Flourish Excel and Vallisneria

[babygeige]

Well, I may have found a reason why my Vals are doing so poorly. I read on some AC threads during my CO2 research that Flourish Excel causes Vals to melt, which seems to be what has been happening to mine.

Just thought I'd mention it in case someone else gets Vals.

[Carl]

Jul 13, 2009 14:54:03 GMT -5 babygeige said:

Well, I may have found a reason why my Vals are doing so poorly. I read on some AC threads during my CO2 research that Flourish Excel causes Vals to melt, which seems to be what has been happening to mine.

Just thought I'd mention it in case someone else gets Vals.

Although I have not used Flourish Excel with Vallisneria, I know others who have without any problems, and in fact better looking plants.

I know that Crptocoryne Lutea can melt back when Flourish Excel is first added, but then it comes back stronger than ever.

What s your substrate Stephanie?

Carl

[babygeige]

I just have regular gravel right now.

Someday I am going to get some plant substrate in there, but not for a while.

[Carl]

Jul 13, 2009 21:45:41 GMT -5 babygeige said:

I just have regular gravel right now.

Someday I am going to get some plant substrate in there, but not for a while.

The reason I ask is I am trying to figure the problem, As I seriously doubt that the Flourish Excel could be the cause, I honestly think the persons making this statement are basing it on anecdotal observations (which this hobby is famous for), not with controlled tests. I do know that there is no real evidence to support this claim made by persons at AC.
Often when these types of claims, there are no control groups and a part of the puzzle is missing.

If I have any complaint with Flourish Excel is that it does not provide the amount of carbon that CO2 generators can provide.

Back to the substrate, I have even made my own out of sandy soil that has been composted.
I have a little about this in this article in the substrate section:
Aquarium Plant Care; Substrate

Carl

[babygeige]

Another thing that might be causing this that I had not thought of before is that my Flourish Root Tab thingys should have been replaced almost 2 months ago! I always use these since I don't have proper plant substrate and I completely lost track of when to replace them!

I was flipping through my journal book and saw that the last time I put some of these near my Vals was February!

[Carl]

Jul 15, 2009 14:59:33 GMT -5 babygeige said:

Another thing that might be causing this that I had not thought of before is that my Flourish Root Tab thingys should have been replaced almost 2 months ago! I always use these since I don't have proper plant substrate and I completely lost track of when to replace them!

I was flipping through my journal book and saw that the last time I put some of these near my Vals was February!

This makes more since to me

Carl

[babygeige]

Mystery Solved!
Tomorrow I'll grab some new Tabs at Petsmart. My LFS doesn't carry these. They have strange plastic stick things that are supposed to last a year. They don't work that well, plus after the year is up when you try to pull them out (assuming you can find where you buried them), they've got roots growing through them! What a pain!

[polaris96]

Did the tabs work? I'm having issues with my corkscrew Val. Initially, it crashed hard - total mush save for a single leaf.

It came back after about a week, so I wrote the issue off to shock. The plant was doing really well. Last week, though, I added some creeping red ludwigia in the same area.

Now, the tops of some leaves are melting. Wonmdering if it might be a light issue. I use Flourish, excel, and iron supplements, and I also keep flourish tabs in the gravel.

Any ideas?