Vallisneria nana not growing well

[cs_sg]

Hello,

I have planted the Vallisneria nana in my 3 feet tank for a couple of weeks now. They are not doing well at all and BBA starting to grow on the leaves. Some of the leaves are covered with green spot algae and I've since dosed more KH2PO4.
I have been trimming off so much of the BBA (I trim off the leave when I see BBA starting to grow) infected leaves from the Vallisneria that they look so scarce now. I have planted very densely throughout the tank.

I also have the corkscrew variation of the Vallisneria. They are showing a much healthier growth than the former.

My other plants, Blyxa Japonica, E.tennellus and Hemianthus micranthemoides are growing okay and with only very slight BBA on the old emersed leaves of E.tennellus which I regularly trim off when I spot them.

Are the Vallisneria difficult plants to grow?
What should I do to improve their growth?


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Tank size: 90x40x40cm (about 38Gallon)

Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) :
Number and type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : 2x 55Watts PL

CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 3bps
Type of CO2 (DIY/Cylinder) : Cylinder
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor) : Internal Reactor

Liquid fertilisers Used (Product name. E.g. Seachem Flourish) : Dr Mallick's lushgro Aqua and Micro

Fertilization regime (Frequency and amount per dose) :
a pinch of KNO3 and pinch of KH2PO4 every 2 days.

Substrate:Lapis & Root Monster inserting 1 every 10cm apart. Oceanfree Root Stick, No base fert

Other additives (Product name. E.g. Seachem Prime) :

Type of Filter :Eheim cannister 2215)

1 Profanatic Fan 24hr/7

FLORA:
E. tennellus
HM
Petite Nana
C. parva

Mid-Background:
Blyxa japonica
E. oriental
1 banana plant
Sag
Val

Erect moss on driftwood
Taiwan moss on bogwood

Fauna:
10 pencil fish
4-5 yamato shrimps
<20 Malayan shrimps
8 pygmy cories
10 juvenile angels
4 oto

[taz_boy]

chyrl, i also encounter the same problem as u, some BBA on my vallis...i read somewhere that vallis are pretty prone to bba as they are slow growing....

[Justikanz]

My vallis is definitely not slow growing! But heard the nana version is a slow grower...

[|squee|]

I encountered that during the first few weeks of planting. Patience... the plant needs more time to acclimatise imho.

[cs_sg]

I encountered that during the first few weeks of planting. Patience... the plant needs more time to acclimatise imho.

I just found an old thread stating that we don't bury the whole root of the Vallis when we plant them. I planted them quite deep into the substrate.

I don't mind the slow growth for the Val, infact I like it.
However, I don't welcome the BBA if this plant is dying.... I am worried that it may spread to my other plants and bogwood, which I am not prepared to rip off the just growing moss and treat them if BBA attacks.

[|squee|]

I'm not sure about that, I planted it so the crown (circular thing where all the leaves emerge from) was exposed. At first you'll uproot the plant very easily, but as time goes by, it'll stay fast.

When it starts sending out runners in earnest, you know it has acclimatised.

[cs_sg]

Yeah, the plants getting uprooted when I plant them initially... then I decided to push them all deeper into the substrate. Bad move.

I'll do something about it tomorrow.
Thanks for the contributions

[ranmasatome]

i dont think thats the cause for the bba... try increasing your co2 even more.. or better yet take a ph and kh reading and determine its level THROUGHOUT the day...before and after lights on

[cs_sg]

Do your Vallis nana's runners grow tall?

In my case, those runners sent out from the main plants are only 3inches tall :O and they bend towards the gravel like the E.tennellus. It also has brown specks on them. When I feel them, the leaves are harder too.

I wonder why these runners look so different from the original plant I bought from Colourful. The original plants were green and tall. The leaves were also easily bruised and feels much softer than their runners.

[AquaObsession]

Try some liquid fertiliser,,, it will help... the roots need only to be burried, but dun burried parts of the roots as well... the plants will take more time to shoot runners..

these are supposed to be hardy plants.. in my two feet tank, i have them,,growing fine...but now in a newly setup 4 feet tank, they giving a bit more trouble to trouble... maybe i will start by cutting the damage leaves,,,hopes the new ones grows fine....

[cs_sg]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm using liquid fertilizer and also some root monsters and root sticks.

I guess I guess I buried the roots too deeply. What puzzled me is that the new runners look so different from the original plant. The leaves are shorter, bend toward the gravel , feel harder and have specks on the leaves. The specks are not injuries on the leaves. Do yours look the same too?

[AquaObsession]

I dunno if i am right, but i think that maybe there are some strong currents directed at the plants. Thus, when new leaves come out, they are "battered" by the strong flow of water, and tend not to grow well.

This happen to me, and now i have changed the position of my filter a bit.