LA
Dwarf sagittaria, Sagittaria subulata. Stays small and low.
Good foreground plant. Reproduces by runners, like grass.
LA
Narrow-leaf sagittaria, Sagittaria subulata. Grows twice as tall and
stays skinny. Reproduces by runners. Good cover for this herd
of 0.75-inch convicts of assorted colors.
LA
Corkscrew val, Vallisneria torta, stays fairly short. Fits well in a
10-gallon tank. Reproduces by runners. Those are two-inch gold
barbs cavorting in the grass.
LA
After cavorting in her new "forest," the female gold barb
emerges. Thick plant cover gives smaller fishes a sense of
security. Small fish know where they rank on the food chain.
They like the cover provided by the plants and show off even better when
they feel secure.
LA
Red vallisneria -- sometimes called dark red jungle val, Vallisneria
gigantea marmor, belongs in African cichlid tanks. Oddly enough,
African cichlids will not eat it. The ACs in this tank even avoid
this end of the tank. On the other hand, they love anacharis.
This red val was planted about 10 minutes ago. Once it gets
established, it will reproduce in an African cichlid tank -- provided it
is not heavily salted. Red val will grow to the top of a 55.
LA
For the first two days, these African cichlids wouldn't go near these red
vallisneria plants. Now they seem to have adapted to their new decor
(and are not eating it).
LA
Italian val, Vallisneria spiralis, will also grow to the top of a
55. Like the other vals, Italian val reproduces by runners. In
the wild, it will also reproduce by flowering then producing seeds.
You will not likely see this in your aquarium.
LA
Jungle val, Vallisneria americana, comes in rougher looking than most of
the vals. It also grows to the top of a 55. Once established
in small gravel and growing new leaves, it looks more impressive than
these newly planted specimens. Use your scissors once it gets rooted
in. Damaged leaves will not repair themselves. If you have
ever SCUBA-dived in a gravel pit, you may have seen this growing
wild. Jungle val grows very tall.
LA
Contortion val (also called giant corkscrew val), Vallisneria asiatica,
looks good from the get go. These contortion vals were planted 30
minutes ago and were instantly approved by this team of gold angels.
Angels and reedy plants are an excellent combo. The angel bars
enable them to blend into the reeds. Even tho gold angels have no
bars, they think they do. Contortion val also grows to the top of a
55 and reproduces by runners.
More
info and pix at Grassy Plants.
©
2005 LA Productions

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