The valisneria in my 125G tropheus tank are growing vigorously.

They also provide a fantastic cover for fry.

The main problem for valisneria in cichlid tanks is being dug up. If this happens constantly, the plants can never establish a sufficient root bed, and they will eventually die. That's why plants that need to be rooted in substrate like Valisneria sp. and Echinodorus sp. never had a chance in my frontosa tank. My tropheus dig very little, and they show no interest in eating the valisneria plants - not even the new shoots of the runners. This came as somewhat of a surprise to me, and I am not sure if this is generally so for tropheus and Valisneria sp. but I am certainly enjoying it while it lasts! In the meantime the valisneria in this 125G tank are growing very vigorously, and have developed countless runners with offshoots of new plants.

A somewhat unkempt look in September 2008 with valisneria having taken over large parts of the tank.

In September 2008, about 8 months after setting up the tank, it had become quite overgrown with valisneria, and I had to do a major tank cleanup, digging out plenty of valisneria in places where I did not want them, and relocating them to their designated area on the very right hand side of the tank. There were actually way to many valisneria plants in the tank, but I did not have a good opportunity to sell them until the OCA Winter Auction in February 2009.

October 2008, valisneria confined to their space, but not yet trimmed or thinned out.

In February 2009 I was finally able to sell some plants, and I took this opportunity to perform a major tank cleanup. I had at some stage tried to disguise the white PVC pipe of the overflow for the CAWC with a clump of najas grass, which the tropheus promptly made a huge mess of. Shreds of this plant were mixed in with easily four foot long leaves of valisneria that were twisted in a ball just below the water surface on the right hand side of the tank. I took out all of the najas grass, about one third of the valisneria plants, and I trimmed all remaining valisneria leafs to just below the water surface. With some other touch-ups to the tank, I finally managed to achieve the look I had originally envisaged when setting it up a year ago.

February 2009, Valisneria freshly trimmed and thinned out.