Vallisneria spiralis `Tiger`

[Verminator]

I've read up on various sites about its stats. You know height, width, temperature, Co2 injection and light levels ect.

Image: http://www.tropica.dk/images/vallisneria/Vallisneria%20spiralis%20TigerFP.jpg

But i want to know if people have experience of growing it in there tanks and how they got theirs to look healthy and grow well. Its been in my tank now for a little over 2 years and its grown, and survives to this day. But its never excelled in growth. Existing leaves start to die off once they get to about 30-40cm in length and go brown, then holes appear and over the next month or two its rots away. It never fully rots away though, just enough for loads of holes to appear on the leaves. Runners form close to it, and they grow up so on so forth.

Just never looks lush and green, and the it doesnt look healthy. Supposedly its an "easy" plant to care for and grows fast. Well for me its hard to grow and takes quite awhile to grow.

co2
I use a basic Co2 injection kit, i just press an aerosol canister to fill up a tube which over the course of the day is diffused into the water. No idea how much i have in terms of ppm.

light
Bulbs need replacing because there noticeably dull now, i can actually stare into them, whereas when i look at them new it blinds me. My lighting is classed as high, not very high but high lighting levels, so this aught to be sufficeint. My lights are on from 10am to 3pm then 2 hours off, then on again from 5pm till 10pm. So 10 hours in total in two stints of 5 hours.

pH
is at a pretty constant 6.8-7.2. Its currently over 8 due to massive rescape, should settle down in next few days.

substrate
Is a growth promoting substrate simply called AquaGrit. Its a 15kg tub which cost me £24 (GBP) spread out over my Juwel Rio 180(L).

ferts
Flourish (ironic hah) Nitrogen. Directions say 2.5ml (half cap) per 160 litres. My tank is 180 litres and i just does 3/4 cap once occasionally twice a week. Something to add would be i have noticed that this is just a nitrogen fert, may need to invest in Flourish Phosphorus & Flourish Potassium, seeing as plants need this too. Rookie error.
Any reccomendations for ferts worth buying (however expensive i'm willing)

Over the last 2 years my plants have never exactly "took off" growing wild. Most of my plants stay controllable, i havnt had to trim ANYTHING in my tank fo rtwo years. Crypts, Vallisneria, Java ferns, Limnophila Sessiliflora have never been trimmed, all stay relatively small and compact.

I just don't get why nothing wants to flourish in my tank at the moment. I've tried different regimes, but still nothing.

I JUST WANT GOOD HEALTHY GROWING PLANTS!

Thanks,
James

[Jungle-mania]

Its a fast water plant, for some reason I cannot understand, it is like bolbitis and narrow leaf java ferns, it needs to placed in front of the filter outlet in order for it to grow well. The stronger the water flow, the faster and better it grows.

Ironically, I have seen it grow in a tall glass vase in ADA soil with no filter and just a small 11W PL lighting, albeit very slowly but still very green.

[Verminator]

Mine is in front of the outlet filter at the moment Maybe i shall move it the other corner of my tank and plant Echinodorus Uruguayensis infront of the outlet pipe.

In conjunction to this i may go out and buy an external filter capeable of filtering my tank on its own, but have it running aswell as my internal filter - to boost water flow.

I'll certainly move the Vallisneria anyway.