Jump to content


Photo

Vallisneria or not?


  • Please log in to reply
11 replies to this topic

#1 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 03 May 2014 - 12:24 PM

I know this is going to be a dumb question, but here goes...

I have a plant that I thought was Val... it is over 18 inches tall and bends over nicely when it reaches the surface of the aquarium... the leaves are rather narrow (not like the "eel grass" that I see in the wild in SC or south GA) but I always just assumed that was an aquarium thing, they are maybe 1/4" wide.... and this plant is doing very well in my no tech, no filtration tank... propagating itself around the tank with runners.

Recently I got another plant that was called Val... it has not grown to the surface yet... the leaves are wider maybe 1/2 inch or more... and when I was planting this it seemed to have discreet roots coming from what almost looks like a bulb at the base of the plant...

I don't think these are the same thing... which one is really Vallisneria and what might the other one be?
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#2 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

Guest_Erica Lyons_*
  • Guests

Posted 03 May 2014 - 01:01 PM

Crinum (onion) can look like vallisneria.

Example picture of a crinum:
Posted Image
from source http://aquarium.stin...m-thaianum.html

#3 Guest_Subrosa_*

Guest_Subrosa_*
  • Guests

Posted 03 May 2014 - 01:02 PM

They could both be Vallisneria. There are many species in the genus.

#4 Guest_Subrosa_*

Guest_Subrosa_*
  • Guests

Posted 03 May 2014 - 01:04 PM

Oops read more closely! The bulb is giveaway to Crinum.

#5 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 03 May 2014 - 01:38 PM

Well the "bulb" looks nothing as big as that thing... I just meant more that it seemed that it was growing from a central point and has fine roots coming out of the bottom and then in a couple of places it looked like it was self propagating by creating more little ones beside itself, like the way daffodils do, or other garden bulbs... vs the other one that is obviously growing in a runner system. But I will look more at Crinum, thanks.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#6 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

Guest_Erica Lyons_*
  • Guests

Posted 03 May 2014 - 02:49 PM

Echinodorus can grow tall. I've got something that was called echinodorus tenellus that has reached the top of my 75 gallon tank.

Here's a video:


I don't have any pictures of its root base on hand, and am not currently at home to take photos. Here's a drawing from Tropica:
Posted Image

#7 Guest_aaron7353_*

Guest_aaron7353_*
  • Guests

Posted 03 May 2014 - 07:33 PM

I currently have vallisneria that has a thick base that seems like a bulb or rhizome. There's a very good chance that it is vallisneria given the way you described that it is propogating. That is how dwarf sag usually grows for me.

#8 Guest_gerald_*

Guest_gerald_*
  • Guests

Posted 03 May 2014 - 08:26 PM

Vallisneria is usually flattened near the base, withe the lower part of the leaves in one plane as if the plant was pressed (at least the common species, not sure if all Val spp are like this). Echinodorus and Sagittaria are more radially symmetrical, not so flattened. Sparganium is also flattened at the base and easy to confuse with Val until you get to recognize it. Got a pic Michael?

#9 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 03 May 2014 - 08:43 PM

no, I was replanting today in some outside tanks I set up (thanks Stephen)... so I put em all in the dirt :blink: with some of those extra tough Flag Fish... I am hoping to get both of these tall grassy things (whatever they are) to grow out some in the next few weeks and then transfer them all to the Nature Center Tank that we are planning... I could pull some out of the existing tank... I should do that and make this conversation easier (job for tomorrow afternoon in the sunshine, not tonight).
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#10 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 04 May 2014 - 03:23 PM

OK, here are some pictures...

This is the one that has runners...
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
This is the one that almost has bulb type roots...
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#11 Guest_gerald_*

Guest_gerald_*
  • Guests

Posted 05 May 2014 - 08:28 AM

They all look like Vallisneria to me. The narrow pale one looks like the stuff we called "Italian Val" in the 80's and the wider darker one "Jungle Val" but I dont know if those common names correspond to real species. The width, color and height can vary with tank conditions too. When I moved some thin pale Val from a soft-water tank (probably mineral- and nutrient-starved) to a hard-water tank it grew wider and darker. Do your plants all have that sort of flattened look near the base? hard to see in photos.

#12 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 05 May 2014 - 08:35 AM

The single ones were slightly rounded. You can see the photos at full size in the gallery archive under my name then plants them "Val not val".
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users