Jungle Val

exhumed07

Superstar Fish
Apr 30, 2006
1,774
0
36
Illinois
#1
Didn't think it was possible but i think i have all but killed my jungle val off and i didn't try to do it.

All my plants are doing great, crypts, amazon sword, bacopa, lily. all of them are going nuts in my tank but my jungle val has slowly been withering away. went from nearly covering the back of my tank to just a few trying to hold on. the only difference in my tank since it started happening is that i stopped dosing with excel. money got tight for a while and had to cut things out to make the bills and that was one of those things. I didn't think that stopping the excel would kill off any of my plants, just thought they would grow slower. i've noticed no drop in growth rate in any of my plants besides the val.

has anyone else experienced a die off of jungle val? maybe there is another cause that just happened to happen at this time. and remember it is in a dirted tank.

oh and on a side note the val in my 30 gallon dirted tank is growing. slowly under a single t8 but it is growing with no excel. only having this issue in my 55 gallon. maybe not enough fish to add the CO2? maybe some other cause?
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#2
i think you have plenty of fish in 55 gals to supply CO2 for the vals.
did some other plant start to grow unusually well during this time? maybe it took over? because usually vals are the ones growing the best and taking over everything.
 

exhumed07

Superstar Fish
Apr 30, 2006
1,774
0
36
Illinois
#5
even if it was less costly i had to stop with the fish tanks completly and just hope i had enough food to last them. thankfully i did. just kinda odd that excel seems to kill val but yet i stopped using it and the val dies lol.
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#6
it's something else. idk what though. see the vals in my profile pic? i had those once in my tank. then i sold all and stayed plant -free for about a year. then i tried some vals again and they would not grow. my snails were eating them (i had rabbit snails then).
 

Feb 18, 2013
194
0
0
#7
The val you sent me took a while to adjust to my tank, It now has 3 leaves reaching from the substrate to laying 4-8 " across the top of the surface. I am only using root tabs in the tank, adding one every 2 months or so in the substrate 6-8 " from the bulb.

I don't know if it's relevant, but I also grow orchids, I have one in particular who the prior owner fertilized it a lot thinking they could force it to bloom. The plant is so dependent on fertilizer now when I reduce what it's given it starts to look sickly.

Maybe the JV was just depending on the fertilizer so much when it stopped receiving it, it no longer had the nutrients stored to maintain itself ?
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#8
plants should not be fertilizer dependent. i know orchids prob dont like too much fertilizer anyway as it will burn their roots.
idk if it will help but yeah maybe fertilize the vals more.
 

exhumed07

Superstar Fish
Apr 30, 2006
1,774
0
36
Illinois
#11
only about a year. they just seem to slowly by dying off. it's not like a sudden thing. I have one val doing really good but the rest have either withered away or are slowly withering away. it's not a plant that i'm super crazy about but could very well be a sign to come with the other plants and i don't want that happening.
 

exhumed07

Superstar Fish
Apr 30, 2006
1,774
0
36
Illinois
#13
I agree. should be good for a few years at least. I did a massive 90% water change, cleaned the shield on my light and did some trimming. hopefully that does the trick. tank is A LOT brighter now. maybe it was the lack of light that was the problem. time will tell.