Reddish Plants Not Doing So Well!

[rodandalisonthompson]

As you can see from the picture of the tank i have a reddish coloured plant in the middle of the tank.

The problem is that out of all the plants its the only one that doesnt seem to be doing that well. It has died twice and been replaced. I really like the colour of it so am keen to keep a plant of this colour in the tank. I know the fish do seem to prefer this one to any other plant to nibble on but dont know why! This plant causes a lot of leaf debris to sit at the bottom of the tank.

The tank has a plant enhancing light, is fed with Floravec and has a Sera peat/fertilizer layer under the gravel.

Any ideas on why this particular plant?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Graeme Edwards]

Plants that have a red color are usually in the range of needing very strong light to acheive these colors. Its a plants way of protecting its self from strong damaging rays from the sun. To us, its an atractive atribute.
TBH with you, i think you will struggle with this plant ( Rotala macrandra ) it is a notoriously difficult plant to grow due to its high demands for strong light , Co2 and soft water. So unless you can provide these things then to save dissapointment try growing something els.

Regards,
Graeme.

 

[nry]

Hmm, well it doesn't do too badly in my poorly lit tank, single 15w tube in a 14 gallon aquarium. I add CO2, Flourish Excel and liquid fertiliser, with JBL AquaBasis Plus under the gravel. Never had any die, though if I cut it back it does take a while before the shoots are high enough up in the tank to really grow quickly.

 

[iroc]

I had a lot of problems with that plant you could try Ludwigia glandulosa, or Alternanthera reineckii. Both of those have done very well in my tank although I do have a lot of light 5.5wpg and I have CO2.