corkscrew val melting

[James_in_MN]

My corkscrew val is melting in the tank, and I thought I read on the forums that Seachem Excel may cause that.

Hopefully the melt will stop if I stop adding Excel to the tank? How quickly will the plants recover?

What other options do I have to add to my tank to benefit the plants? It's a 20g high tank, I don't have a CO2 system (and probably don't have room for one around the tank), haven't added any fertilizer tabs to the gravel, and should have sufficient lighting on the tank (Marineland LED light for a 24-32" tank). The only fish I currently have in the tank are black neon tetras and ghost shrimp.

 

[daileene]

I think you can still put the seachem excel but don't put it directly above the vals....that was what I have read before...they do are known for melting when it comes to the excel...but just don't put it directly on top, see if that works...I am not sure how long they will bounce back...I have vals but I haven't use any excel yet. So I cannot speak from experience, only from the thread I read that was posted by one of the experts...

Hope that plant will be fine soon.

 

[Coleallensmom]

I tend to agree with Daileene. I've heard many say that using Excel in a tank with vals is guaranteed to kill them but I've been dosing excel in my 20 gal which has Val Asiatica in it. I had been careful to dose only in the front of the tank away from the vals and they were healthy up until I forgot once and dumped the dose right on top of them. All it took was that one time and they experienced extreme melting. They are still alive however and are starting to get quite tall again only after a few weeks.

Take a look at the stems to see where the melt ends. Trim each plant off below the melting so that none of the melt remains. They should recover if they have not completely melted to the root. As far as using the excel in the future, that's up to you. Are there plants in your tank that definitely need the excel to thrive?

 

[James_in_MN]

The plant types I have in the tank are corkscrew val, anacharis, and crypt. Whether they need me to regularly put Excel in the tank or not, I don't know.

I guess the question is, should I be doing anything at all? I have adequate lighting, and anacharis/crypt are supposed to be relatively simple to care for. Since I'm still convinced that I have a black thumb, I won't be putting any fragile plants in my tank.

 

[daileene]

I think the anacharis and crypts are low light plants so I think you don't really have to put the Excel in. But they always say that putting Excel is always beneficial. Vals can be a low-medium light plants so I would say they can benefit from the Excel (just don't put it on top of the vals) . It is really up to you just like alisha said.

 

[Coleallensmom]

IMO those plants don't NEED Excel. In fact, Anacharis is actually another plant also associated with melt from heavy use of Excel.

From Seachem's FAQ page:
Anacharis is a particularly sensitive species (known to be sensitive to high temperature, trace copper, formaldehyde etc.). It is also sensitive to Flourish Excel. If you have Anacharis in an aquarium in which you are dosing Flourish Excel we recommend using Flourish Excel every other day rather than daily.

What other type of ferts are you using besides the Excel?

 

[James_in_MN]

I'm not using any other types of ferts right now.

When I first started out, I had insufficient light (standard 15w flourescent) over my 20g high, and the anacharis went into full melt mode. I was able to save the crypt once I put the new lighting on (Marineland 8x 1w LED).

When I bought some more anacharis and the corkscrew val, I asked one LFS that I frequent about what I should add to the tank to help fertilize the plants, and he swore by Seachem Excel. Seachem seems to dominate the market in good products these days (Excel, Prime, etc).

So no, I don't have any other fert right now. I also don't have a CO2 system, and honestly don't know if I honestly need to install one.

I also have a 10g with java fern, java moss, and some type of wort (pennywort? moneywort?) in it. That tank is currently cycling.

So, if Excel will cause me too many problems to use, what other options do I have? Or, do I even need to add much of anything at all?

 

[OhNeil1969]

I'm not using any other types of ferts right now.

When I first started out, I had insufficient light (standard 15w flourescent) over my 20g high, and the anacharis went into full melt mode. I was able to save the crypt once I put the new lighting on (Marineland 8x 1w LED).

When I bought some more anacharis and the corkscrew val, I asked one LFS that I frequent about what I should add to the tank to help fertilize the plants, and he swore by Seachem Excel. Seachem seems to dominate the market in good products these days (Excel, Prime, etc).

So no, I don't have any other fert right now. I also don't have a CO2 system, and honestly don't know if I honestly need to install one.

I also have a 10g with java fern, java moss, and some type of wort (pennywort? moneywort?) in it. That tank is currently cycling.

So, if Excel will cause me too many problems to use, what other options do I have? Or, do I even need to add much of anything at all?

I have anacharis, moneywort and an unknown type of fern (called aqua fern at Petsmart - may not actually be aquatic, but that's another story). I originally purchased the plants as a food source for my snails. They continued to live so I started caring for them. I don't use excel but I do use flourish. That stuff, in my opinion is great. I can't keep up with the growth of the anacharis. Before adding flourish there was no real plant growth. Since adding flourish I've split 3 new plantings from my anacharish; my moneywort is growing new shoots from the substrates, and even the fern is thriving. The only thing you need to be careful of is an algae bloom if your lights are left on too long.

 

[Coleallensmom]

When I bought some more anacharis and the corkscrew val, I asked one LFS that I frequent about what I should add to the tank to help fertilize the plants, and he swore by Seachem Excel. Seachem seems to dominate the market in good products these days (Excel, Prime, etc).

So no, I don't have any other fert right now. I also don't have a CO2 system, and honestly don't know if I honestly need to install one.

So, if Excel will cause me too many problems to use, what other options do I have? Or, do I even need to add much of anything at all?

Excel is a great product, not going to argue that..I use it my own tanks. However, not all plants need the extra source of carbon. In a lower light tank, ferts are more important. What type you need really depends on what plants you have. Whether you stop using the Excel or not, I would recommend you start dosing some sort of fert to your water column. Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive might be a good place for you to start. It has micro elements and trace elements that are important to plant growth. I use it on both of my planted tanks. As far as Root tabs are concerned, they aren't always needed. However, you do have crypts in your tank which can be heavy root feeders, so adding fertilizer tabs for them could actually help their growth.