I have two ten gallon tanks. One is generally choked with
Vallesneria, in the other one I can not get Vals to grow at all, the
roots die off.

Same lights, same water (Hard tap water) same substrate (pottery clay
beneath commercial aquarium gravel).

The only difference that I can identify is that in the one without
Vals I have a form of string algae growing.
--
Charles

Does not play well with others.

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 09:14:36 GMT, Elaine T
wrote:

Charles wrote:
I have two ten gallon tanks. One is generally choked with
Vallesneria, in the other one I can not get Vals to grow at all, the
roots die off.

Same lights, same water (Hard tap water) same substrate (pottery clay
beneath commercial aquarium gravel).

The only difference that I can identify is that in the one without
Vals I have a form of string algae growing.

Do the tanks have the same CO2 level? Different amounts of surface
agitation could be driving off CO2 in one tank but not the other.

Also, do they have the same fish, shrimp, and snails? You could have a
fish or shrimp that picks at val roots, snails in the substrate eating
roots, or different N and P levels from slightly different stocking.


I don't add CO2, so whatever they have is what they have. Endler's
livebearers in both tanks. All my tanks are infested with trumpet
snails, they may be MTS, but I have no way for sure to identify them.
Oh, and the same type filters most of the time, aqua-clears hanging on
the back. the one with lots of vals doesn't have a filter right now,
it's down for repair.

The difference between the two tanks has persisted for a couple years.
Just weird.
--
Charles

Does not play well with others.

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 09:25:51 GMT, Charles
wrote:

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 09:14:36 GMT, Elaine T
wrote:

Charles wrote:
I have two ten gallon tanks. One is generally choked with
Vallesneria, in the other one I can not get Vals to grow at all, the
roots die off.

Same lights, same water (Hard tap water) same substrate (pottery clay
beneath commercial aquarium gravel).

The only difference that I can identify is that in the one without
Vals I have a form of string algae growing.

Do the tanks have the same CO2 level? Different amounts of surface
agitation could be driving off CO2 in one tank but not the other.

Also, do they have the same fish, shrimp, and snails? You could have a
fish or shrimp that picks at val roots, snails in the substrate eating
roots, or different N and P levels from slightly different stocking.


I don't add CO2, so whatever they have is what they have. Endler's
livebearers in both tanks. All my tanks are infested with trumpet
snails, they may be MTS, but I have no way for sure to identify them.
Oh, and the same type filters most of the time, aqua-clears hanging on
the back. the one with lots of vals doesn't have a filter right now,
it's down for repair.

The difference between the two tanks has persisted for a couple years.
Just weird.

I have 3 ten gallon tanks, each different in some ways, but similar in
others. One is a hospital tank with no gravel. I attached lead
weight to some plants and found some that could survive. Those plants
have even grown new plants. In another tank, I had a hard time
getting any growth for about a year, then natural selection took over
and a few plants really took off. One Annubia got so large I had to
cut the top off as it was growing out of the water. Nothing changed
over the period, except something changed, not of my doing. The third
tank plants were doing well, but over the years has had minimal growth
and no shoots.

Tanks are so funny. I have Crypts in a 75 gallon and a 29 gallon. I
started them the same day. Today the 75 gallon Crypts are only 4 or 5
inches in height, but send out lots of new shoots. They look fine and
their red collor is a great contrast to the other green plants. In
the 29 gallon, the Crypts are almost a foot high and I have to remove
the new shoots more often than those in the 75. They have more green
coloring compared to the rust color of those in the 75.

I quit trying to figure things out and just welcome the variety.

dick

How about some pictures?