# Val is not doing well



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Last month, I got some val, and it's already dying. I have the light on most of the day, the water is soft, it's 78-82 degrees, and I've added some API liquid CO2. I know nothing about plants, so any help would be appreciated.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

How much wattage and what type of val? 

I've got some Italian val and it's not doing the best. I pulled all my plants up today to re-scape and it has sent off two baby plants...so progress


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

val is low light, not terribly difficult, but slow growing.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

If it is low light like emc7 said you really don't need co2. Just adding co2 doesn't help anyways, you need to find the perfect balance between co2, nutrients, and light. I would stop dosing co2 unless your tank is heavily planted and just doesn't have enough fish to provide all plants with co2 and nutrients. In that case I would also add fertilizer.

Also, how long are the lights on ? you really only need them on for 8h a day.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I started using miracle grow like loha advised in a past post and my plants are growing like crazy from it. I Am using the powder kind it's blue and I mixed it in a bottle of water and I put in a little bit every other day and they really took off. In fact I have a seed that has been growing for about two weeks and is almost 3" tall already maybe more.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

It's growing sideways, not up. It's sprouted 5+ runners already, just some of the leaves are dying. I'll try low light. Thanks!


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

That's what vals do, they establish roots first , then send out runners. Be careful with too much co2. I know from experience they don't like Flourish Excel.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

That's what mine is doing, but it's dying off towards the top where it bends.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

maybe, just maybe (just guessing) the high light closer to the surface of the water is killing the plant. If the plant grows better with low light wou know what was wrong.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I'm only going to give it 3 hours of light per day now. Maybe that'll work.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Thats really not a lot. How long are the light on right now?


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## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

6-10 hours is ideal...so 8 is what people usually go with. I've had success with 6 and 10 hours.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I'm giving it 10 hours a day. I think I'll try 6 then.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Thats a good idea, I give my tank 8h a day too and it works great.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Lol, I feel stupid. What I thought was the plant dying was really brown algae growing on it. Thanks for the help! I'll give it less light and no liquid CO2.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

No CO2...yeah you would never hear me say that lol. While it is true that Flourish Excel and API CO2 booster can melt vals I would not cut it out all together. If the advise above does not work you could try smaller amounts of CO2. Once or twice a week and in smaller amounts. Try both approaches


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Okay. Now that I see that the brown spots are algae and not decaying leaves, I've come to realize that's it's really thriving. In two days, I found 3-4 new runners.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

If it is thriving I would keep everything the way it is. I had brown algae on my anubias, but it stopped after I got the whole light, nutrient, co2 thing balanced out. Maybe you just don't have the right balance between co2, nutrients and light yet. Try a smaller dose of co2 plus add liquid fertilizer once a week. I know it sounds stupid that if you add more nutrients the algae will stop, but if you get the correct amount the plants will use all of it up and the algae wont have any food.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

It probably won't be for long. I just found velvet in that tank, and I shaded it off. I also have to add methylene blue which will hurt the plants and the snails. I did NOT need another project....


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I managed to treat my fish without putting it in the main tank. The val thrived with -15 minutes of full light per day. I shaded the tank so it dark enough to sleep in. They slowed in growth, so I thought I'd add a little liquid carbon. They are thriving now as the velvet went away (as far as I know). The tank should go back to normal. So in one month, this thing has put off 10 new runners (smallest is 1 inch and largest 4). Is that normal for it? My guess is, that in 6 months, the tank will be overgrown.


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