What Kind Of Plant Is This?

[dsaavedra]

At Petsmart today, i bought two little pots of this. They were just marked "Assorted Potted Plants". I think (I am hoping) they are some sort of Vallisneria. Val. americana or Val. gigantea maybe? anybody have an ID?

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/davidsaavedra/Aquarium/100_6068.jpg

[Dr. Awkward]

From the roots it kinda looks like a crypt to me. Maybe balansae?

[dsaavedra]

don't crypts have much shorter, broader leaves?

[jbradt]

I was going to guess a crypt too...not sure what type though.

[Dr. Awkward]

No, they're all different and I've noticed the leaves will look different under different growing conditions. I have some crypt wendtii "tropica" that all looked the same when I got it but now it's spread out over my tank. The stuff in the front of my tank under the stronger light looks way different than the stuff on the side of my tank in lower light. They don't even look like the same plant anymore.

[dsaavedra]

crap! i wanted vallisneria and i got crypts... hope it stays looking like this but only gets taller and spreads more...

[Dr. Awkward]

Now I'm thinking retrospiralis over balansae. I had some of that but I managed to kill it. :(

Crypts are way more "sick" than vals. They take forever to get used to your tank but once they do they look really good.

[dsaavedra]

dang this is a bummer. i really like the way vallisneria grows and spreads. do crypts spread the same way? like will they form dense "jungles" like val does?

[Dr. Awkward]

Yes, but it takes more like six months instead of six weeks, and they like to stay more in a cluster instead of branching out like vals.

I'm sure you can find some vals on here. People have them up for sale and trade all the time because they grow fast.

[dsaavedra]

****...

i guess i'll try and trade these off for some vals instead

[zzyzx85]

lol, I got similar crypts that I originally got as vallisneria nana and I believed it. That central vein should have been a dead giveaway. Took me a while until I figured it out that it was indeed a crypt.

They will grow into a nice thick thicket but it takes a long time.

[James0816]

Looks like Balansae to me. They do grow nice and tall that's for sure. But will take a bit to propagate. Just pulled a few out of one of my tanks.

[hamsterman]

X2 on the retrospiralis. Looks just like the plants I had last year. Balansae has more of a brownish tinge.

[CONDUCT]

crap! i wanted vallisneria and i got crypts... hope it stays looking like this but only gets taller and spreads more...

If it was warmer I could give you 10+ vallisneria. They grow like a weed but I will warn you once they start running they do not stop.