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Re: meltdown of vallisneria
>Tony Thorpe wrote (Aquatic Plants Digest VI #24, Oct. 21, 1995)
> I have a question for the general populace:
>
>.....I recently "weeded" out my tank to make room for my A. crispus babies and
>took a bunch of "jungle" val to a local store. 2-3 weeks later I go back and
>the val has all melted. It was a horrible mess. I felt a little guilty
>(even though I didn't take any $ for them) because my plants didn't live.
> They have fairly decent light there, probably more than I have at home.
> What could have happened?
>......
Val doesn't ordinarily melt, but I had a bunch do so when I took it to the
pet store, and I am convinced that a big temperature change was the cause.
I went on my bicycle in cool weather with the val in a plastic bag in a
pannier (saddle bag), and the val cooled down to somewhere between 40 and
50 degrees F. I put it in water that was probably 75 to 80 degrees, and a
few days later, the owner reported that it had all turned to mush.
Paul Krombholz Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS 39174