DubbieBoy Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 Hi everyone, All my Vallis upped and died on me this week for no apparent reason and I was wondering if this in any way common? It had been doing really well in a pretty heavily planted tank in which everything else appears to be thriving. The Vallis had been throwing out plenty of runners, as many as ten new plantlets on some of them, and then this week, in the space of a couple of days, all the leaves have browned off and are dying back en masse. All (and only) the Vallis plants seem to be affected; its like some sort of mass suicide. The only significant water-chemistry change which coincided with this die-off was the addition of Flourish Excel this week to try and combat some low-level BBA. It seems to be doing the trick for the BBA (which has turned red and is slowly dissappearing, yay...) but is there a chance it could be responsible for killing off my Vallis too somehow? It does seem awfully coincidental... I had assumed that Vallis throwing out lots of runners and propagating itself was a good sign and that the plants were doing well; is it also possible that this is just part of its life-cycle and unavoidable? The new plantlets seem to be dying off too though :-( When Vallis throws out runners like this, should they be detached from the parent plant at some stage? Is there any likelihood that the root-stocks might eventually regenerate, or would I be better off pulling the lot? The tank itself is 216l with HQl pendant lighting, DIY CO2 and Seachem ferts. All other fish and plants appear happy and healthy... I'd be interested to hear your thoughts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doch Posted July 14, 2004 Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 interesting dubbie i put some in awile ago but the fish knocked them back abit but mine seem to be dyeing as well going brown i have not been giving them any plant food tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holiday Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 Vallis is vulnerable to a condition called chlorosis that makes it rot it is usually caused by lack of Iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Hmmm, Chelated iron is pretty cheap at any garden center. Couldn't hurt to try mixing up a bit in water and dosing the tank every few days, see if it makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 It's possible the Flourish Excel reacted with the calcium in the water and stripped it out. Val needs lots of calcium... The Flourish wouldn't have killed the plant as it's great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 I vaguely remember reading that vallis tends to go through dieoff cycles. It'll grow great, die off, grow again, die...But, I don't know if it's due to some factor other than the life cycle of the vallis. If they need a lot of calcium like Warren says that could be due to them using up all the calcium, dieing then growing again once the calcium builds back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 That's it. Val uses up the calcium out of the water. Regular water changes are required to keep it healthy if your water is quite soft. You could try adding a bit of Calcium chloride to see if it helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 Haha, oh no, FW kalk drip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbieBoy Posted July 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 That's interesting to note Warren; would you care to suggest an appropriate concentration of CaCl2?? Any other plants have high Ca requirements? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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