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Is this Rotala blood red?

Nikola

Nikola

Member
Joined
9 May 2020
Messages
182
Location
Slovakia
I bought this plant labeled like Rotala blood red, but it looks more like hra, or rotundifolia.
I'm having 4x24w T5 over 30 gal aquarium, pumping CO2 like crazy, nitrates holding around 7ppm and still they are just pinkish color.
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Maybe they are still transitioning from emersed...I don't know.

1000002715.jpg
 
It's possible it is and is adjusting given the shape and color of leaves low on the stem. Mine looked similar until it adjusted to my system. Give it a couple weeks and see.
 
DeadFish said:
It's possible it is and is adjusting given the shape and color of leaves low on the stem. Mine looked similar until it adjusted to my system. Give it a couple weeks and see.
Click to expand...
How long did it take for you to adapt?
Did you also buy them emmersed?
Cause I bought them emmerdmsed, they grew like 15cm, than I trimmed them close to the ground and now they are like that.
That's around four weeks total.
 
Nikola said:
How long did it take for you to adapt?
Did you also buy them emmersed?
Cause I bought them emmerdmsed, they grew like 15cm, than I trimmed them close to the ground and now they are like that.
That's around four weeks total.
Click to expand...
I've had it both ways - the most recent I had were grown submerged. The stems lost a good bit of color but grew well. Just this past weekend I noticed that they were starting to color up significantly, so that's been about six weeks. I find this to be the case with most Rotalas, grown submerged or emersed. They can take a few weeks to adapt and gain their best color, and then they will really take off. Same thing happens to me even when moving plants between tanks with strikingly similar parameters, lights, CO2, etc.

I wouldn't worry about it. Keep in mind that while it's an easy red to maintain, but it definitely benefits from limited NO3. 0-1ppm in the water column seems to be the ticket for the best morphology.
 
Okay, good to hear that @DeadFish
Thanks for sharing experience with this plant.
Keeping Nitrate that low...I would try, but I'm using inert gravel, although with some root tabs.
You think that I will not stunt other plants by doing it?
Also, how should one manage 0 to 1 ppm?
I suppose it's 2-3 water change per week or am I wrong?
 
Nikola said:
Okay, good to hear that @DeadFish
Thanks for sharing experience with this plant.
Keeping Nitrate that low...I would try, but I'm using inert gravel, although with some root tabs.
You think that I will not stunt other plants by doing it?
Also, how should one manage 0 to 1 ppm?
I suppose it's 2-3 water change per week or am I wrong?
Click to expand...
So this does make it tricky as you can't rely on root feeding for nitrogen - in the event it doesn't color up in the next few weeks, just try to lower NO3 until you find the limit.

I manage the 0-1ppm by solely relying on substrate for Nitrogen until the substrate is depleted. At that point, I add a little nitrogen via ferts and or replenish the soil with root tabs. I run a higher bioload so I don't need to dose much nitrogen to the water column. As of now, my dosing follows the lean regiment - daily micros, potassium, and I throw in gluteraldehyde for it's algaecide benefits. I change about 25% of the water weekly. If I get a hair or have extra time, I might do 2. I don't do WCs to limit nitrogen but more so just to replenish water and keep up with good husbandry. No need to perform WCs just to bring it down to an ideal range, just let it be consumed and monitor it to ensure there's something.

Provided you don't have any plants that dislike a lean water column (most are fine), you shouldn't have much issue as long as NO3 doesn't completely bottom out.
 
Okay, thanks for advices. Appreciate it.
I will listen to you and wait few more weeks and see from there will it be need for strict nitrogen limitation.
 
Rotala Blood Red is a type of Rotala Rotundfolia that doesn't require strict nitrogen limitation, that is exactly why the plant is so popular and regular Rotala Rotundfolia is hardly ever sold anymore (at least in my local fish shops...)

If it requires strict nitrogen restriction, then its regular Rotala Rotundfolia, not Blood Red.
 
@erwin123 , hi
Yes I'm aware of the fact. That's the main reason that I searched for blood red.
But they too benefit from nitrogen limitation, have some deeper reds.
But you are completely right that they should be red, not pink like mine.
Will just wait it out few weeks and see from there.
I even wrote to the company who sold them to me and they are saying it's 100% blood red.
 
I'm already gradually increasing it, started from 1h 100%.

You think I could just go straight up to 7h?
 
@GHNelson
Bumped it up this morning to 7h max power, plus dimming 2h up, 2h down.
Prolonged CO2 also, still constant 1.5Ph drop through whole period. Let's see those reds 😁
 
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