How to get my red plants redder??

[Frenchi]

Nearly forgot

Excuse the GSA on the glass
Its not as red as it was now its shaded by the rotala next to it and the phone pic doesn't do it justice

That looks red to me .. This is a little something in the background but I want it redder lol


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[foxfish]

People grew algae tanks, thought too much ferts could cause algae, didn't know that flow was important, assumed that CO2 was the solution to all their problems, injected tones of Fe to get redder plants, that FEs could be used for something more than to extinguish fires, that there there was something called Rubisco that rules the world, that The Matrix was so related to their tanks.... 😉

Not every one grew algae tanks before the internet!
We had good old magazines, there were three popular mags in the 80s - early 90s that was one every 10 days.
I was using CO2 & daily ferts 30 years ago... just with lower light than we do now!
Re the red plants, it might not be completely Co2 & light dependant because it is just as difficult to grow strong red colours in an immersed tank with sunlight.

 

[G H Nelson]

Can Iron be absorbed through the leaves or floating roots?
Red colouration can be increased with high light intensity and over a long pedriod of time....with the addition of good Co2 levels and Macro/Micro fertilzers.
GH/KH may play apart some how?
Above unplanted Blyxa sp japonica on the surface.
Green thread algae can rear its head if the lighting is too long.
Just a few of my thoughts.
Cheers
hoggie

 

[Andy Thurston]

Immersed?

Just use lights with more red in the spectrum to give the illusion of redder plants, look at tom barr's journal
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/dutch-something-or-the-other-120-gal.17797/page-32
Look at the colour of the tubes in his lighting setup! Yes the red plants are red but the lights make them look even more red

 

[G H Nelson]

No floating as the Blyxa was.
Cheers

 

[foxfish]

OK sorry... roots immersed in wet substrate & foliage in warm humid air 🙂
I really don't like - not being able to edit your own post after a few minutes!

 

[Andy Thurston]

OK sorry... roots immersed in wet substrate & foliage in warm humid air 🙂
I really don't like - not being able to edit your own post after a few minutes!

I agree a hour would be much better sometimes I realise just after the time limit.
I did think that was what you meant especially when you mentioned unlimited co2
Possibly a little off topic but with hydroponics the addition of co2 is pointless without raising the temperature conciderably, do you think a co2 shortfall could be possible in an emersed setup like yours if the temperature is high enough?
I feel another propagator experiment coming on, I just need to get another propagator, find a spot which gets a full day worth of sun and use my welding co2 setup

 

[foxfish]

No I don't think you would get any Co2 shortage, even in a sealed unit, as the plants produce enough.
In the summer months I like to vent my set ups anyway as I can then replace evaporated water every day (or so) with liquid fert enriched water.