into Christmas moss.

Fiona · « **Reply #10 on:** October 20, 2014, 02:42:29 PM »

I used clear plastic thread to attach my java moss, it's nigh on invisible, I think I might give christmas moss a try too.

BTW for some reason the corkscrew vallis just doesnt want to grow in my tank, the plain variety grows really well though. Does anybody know if the curly type is a tad more tricky?

chris213 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 25, 2014, 05:57:12 PM »

i have both types in my tank and the straight grows like wildfire but the twisted has took me 6 months and a lot of head scratching to get it to grow slightly

Fiona · « **Reply #12 on:** October 30, 2014, 12:15:36 PM »

My twisted vallis has almost completely gone

its so attractive though so I'd really like to suceed with it. Do you use any sort of plant fertilizer Chris?

chris213 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 30, 2014, 12:46:32 PM »

no i have a soil based layer with sand over the type and let the fish provide any other required fertilizer mine did seem to die right of thow and has only just started to grow back over the last two months , more so since i moved away from my straight variety as i think it was not getting enough late as the straight was blocking the light

Fiona · « **Reply #14 on:** October 30, 2014, 01:56:00 PM »

I've got soil substrate topped with gravel, ah well I guess I need a bit of patience then.

SteveS · « **Reply #15 on:** October 30, 2014, 03:39:27 PM »

A couple of things you can check out:

Vallis do not tolerate low pH very well, so if your pH is below 7, you may have problems.
They also do best if you you use an iron rich substrate or fertiliser

Fiona · « **Reply #16 on:** November 05, 2014, 05:03:26 PM »

Ph is 7.5-8 as a max. I'll check the components of the fertiliser balls I got and we whats in them. Thanks Steve

Vallis

Vallis

Author Topic: Vallis (Read 7977 times) 16 replies

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