Vallisneria care
Vallisneria spiralis
Vallisneria makes a fast background curtain of ribbon leaves that bend along the surface.
- Light
- Low
- CO₂
- Not needed
- Where it goes
- Background
- Growth
- Fast
- Care level
- Easy
- Height
- 12 to 36 in
- Temperature
- 64 to 82 °F
- How to plant
- Plant the roots with the crown just above the substrate
- Propagation
- Runners spread new plants across the substrate
In a 20 gallon long
12¾ in tallHow to grow vallisneria
Vallisneria makes a fast background curtain of ribbon leaves that bend along the surface. It grows in low to medium light without CO₂ and spreads by runners. It likes hard water, which suits livebearers and many cichlid tanks.
Common problems
- It melts with liquid carbon products (glutaraldehyde); avoid them in a val tank.
- Leaves shading the tank: cut long leaves at the base, not halfway.
Plants that grow in the same light
Sources
Plant identity from Wikipedia: Vallisneria spiralis. Heights, temperatures and care are typical ranges in aquariums from common planted-tank practice, not figures from that article. Drawings are our own; photo credits follow.
Photo credits
Real photographs from Wikimedia Commons, resized and cropped to fit; each is used under the license named.
- Vallisneria Damitr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Java fern Pinpin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Java moss Xedoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Anubias nana Michael Linnenbach, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cryptocoryne wendtii John Robert McPherson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Dwarf sagittaria Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Hornwort Stefan.lefnaer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
