Trimming Italian Val's?

[big_al01]

I just got some Italian valves at my local fish store and they wouldn't fit my Nano tank so I trimmed them off the top! Will this kill them?

 

[FishCr8zy]

No. All plants can survive trimmings as long as iris not trimmed too close to the crown. How short did you cut your vals?

 

[big_al01]

They were about a foot and I took 4 inches off

 

[Billbug68]

IME it's best not to hack them like that. For some reason it increases the odds of BBA developing at the tip where they were trimmed. It's best to trim longer unwanted leaves at the base as close to the substrate as possible. Or even better, choose a more suitable sized plant to fit your tank.

 

[big_al01]

I couldn't choose a better size because they were all the same size.

 

[Billbug68]

I meant, different species of plant that would stay a more suitable size.

 

[big_al01]

I couldn't choose a better size because they were all the same size.

 

[jetajockey]

I trim down all species of vals regularly when I get them in as they are often too tall for the tanks that they are going into. It is a specially a problem with the jungle variety because they often come in well over 2 feet tall.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[big_al01]

Ok thanks!

 

[BillD]

Vals come in a large variety of sizes. Some grow only a foot tall. Putting a plant that will grow to 5 feet, such as a jungle Val into an 18" or 24" tank makes no sense to me. Trimmed Vals look like crap, and unnatural.

 

[big_al01]

My Italian Val's look pretty good after trimming actually