New Plants

[brunettebaby4571]

Yeah a few of the leaves on one in the low light tank melted but in the higher light they havent melted at all and look really good so I didnt know if they were going to melt or if they were going to be okay

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Im not sure if anyone is still reading this but all my plants randomly started growing great again? lol my frogbit has nearly tripled in less than one week (like it used to) and my rotala is growing way better but I do have a question...my jungle vals are apparently doing great they have already grown 4 new little tiny baby vals!! But when is it okay to take them away from the momma plant? What size should they be? They are already about 2 or so inches tall and have like 3 leaves already. Thank you!

 

[jetajockey]

You can clip them as soon as they have a visible root structure, although I'd just let them keep shooting out runners.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Ok thank ya I wasn't sure. I read somewhere that is best to separate them because it will slow the growth of the mother plant and take all of its energy so I didn't know what was best. So it wont hurt anything to just let them stay attached and continue to grow? Will they always be attached together or will they eventually go their own ways? Thank you again!

 

[jetajockey]

As far as I know they'll stay attached. I've had some with a dozen or more runners before I had to trim. The problem is they go wherever they want, so if you have time you can replant the runners close by the mother.

 

[Rivercats]

That is the worst thing about Vals... they will just keep spreading when you leave the runners attached. Clipping them is best IMO and then either replant or dispose of them when you have enough.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

So if I clip them off the mother plants will the mother plant will stop sending out baby plants? Or will it keep growing more? I was so excited when I looked in there and saw the new babies! lol I had to bug my fiance in the middle of the night just to tell him about the new babies lmao ...apparently not everyone is as excited about them as I was haha.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Oh one more question...on the adult vals some of the leaves are kind of haggard looking can I trim those off or should I leave them? If I do trim them do I trim them all the way down to the base?

 

[jetajockey]

So if I clip them off the mother plants will the mother plant will stop sending out baby plants? Or will it keep growing more? I was so excited when I looked in there and saw the new babies! lol I had to bug my fiance in the middle of the night just to tell him about the new babies lmao ...apparently not everyone is as excited about them as I was haha.

It should send more runners eventually, just not on that cut stem.

 

[Rivercats]

You can just cut the Val leaves off to where the good part is. It's really a personal choice if you want to leave them or cut them. If they are ragged it really won't matter but if the leaf is dying/rotting it's best to pull/cut them off so they don't decay in the tank which adds to the dissolved organic matter.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

My Vals are constantly sending out runners, and I just clip off the runners I see and sell them lol. I get at least 5 new runners almost weekly they produce them that fast for me...but keeping them clipped and groomed seems to make mine grow taller and better, and as I said I just clip the runners and sell or replant them, and it's not long until they start sending out runners themselves along the with the original mother plant.

 

[Rivercats]

Also when you clip runners off the mother plant the plant will continue to send out runners.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Thank you everyone for all the advice! I am going to let the babies get a little bigger and then clip them off. I got them for pretty cheap at petco only 2.00$ and was going to buy more online and they were 12.00$!! So I am very glad I waited and didnt spend 12$ on them since they are making new baby plants! Saved a good bit of money!! But thank you guys again you were all a great help!! One last thing...how do these plants grow in low light?

 

[Rivercats]

If it's not too low they will grow but not nearly as fast.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Thank you guys again! I love being able to get first hand help. Google can only help me so much when I need real people sometimes!! I really want to start adding excel but I am really worried about my vals and other plants melting. Is there anyway to use it without it causing my vals to melt? If they melt will they come back or will they be dead forever?

 

[Rivercats]

You can try dosing at 1/2 strenght. Jungle Val just seems to melt regardless and it won't grow back. Now I have a huge patch of Corkscrew Val in my 220g and I dose a high amount of liquid carbon daily and have never had any melting with these Vals. Anacharis will also melt from liquid carbon.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Darnit I was really hoping there was something I could do so that they wouldn't melt :/ I absolutely love them. I might try taking out some of the vals and leave one in the tank and use some excel and see how the plant does and if it melts I will stop dosing it. Crossing my fingers that I will just be lucky and it wont melt lol...Will it melt crypts or anything other than anacharis? I have loads of anacharis so I'm not too worried about that melting

 

[Rivercats]

Crypts are fine as are most plants. I dose liquid carbon quite heavily due to my high lighting and amount of plants in my tank and all do beautifully.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Ok thank you! I am going to order some and see how the plants do. I really want to do real co2 and get a pressurized system but unfortunately at the time I just can not afford something that expensive :/ But maybe one day when I hit the lottery I will get it Thank you guys again for all the help it is truly appreciated! I am sure I will ask a million more questions as I go! Keep your fingers crossed for me that I get this 75 gallon tank!! Oh last thing...Where can I get that stuff you were talking about that is like excel? I think you said it was glu-something lol thank you

 

[Rivercats]

The product is Mericide 14 day solution, which is glutaraldehyde. You don't want the 28 day solution so watch what you buy. I usually get it from Amazon but they are out right now of the gallon bottles, which is the cheapest size to buy. You will have to look around on line, or call any janitoral supply stores in your area if you have any. I pay about $21 for a gallon. There are alot of places on line that are much more expensive so do some serious conparison shopping. I found some cheap at a med supply store but had to get a case of 4 gallons (which for me was fine). I paid like $18 a gallon including shipping for the case.