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Vallisneria gigantea (americana)- Jungle Val.
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Reviews
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Date product posted
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0
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280
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Fri March 7, 2008
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Recommended By
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No recommendations
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None indicated
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Description:
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Common Name: Jungle val or Giant val*
Scientific Name: Vallisneria gigantea (americana)
Light: Medium to High
Co2: Not essential to growth
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Vallisneria gigantea (americana) is a tall grass like plant originating from Asia. The leaves are usually a vibrant green colour, but can vary from yellowish to dark green depending on the growing conditions the plant is kept under.
Generally this plant is quite nutrient demanding. It can grow up to 12" per week, so it needs a lot of nutrients to support such a drastic growth rate, and Jungle Val. relies heavily on macronutrients, and they are heavy root feeders. This means that water column fertilizers as well as a nutrient rich substrate are quite desirable for healthy growth. CO2 will help this plant grow, but it is not needed to do so. Like most plants, CO2 will help it achieve it's maximum growth rates and size, but it can get by without CO2 being injected.
Care must be taken when introducing this plant. It can be a very fragile plant, so when planting it make sure you are gentle with it and do not pinch or snap any leaves. Also, when planting, make sure the roots are planted downwards like they would grow, otherwise they may rot and the plant will need to spend a lot of energy to regrow its root system. A special note: Seachem's (C) Excel fertilizer should not be used with this plant when first introduced. Most Jungle Val.s tend to melt and shed leaves when first introduced to a tank, but excel will make this process permanent and the leaves will just continuously die and fall off. If you desire to dose excel, wait until the plant has well established itself, and then start introducing it very gradually so it can build up a resistance to it and it may not die off this way.
Due to its rapid growth, Val. gigantea (americana) needs regular trimming to keep it from shading out the plants underneath them. The leaves of this val. species can get well over 4' long if let to grow out, and a full grown plant's leaves can get to 5cm wide. These leaves run across the water's surface when tall enough, completely shading out other plants. However, this plant can be quite fragile, so care must be taken to use sharp scissors to trim and not to trim too often- once a week maximum.
Propagation of this plant is very simple. It reproduces by sending out runners along the substrate, and they grow quite quickly, so once the runners have reach a size where they can survive on their own they should be cut from the mother plant, as it will hinder growth of both plants.
Giant val. is best suited for the background of tanks, kept in large groups for best effect. They have very ribbon-like leaves that will sway and bend easily in the current, giving a very 'flowy' look to the background. A large group of this plant in one area gives a good hiding place for anything that seeks it; newborn fry, moulting/newly moulted shrimp, nocturnal species, shy or bullied fish.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THIS PLANT YOU WOULD LIKE ADDED PLEASE PM "Ishar" (me) WITH THE INFORMATION AND IF FOUND TO BE CORRECT I WOULD BE GLAD TO ADD IT ALONG WITH ANY ACKNOWLEDGMENT YOU DESIRE
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