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Easy red plants?

Joined
7 Jan 2021
Messages
146
Location
Nottingham, England
I'm trying to get some red plants growing in one of my scapes, and I'm having awful trouble finding any that'll take, even with bright white/blue/red light, CO2 injected to 20mg/L and weekly ferts.

So far red nymphaea zenkeri red lotus has taken beautifully but everything else I've tried has just turned into a decrepit pile of dead, including:

  • Red cabomba
  • Alternanthera sessilis
  • Alternanthera reineckii
  • Rotala wallichii
  • Rotala macrandra
  • Rotala blood red
  • Limnophila aromatica
  • Cryptocoryne flamingo
  • Nesaea crassicaulis
  • Ludwigia palustris

Red root floaters live but they just stay green with black roots, I have trouble getting them to turn red. All green and brown plants in the aquarium are fluorishing beautifully, it's just the red plants that won't take.

Cheers
 
Rotala macrandra is easy for me even in a low tech tank, Limnophila aromatica is slower growing in same tank.
Is it only the red plants your struggling with ?
 
Rotala macrandra is easy for me even in a low tech tank, Limnophila aromatica is slower growing in same tank.
Is it only the red plants your struggling with ?

Yes it is. They always die the same way - wilt and turn brown before disintegrating. The bigger leaf plants like Rotala shed all their leaves first, leaving just a stem.
 
How old is your tank? What kind of substrate are you using?
 
Red plants typically are the most light hungry, what type of light do you have?

This Nicrew light: Amazon product ASIN B08MTY6NZH
I have it as high as it'll go without green algae becoming a major issue.

How old is your tank? What kind of substrate are you using?

Only about 3 months. Each compartment has different substrate - one sand, one black gravel, one fine quartz. Same issue in all three.

Here's an example pic:
 

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My first guess in situations like this is "too much" - too much nutrients, too much organic matter, too many microbes -> too low oxygen. Believe or not, oxygen deficit kills far more plants than anything else. (Just my opinion, I'm in a minority and I can live with that.)
 
 
It sounds to me like some of your plants may have been grown emersed ( though that wouldn't explain the cabomba) or maybe too much CO2.
Ludwigia palustris and Ludwigia peruensis (glandulosa) grow well for me under moderate to high light (using cheap LED floodlights), Rotala Walichii takes a while to settle in , then it takes off. Limnophila aromatica also took a while to settle in.
 
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1. Size of tank - 80L
2. Age of the system approximately. 3 months~
3. Tap water parameters. 0.25ppm phosphate, 0.25ppm NH4, 0ppm NH3, 0ppm NO2, negligible NO3, pH 7.5. GH 10, KH 3 (may have gotten these the wrong way round)
4. Filtration. 500lph canister filter with spray bar
5. Lighting and duration. White/Red/Blue Nicrew light, 8 hours a day
6. Substrate. Sand in two compartments, black gravel in one. Same issues in all three compartments.
7. Co2 dosing or Non-dosing. DIY CO2 maintained at approx 20ppm
8. Fertilizers used + Ratios. TNC complete 8mL/weekly
9. Water change regime and composition. 40% weekly
10. Plant list. Can't really remember what most of the existing ones are to be honest, other than crypto and amazon sword - see photo
11. Inhabitants. Three bettas, one per compartment. Three assassin snails.
12. Full tank shot & Surface Image.

1656866837421.png

1656866850315.png

1656866865616.png


Still having dreadful issues with green string algae if that helps any. PhosGuard stalled its growth for a few weeks but now it's back. Everything has died in the leftmost compartment now, except red root floaters and a struggling crypto wendtii.
 
I'm trying to get some red plants growing in one of my scapes, and I'm having awful trouble finding any that'll take, even with bright white/blue/red light, CO2 injected to 20mg/L and weekly ferts.

So far red nymphaea zenkeri red lotus has taken beautifully but everything else I've tried has just turned into a decrepit pile of dead, including:

  • Red cabomba
  • Alternanthera sessilis
  • Alternanthera reineckii
  • Rotala wallichii
  • Rotala macrandra
  • Rotala blood red
  • Limnophila aromatica
  • Cryptocoryne flamingo
  • Nesaea crassicaulis
  • Ludwigia palustris

Red root floaters live but they just stay green with black roots, I have trouble getting them to turn red. All green and brown plants in the aquarium are fluorishing beautifully, it's just the red plants that won't take.

Cheers
None of the red plants you list are easy, and at least half of them are difficult. . Try Rotala rotundiflora and Ludwigia reopens that are easy, so is your nymphaea zenkeri.
 


Rotala Blood Red and Ludwigia Palustris (aka super red) are very easy plants that will remain reddish in low tech tanks. Don't expect them to be as red as they can be in a high tech though. Blood Red retains most of its red while Palustris red in low tech is a duller brownish-red. (of course, there are some low tech tanks out there where the reds are incredible... but for the rest of us....)

The video above shows Rotala Blood Red in my low tech tank.

By the way isn't Rotala Blood Red just a type of Rotundifolia....?
 
Ludwigia Super Red has always stayed red for me in all but the worst conditions
 
Hi there, could it be a water circulation issue? I'm not any kind of scientist but I imagine flow through three connected compartments with a full length spray bar would be difficult to control, especially when you're keeping slow swimming bettas. Perhaps the fertiliser & CO2 aren't being distributed evenly around each compartment?
My plant suggestion would be a lagenandra. They're not red but have a pinky/green sheen to the leaves which is quite attractive. It grows like a crypt but is more robust.
 


Rotala Blood Red and Ludwigia Palustris (aka super red) are very easy plants that will remain reddish in low tech tanks. Don't expect them to be as red as they can be in a high tech though. Blood Red retains most of its red while Palustris red in low tech is a duller brownish-red. (of course, there are some low tech tanks out there where the reds are incredible... but for the rest of us....)

The video above shows Rotala Blood Red in my low tech tank.

By the way isn't Rotala Blood Red just a type of Rotundifolia....?

It’s hard to tell what Rotala Blood Red is not knowing its scientific name. Rotala are generically difficult with the exception of Rotundifolia of which there are many locality variants. .

Ludwigia Palustris is not as easy as L. Repens. It struggled in my medium light setup whereas Repens and Ovalis grow rampant.
 
Maybe the substrate in your tank lacks in nutrients, did you add root tabs or nutrient capsules while setting up the tank?
 
I would bet on water circulation. Looking how cloudy is your water, for sure your filtration is not okay.
 
Maybe the substrate in your tank lacks in nutrients, did you add root tabs or nutrient capsules while setting up the tank?
Noooo! Please, don't make it worse.
I would bet on water circulation. Looking how cloudy is your water, for sure your filtration is not okay.
Do you suggest that an ordinary external filter can remove bacterial blooms or mineral coloids?
 
Do you suggest that an ordinary external filter can remove bacterial blooms or mineral coloids?
No, I suggest that lack of good filtration and water flow may/will causes blooms and muddy water.
But also be the reason for plants to melt due to lack of access to nutrients.
 
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