Red_Rose

I will be tearing down my betta's 10 gal soon and I've noticed that the Big Al's in our area sells Corkscrew Vals(Vallisneria americana "mini twister"). According to the Tropica site, these vals don't get very tall but I'd like to hear some feedback from people who actually have them.

Will this plant get really tall and would it be a good choice for a 10 gal? Also, is there anything else I should know about this type of plant before making a decision on whether or not I should buy it?

Thanks.

cs_gardener

I had some in a 10 gallon and they stayed short. They got close to, but never reached, the water surface. I now have them in a 20L with better light and hopefully they'll stay the same height (they've only been in there a week).

Mine tended to be somewhat fragile initially. I remember it was easy to break off leaves when trying to plant it initially if I wasn't careful. When I transferred them to the new tank I didn't have any problems and I don't know if that was because they were healthier or if I was more careful.

Other than that they haven't given me any problems and have been well behaved, especially compared to other vals I've had. I'm not sure if my light was a bit low for them or if they were getting crowded by my dwarf sag or if they are just slower growers, but they didn't send out the large number of runners I've gotten with other vals. They are still relatively new to their current home so I'll see how they behave as time goes on.

I had 2 of the standard fluorescent fixtures over my 10g tank for 30w of light, virtually no additional light since the tank was on the bottom shelf of the stand. I used soil under eco complete and for a long time I just had a sponge filter. No dosing while in the 10, but it is not showing any signs of stress with low (roughly 1/2) doses of gluteraldehyde for the past week.

Red_Rose

It's good to know that they stayed small for you. I'm quite tempted to get them for when I set up my betta's tank again but from what I've read, it seems like people who keep Vals sometimes end up with calcium deficiencies in their tanks. Could that have anything to do with the Vals?

cs_gardener

Hmm, I really don't know. Because my water is soft I've added aragonite sand to most of my tanks to help my inverts out and that keeps me from any calcium deficiencies.

mulita

They stay short, I have them in tanks that have 18, 19" depth and they don't reach the surface as others do.