# Italian Vals vs. Jungle Vals



## EndlerGame (Oct 19, 2013)

I have had success with both types. Jungle Val doesn't spread crazy quickly, but it does continue to slowly take over more real estate in the tank. The main thing to note about this plant is its size. Leaves can between 1/2 inch and 1.5 inches and in my tank I find they can easily grow 2 ft in length every month. Gotta keep trimming to keep the tank surface clear.

I recently got some Italian Val from my cousin who has a tank similar to yours, 90g and t5 lighting. But his tank is 100% filled with Val, trimmed short in front and gradually getting taller towards the back. Its a cool tank, but it took years to fill up like that. I took about 20 plants from his tank and in about 3 months they've nearly doubled. In my opinion they spread a lot faster than jungle Val, though they are smaller, so take up less space. Also, Italian Val does better with a finer substrate because it has small, hair-like runners, while jungle Val's large tough runners can easily force through coarse gravel.


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## mattjm20 (Nov 2, 2013)

Thank you! Very interesting stuff. Some of my Vals are very tall at this point so I guess there is that. I would love to try jungle Vals, but that might make my tank look disorganized. My scape is nice but it's a mix of many different medium-low light plants as a result of my experimentation (needing to find what works).

Appreciate your help!


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