Red Plant?

[Man of fish]

Looking for a nice red live plant for a low tech set up dosed with weekly ferts and a 17 watt T8 bulb in a 30 gallon tank. I want it to be red so it can replace my red plastic plant.

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

I know there are some red anubias, but I'm not sure about their requirements.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I'm testing out a tiger lotus right now in my lower tech tank, my t-8 bulb has reflectors, which apparently add to the wattage. I asked on the forum but didn't get many responses on the lighting. Do you have reflectors?


SO far though, I have had some really nice growth on the Lotus and the color is staying red. My ludwiga lost it's coloring very quickly and the red leaves actually all died off, luckily I didn't pull it out because it is growing green leaves now which are rather beautiful...

 

[ian]

reflectors don't add to the wattge...the bulb will still be the same amount of wattage whatever, you can't up the watts by adding reflectors. You don't always need loads of light to grow red plants. Red plants like a lotus are 'just red', they don't lose there colour.


certain red plants do good in low light, certain plants remain red. Like these...

see here, the Alternanthera reineckii mini, grown under 2 t8's

Aponogeton Crispus red, under 1.4 WPG

Alternanthera sessilis grown under 1.3 wpg

Ludwigia peruensis in very low light, i can't remember how much, but it was in a nano i had.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Oh those are lovely. The Alternanthera reineckii really has a beautiful color. I like the purple of the Aponogeton Crispus.




Thanks for the wattage answer. I am concerned now...with one 30watt t-8 bulb on a 46g, that seems insanely low. But the tiger lotus has grown a few inches in a week & half and it's a lovely red.

 

[Teephphah]

So jealous of that Ludwigia peruensis. I kill all shapes and sizes of Ludwigia with surprising efficiency. I really wish things were otherwise though. It's a lovely plant.

 

[ian]

you have to be patient with red Lud, you really do. It will loose most of it's leaves when planted as the are grown out of water. My tip would be to plant and then give it a week or 2, then you should see some new growth, but you would have lost a fair few leaves. The nip the tops with the new growth on and re plant. You then should end up with nice red lud like the pics.

@ FF, yes that is low light, but it doesn't mean things won't grow. You are seeing the lotus grow, so i'd be happy.

 

[cynic]

I have bombed out on several red plants too, might try some of those myself.

 

[FishFanatic04]

It's been a few months with good growth on my swords even, the old leaves tend to melt off once they reach a certain size, but I am pretty happy with the pace of the tank. Thanks ianho.


Even if your red plants turn green with the new growth, give it a chance. The ludwiga in my tank is looking really beautiful these days, even thought it is green now.

 

[Man of fish]

[quote\]
see here, the Alternanthera reineckii mini, grown under 2 t8's

Aponogeton Crispus red, under 1.4 WPG

Alternanthera sessilis grown under 1.3 wpg

Ludwigia peruensis in very low light, i can't remember how much, but it was in a nano i had.

[/quote]

Any idea where I can get these?

 

[ian]

they are all Aquafluer or Tropica plants, the Aponogetons are expensive, they retail at £13, the rest are cheap. These came from either Aquaessentials or The green machine.

 

[Man of fish]

Ok I'll ask if I can special order any from bobs tropical plants.

the Aponogetons are expensive, they retail at £13, the rest are cheap.

That's good because those were my least favorite.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I didn't see a large selection of plants at bob's. I may have seen some ludwiga a while back though. That's where I got my tiger lotus which was thriving from day 1, even after a two day trip in a hot box. It was in the 90's that week here.

I want to move to Europe just for the selection of plants and fish. Or move near a local grower/breeder here.

 

[Man of fish]

There's quite a few breeders and growers in GA

I read they can special order so I asked if he could get any of those.