# Jungle Val NOT growing tall



## DooSPX (Aug 10, 2013)

I have a Native Sunfish 125G tank with 2 Bluegill (growing huge) a huge Longear and a smaller Redbreast. I started with 4 mother Jungle Val plants and they have shot runners and little couple inch high sprouts ALL OVER the tank, but they are refusing to actually grow tall. The tank has been setup for 3 years. I am using a Safe T Sorb fired clay substrate. Lighting is a 48" and 24" Finnex Planted+ 24/7 on full 24/7 cycle. They responded well to the lights via sending runners and short shoots everywhere, but the tallest in 4 inches. The only thing that seems to want to grow is short brownish/green fuzzy algae. Please help! :help:


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## fishyfishy101 (Nov 12, 2014)

Are you sure it's jungle val? Send a pic


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

I have had similar issues with my jungle val. Lots of small plants (runners), but none grew very tall. My corkscrew val finally did start growing tall. Honestly do not understand the jungle val. Had/have medium light, co2 and ferts.


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## DooSPX (Aug 10, 2013)

The mother plants were about 20 inches tall. of course, trans planting them caused their leaves to break off. after a couple weeks, I had runners but still no tall plants. fast forward to 2 years later and I have hundreds of runners everywhere but still no tall plants. I do have some brown fuzz like algae which doesnt have a problem growing.


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## bigtrout (Sep 6, 2014)

Wow, not sure what is going on, my val grows to the top of the tank and i get tangled mats of leaves, some up to 5 feet long, that i have to literally cut off with scissors every two weeks...if its sending runners thats always a good thing, and i get the same thing, runner, up pops up a 4" baby, then within a week it looks like a parent plant shooting leaves up as high as my 75 gallon tank. Vals like good flow, water tending toward alkaline and good kh levels and mine did well in just medium light and I dont dose co2. 
Vals have to be adjusted if you dose excel, and the other thing thats hard on val species is high concentrations of copper in the water, have you used a snail killer or copper sulfate? 
One idea may be a real good water change, like a 50% change and see if that perks them up. Another thing to look at is the leaf tips, are they all like a rounded point? If not, perhaps the sunfish are chewing the leaves, in the wild they trim plants in their territory especially in breeding season when they make their nests.


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## jasa73 (Jun 3, 2007)

After two years you'd think they'd adjust to the tank and start growing. IDK...are you fertilizing?


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## DooSPX (Aug 10, 2013)

Thanks, most of the new growth has pointed leaves. Also, I am not dosing ferts.


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

Most likely you don't have enough light.


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## DooSPX (Aug 10, 2013)

I have the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 a 48 inch and a 24 inch to cover the tank, plus I added two Finnex Ray2 on timmers to come on a 2pm to 7pm to add to light. I just don't understand whats going. Unless I need to add ferts. I don't know...


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## xmpjx (May 31, 2015)

Same problem here, tons of runners and baby plants. After melting the mother plants didn't grow past like 4-5 inches (there are a couple 8 inch leaves that didn't melt). The baby plants aren't growing past 3-4 inches. 

29g, no co2 added, no excel, dirt capped with gravel, 1 finnex planted+ and 1 Ray2 daylight. All other plants are doing great.


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## DooSPX (Aug 10, 2013)

I cant figure it out. Got me stumped.


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## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

Same here, i have jungle vals received september 2013. They were barely surviving, maybe it is my lighting, the tank is 24" tall so light is low-med only. I am fertilizing.

Since i inject CO2 (9ppm only), they grow but stay small, to the point where i did put them in the foreground.

Michel.


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## NotCousteau (Sep 25, 2014)

I'd suggest taking some of your val out and planting them in other tanks/containers (jars, vases, etc.) under different conditions to see if they grow better in different conditions. Val doesn't need a lot of light to grow tall. Try some with root tabs and your current substrate, some with just gravel, sand, dirted, less filtration, no filtration, no UV sterilization, etc...

Just throwing out ideas here. I have tall val growing in a low-tech, sand + root tabs tank that only has overhead lighting when I'm home, and some growing in a tall dirted vase with no lighting.

Maybe your water chemistry is stunting their growth? Maybe throw in another type of plant and see how it does?


Good luck to you.


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## DooSPX (Aug 10, 2013)

All great idea's, thanks. will play around...


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## DooSPX (Aug 10, 2013)

Well, my only option for playing with the plants is a bowl or 5G. My other tank is a O, and we know how that will go lol. but I do want to try this. See what happens.


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## bigtrout (Sep 6, 2014)

My experience with native vals is this. They grow with solid medium low light, but love high light and the leaves will get a coppery red coloration. They like hard alkaline water(can use carbonates), can tolerate a little touch of salt in the water, but to much copper stunts and kills them. Mine spread by runners and try to invade other area of the tank, and even throw floating flowers regularly. I trim them with scissors and they keep right on growing. In the river where i get them, they always grow in in some current, in a loose sandy base, like a loose sandy mud. My substrate is black diamond blasting sand and they root like crazy in it...they grow densly and tend to collect mulm around their bases. The more mulm the better it seems, becuase they slow down growth for a few days every time i do a gravel vac and suck all that stuff out.


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## secuono (Nov 19, 2009)

Doesn't seem like enough light. 
Mine grow half the height of my 75s with just one 4ft shop light. But when I have 2 shop lights on, they grow to the top and keep going. 
I would put 4x 3ft shop lights over that tank or use the 4ft size and let them hang over the edge. The 4ft is cheaper than the 3ft.


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