ranchwest

I've got a 100 gal tank on which I change about 40% about every 7-11 days. Growth is going pretty good, but the red plants are not red. I'm dosing a pretty good amount of Flourish and a little Flourish Potassium. There's a moderately heavy fish load.

Ludwigia Repens, a Ludwigia cross, Rotala Indica and a plant that should be orange on the top are showing little signs of red.

I'm not currently using any carbon product. I'm going to order some Flourish Excel soon.

Any suggestions on how to get the reds more red?

david lim

Some of these plants can only get so red. It depends on the lighting, nutrients, CO2, etc. I'm guessing here but is ludwigia repens your most red plant right now? Indica can get red, but requires fairly high light.

To really get reds going red, people recommend lowering nitrates, or increasing light/CO2. Although this can work, even things like the type of light bulbs used can affect the red colors that you see or don't see. What type of lighting are you using? If you're using flourescents, then I believe zoomed makes a nice red bulb (I forget which one though).
http://www.zoomed.com/html/lites.php
If you're using power compacts then maybe try some of the GE9325K Aquarays.

I have used both and they produce lots of light in the red spectrum, which means that more red will be seen in your plants.

HOWEVER, lots of stuff, other than lighting, can affect how red your plants look. I figured this would be an easy means in trying to make your plants look more red. I reiterate again, how nutrients can also play a role in the redness of your plants. I apologize if I am rambling. But please write us with any questions, and I'm sure others will chime in.

titan97

Don't forget to add iron. I have a similar collection of red plants, and I find it crucial to load up the tank with iron every day. Also, having 8WPG doesn't hurt also.

-Dustin

ranchwest

When I say these plants lack red, I mean some are almost devoid of red. For instance, the Rotala Indica should have a reddish top and they're green. The Repens does have a somewhat red underside to the leaves, but the red is not nearly as strong as the green on the top of the leaves.

I think your replies have confirmed my suspicions. I probably need iron way up, nitrates down, carbon way up.

Thanks, I'm going to try adding Seachem iron and Flourish Excel.

hoppycalif

Increasing iron isn't likely to either help or hurt much. Adding sufficient CO2, light and macros will do the most good, in my opinion. I have found that the closer the plants get to the surface (to the light) the better the red gets, unless you have a lot of light.

milalic

I have to agree with hoppycalif on this. Get your macros, CO2 and lights in order and you will see your red plants. To be able to have red plants, I have around 3.3wpg in a 58G tank. I have Polygonum Sp. Sao Paolo and it is bloody red in the middle top part...

Cheers,
Pedro

Ben Belton

I vote for high light, CO2, and traces with iron. Limit the nitrogen... but not too much. Some of my plants will die almost overnight with low nitrogen.

Ben

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ranchwest

Thanks, this is an excellent resource.

plantbrain

This is good simple advice, but if you want to maitain the low NO3, there is a trade off with lighting, less light=> less uptake of NO3, therefore you have more wiggle room and are able to matain and lower NO3 level without bottoming out and stunting plants with less light, this also provides more wiggle room with dosing and less algae presence to boot.

I'd say that less light will allow better reds over time than higher.
Rotala macrandra is a good plant to work with on this topic. I have and so have others, we did very well at 2 w/gal, many do poorly at 4-5 w/gal, I have redder color, but had a tough time maitaining stable growth rates at 5.5 w/gal, the plant stunted more.

Other's showed similar patterns.

I now grow it at high NO3 levels and high light.

You have trade offs here, knowing what those are is a key piece of information that can help you decide on a path/method you want tom useto control various factors in our planted tanks.

Regards,
Tom Barr

mrbelvedere138

Are you sure the reason your R. indica isn't red is because it is the green variety?