Aquarium plant Wallysneria: planting, care and maintenance

To normalize the emotional atmosphere in a home or workroom, as well as to attract financial well-being and stability, interior designers recommend installing artificial reservoirs - aquariums. In order for this subject to bring exclusively benefit and positive emotions, it is necessary with all responsibility to deal not only with its selection and installation, but also with design.

In modern specialized stores for this event, you can purchase a wide range of goods for various purposes, including algae. The aesthetic appearance of the reservoir depends on water plants, and the amount of time that the owner will devote to maintaining order in it depends on the technology for caring for them.

To minimize this indicator, professional aquarists recommend paying attention to an unpretentious aquatic plant - vallisneria.

Vallisneria is a perennial aquarium plant, which belongs to the family of water and red. Under natural conditions, this species grows in the tropics, subtropics and regions with a temperate climate. An aquatic plant feels comfortable in all types of water bodies. Due to its decorative appearance, wide color gamut and various forms, Wallisneria has become a demanded and popular plant among aquarists.

The size range of the leaves is in the range from 50 cm to 2 meters, and their color can be either just green or green with a reddish tint. The length of a thin and flexible root system can reach 10 cm. Leaves and mustaches originate at the very root neck.

Due to its belonging to dioecious plants, vallisneria has nondescript and unattractive flowers, which consist of small corollas with white leaves and a yellow middle, collected in high inflorescences.

Due to the fact that the length of the plants exceeds the depth of the reservoir, their pollination takes place, after which all female inflorescences fall under water, where the multi-seeded box ripens and opens.

Like any plant, wallisneria has several advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• high esthetic indicators;
• fast receipt of young shoots;
• unpretentiousness;
• purification of water from harmful and toxic substances;
• enrichment of water with oxygen;
• the presence of several subspecies.

Disadvantages:

• the need for regular thinning;
• the inability to grow in water containing heavy metals;
• the need to use additional lighting.

In the natural habitat, biologists count more than 10 species of this algae, which differ in the following indicators:

• the length and width of the sheet plate;
• color spectrum;
• type of veins;
• sheet shape.

For landscaping home ponds and artificial ponds, you can use different types of wallisneria.

• Spiral - A beautiful plant, the female peduncles of which take the form of a spiral. The maximum height of sheet plates with finely serrated edges is 90 cm, and the width can be up to 15 mm. The pollination process occurs on the surface of the water due to direct contact of female and male inflorescences.

• Giant - A tall plant with saturated green leaves that grow in whole bunches. The maximum height of the sheet plates is 2 meters, and the width can reach up to 40 mm. This species is used only for very large household containers or decorative ponds. To prevent clogging of the aquarium, experts recommend planting this alga only in the corners of the tank or parallel to the back wall.

• Tiger - a beautiful view, on the surface of the leaves of which black dots and stripes resembling a tiger skin print are clearly visible. It is thanks to this feature that the subspecies got its name. The height of pale green leaves does not exceed 100 cm.

• American - a small-leaved subspecies, in one rosette of which a large number of leaves are formed, resembling soft ribbons in shape. On all leaf blades, serrated edges can be seen. Red spotted formless blotches are visible on green leaves. In comfortable growing conditions, the height of the sheet can reach 1 meter, and its width is 25 mm. This subspecies is widely used for decorating the back wall of transparent aquariums.

• Asian - a subspecies whose homeland is Asia (Japan). The maximum height of the bush is 50 cm, and its diameter can reach up to 10 cm. To increase aesthetic indicators, florists recommend simultaneously planting 2-3 bushes.

• Vallisneria nana - a dwarf subspecies, has very thin leaves of a deep green hue. The maximum height of the plant in artificial reservoirs is in the range from 30 to 50 cm, but in nature you can see algae up to 70 cm high. Due to their compact arrangement and low height, algae do not interfere with the penetration of light into the aquarium and do not become an obstacle to the free movement of fish.

Despite the high level of decorativeness, this variety of algae is an unpretentious plant that needs a minimum amount of attention and strength. Vallisneria is an ideal plant for beginner aquarists, which, having acquired a small bush of this algae, can, without much hassle, get a large number of young shoots for landscaping their home reservoir.

Coarse sand or medium gravel, the diameter of which should not exceed 0.5 cm, is the most suitable soil for young shoots. The thickness of the soil layer should not be less than 40 mm. Unpretentious algae does not need either peat or clay - the sediment suspension, fallen leaves and the remains of the life of aquatic inhabitants serve as a nutrient medium for it. The main thing is to leave the root neck on the soil surface during the planting process.

In specialized stores you can buy special fertilizers in the form of tablets or thick paste, which must be placed near the root system. A positive effect on algae has a weekly change of 30 percent of the water. Additional enrichment of the plant with carbon dioxide can be omitted.

The main parameters of water:

• temperature range - from +20 to +25 degrees Celsius;
• acidity level - not more than 7 units;
• stiffness indicator should not be more than 8.

To prevent stretching of the stands and the appearance of fading, it is necessary to provide intensive illumination of the reservoir for 12 hours.

In the aquarium, a filtration system must be installed that will help remove the following impurities, provoking a number of irreparable problems:

• calcium salts - the formation of hard and brittle tips that quickly deform;
• rust - decay and death of a whole plant;
• antibiotics - a decrease in resistance to various diseases.

In order to reduce the density of plantings, it is necessary to constantly thin out them. Experts do not recommend partial trimming of sheet plates. This procedure can adversely affect the plant and cause the death of the entire bush. It is better to completely remove the entire outlet along with the roots.

The following adverse factors can slow down the growth and reproduction of this algae:

• low temperature water or frequent temperature fluctuations;
• low light level;
• the presence of incompatible plants in one area;
• micronutrient deficiencies;
• the presence of nitrates and phosphates;
• the presence in the water of medicines for the treatment of fish and other types of algae;
• use of unfiltered water.

When cleaning and cleaning the aquarium, you must be very careful not to injure your hands on the very sharp edges of the leaves.

For young algae You can use two methods of reproduction:

• seminal;
• vegetative.

The seed method involves the joint planting of male and female specimens, which during flowering must necessarily be pollinated on the surface of the water. After some time, seed boxes form on female algae, which gradually fall under the water and open there, throwing the seed into the ground. This method is not popular and is used very rarely.

Florists recommend first dropping small children, without separating them from the mother bush, and only after the appearance of several new leaf plates can you safely cut them off from the mustache and plant them in the planned place. Thanks to this method, it is possible not only to obtain a large number of young algae, but also to plant large areas of water in a short period of time. Within 12 months from one bush you can plant about 100 shoots.

An aquarium with live fish and algae is as much a pet as a cat, dog or parrot. In order for all the inhabitants of the artificial reservoir to feel comfortable and delight their owners, a considerable amount of effort, time and financial resources must be applied. Before you go to the store, you must carefully study all the rules for caring for residents of a home reservoir.

The following video will tell about the features of the content of Wallysneria.