Twisted Vallis Melting

[Schmill]

I've got several bunches of twisted vallis, which I seperated out when I received them into the individual crowns.
I've planted them into a gravel substrate, (after trimming the roots), which I have preloaded with JBL 7+13 clay balls. I'm also dosing the water column to EI (KNO3, K2PO4, and Trace), and have 2 x 39W HOT5's above the 300L tank.
However, the leaves of the vallis seem to just be getting tranparent, then 'mushing' and falling off, starting with the outer most ones and gradually working it's way in.

I wondered if it might be a flow issue, so I have 'just' (last day or so), moved my aircurtain from the rear of the tank, to the side of the tank nearest the vallis, which seems to have greatly increased the circulation across the tank.

Anything else I can do, or should do?

Thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

In the TFF twisted vallis description by Rose, pinned here, she describes it as pretty neutral to hardness and pH I guess, but I seem to remember hearing from somewhere that these might have somewhat different needs. I thought they liked either high pH or really hard water, something like that (???)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Truck]

well my vallis is at PH 6!!! and no problems

i also dose easy carbo at the maximum dose!

 

[Nick16]

do you inject co2? though a pressurized system? or liquid co2 ferts (expensive method)
how much light is actually getiing to the bottom of the tank? can you post a pic of your tank?

 

[Schmill]

I don't dose CO2 liquids as I would get through stupid amounts and very quickly run out of money! I also don't inject CO2 as I was trying to avoid having to do this, as I don't really have the space or money to set it up (I believe).

As for the lighting, not the best photo ever, but one I have available and taken since I moved the curtain.
This shows the aircurtain running on the left of the tank, and also the row of twisted vallis between the aircurtain and the bogwood on the left. Most of the plants are still 'young' and recovering from a bad shipment & a period of darkness whilst the tank was treated for whitespot. However things like the Amazon Sword seem to be picking up, whereas the Vallis just keeps melting.

 

[Nick16]

firstly you dont need the air pump. i have a tank of 120L that is fully stocked and i dont put air into the water at all. the only time it gets air is when i pour water in from the W/C. air pumps are a waste of money IMO. or set it to a timer for a hour a day, this wil cut your leccy bill down.

well look at aaronnorth's sig or thread for instruction on how to set up a fire extinguisher co2. it works out quite cheap in the long run. have you got an inert substrate?

 

[Schmill]

To be honest to start with the airpump / curtain was running at the back of the tank as a 'decorative feature', but then I moved it to that side to try and increase flow in the tank.
Although the filter in the tank is a 1200, I guess in reality it's perhaps flowing at 700-800LPH once you allow for media and the head-height, so it doesn't seem to create very much flow.
I could get a powerhead to create the flow instead, but I had the aircurtain and pump to hand, and don't have a a powerhead, so would need to buy one.

I've been looking through the various CO2 threads, and I think I'll just have to see if a bottle will fit in the cupboard under the tank. If so then I'll price everything up. Is there any nice easy way I could work out how long a 2kg FE would last on my tank?

The substrate is just plain ordinary gravel, but with clay balls pushed in around the roots of substrate rooting plants, such as the vallis, amazon swords, and ambullia.

 

[Truck]

Is there any nice easy way I could work out how long a 2kg FE would last on my tank?

no, it depends on if you have surface agitation etc

 

[Schmill]

So no way of even getting a ballpark figure? I can't afford to spend out on all the gear for pressurised CO2, and then find I need to get a £25 refill every couple of weeks or something.

 

[Truck]

on nick 16's 120 litre, 1 2kg lasts him 4 months

 

[Nick16]

yeah, i have quite high surface ajitation so some people it can last up to 6 months really. its well worth it, i buy 2 2kgs at a time and keep one spare.

 

[aaronnorth]

having an airstone will help to keep CO2 levels at a constant level (around 8ppm) because you dont inject CO2 artificially.

My vallis took months to get going, then all of a sudden it took off and doubled the amount of plants in 3 days

 

[Schmill]

Ok, thanks for all the replies, so on a very rough guestimate, if I went pressurised on a 300L tank, a 2kg FE might last me around 3-4 months, perhaps a bit longer if I reduced surface aggitation.

Aaron, so running the airstone at the moment will actually be HELPING to keep the levels stable as well as providing the extra circulation? Thanks for the info about your Vallis too, I'll keep an eye on mine then a hope they last long enough for the new growth to really get going

 

[aaronnorth]

Aaron, so running the airstone at the moment will actually be HELPING to keep the levels stable as well as providing the extra circulation?

Yes, average CO2 levels in the aquarium are around 6-8ppm. When plants photosynthesise they are obviously using this CO2, so it starts to become depleted, so by having the extra surface agitation it allows gaseous echgane, therfore keeping the levels up, and in equilibrium.

However this is not the case for artificially injected CO2 because the levels will be much higher (30ppm) so therefore there will be more CO2 being gassed off, than there will be entering the aquarium.

 

[Schmill]

Excellent, that makes sense to me, thanks Aaron. Many a time I read about people saying that airstones etc will cause CO2 to be forced OUT of the water, but never have a seen that clarified with the point that it's only valid if you are injecting CO2.
It does make sense to me that if the CO2 levels in the tank are lower than those in the surrounding air, some CO2 should be transferred INTO the water, so thankyou for clarifying that