rotala wallichii is no longer red

[discusjoe27]

I'm having a problem with my rotala wallichii it was red when I bought it and got it in the water it was red, now a couple days later it's light green and lost it's read. I've got a 4 foot pc(power compact) 4x65 watts on a 55. 4 antinic(spelling?) and 4 12000k bulbs. do I need pressurized c02?
where is phil?

[clogwood]

With that type of lighting you really should have co2 pumped into the tank.That plant in particular will often turn green when people bring it home.To acheive the red that it had or you see in books require a lot care.Co2 is a major need as well as fertilizer and some feel it needs extra iron added to the tank.
I have kept that plant in a high tech tank and was still hard to maintain a vibrant red color

[yikesjason]

For it to turn green that fast is due to not enough light. Your light is strong enough, but you have bulbs for a saltwater tank. Bulbs in the 5,000k - 10,000k are what you should be using. The actinic especially will do nothing for plants.

[Yboat]

whats your substrait like, are doing ferts?

[discusjoe27]

I dose seachem excel and the seachem tabs that you put in the substrate.
the substrate is a mix of eco-complete, black sand, and silicia pool filter sand.

so I guess I should take out the pc bulbs, and go get store credit for them, and get some all 5,000-10,000 k bulbs.

[JL15219]

For that plant to be red you need good co2 and ferts....and bulbs in the 5,000-10,000 k would also help :)

[discusjoe27]

For that plant to be red you need good co2 and ferts....and bulbs in the 5,000-10,000 k would also help :)

guess I will need to find some pc 5000-10oook bulbs. or sell off my high tech plants for java fern and amazon sword.

[exv152]

rotala wallichii needs high light intensity and soft water conditions to be a colourful red

[discusjoe27]

rotala wallichii needs high light intensity and soft water conditions to be a colourful red

so maybe I should mix some ro/di water with my aged water then, and get rid of my antics ?

[scottishbloke]

I still have a few strands of this beautiful plant left over from my planted tank days. I found it was not nearly as demanding as the available info indicated- I previously had a ton of it growing in 2 inches of Fluorite under 3X 54w T5HO bulbs (6700k, Hagen Life-Glo, 48") in a 55g. It was not only bright red, but multiplied very rapidly after getting established. What I have left is in the same setup, but with only 1 bulb (the other 2 now light my 90g discus tank) and it still grows well, but only the top inch is red, the rest is green now. This plant is bad for attracting algae growth because of the fine structure, but Amano shrimp do a great job of cleaning it.
If I were you I would do what previous posts said and change out the actinic and 10,000k bulbs, which are really for reef tanks, and get ones in the 6500-6700k color temperature range, they are far better for freshwater plants IMHO.

My 2 cents,

Colin

[Sharkbait]

rotala wallichii is a very difficult plant to properly grow, so don't be discouraged if you can't! It took me 4 times. lol. Lights, C02, Ferts...all of it are very important. It's also very sensitive to algae and some algae eaters go NUTS over the fine bristles.

[Discus-Hans]

Okay, I'm not, I SAY NOT, a plant guy, but isn't it so that red plants need some Iron feeding???? to stay red????

Some where, some how, this popped up out off a deep far corner of my brain, lol

Hans

[Chad Hughes]

I was thinking the same Hans..... Was reading through and wondered who would mention it first. I vote Iron supplement as well!

Best wishes!

[JL15219]

Okay, I'm not, I SAY NOT, a plant guy, but isn't it so that red plants need some Iron feeding???? to stay red????

Some where, some how, this popped up out off a deep far corner of my brain, lol

Hans

Yeah...sometimes you can also bring out red buy reducing nitrates

[Discus-Hans]

Don't try this at home lol but I remember sticking some nails (when they were from real Iron and YES I'm THAT old) in the bottom under the plants.

Years later we bought it in a bottle,

Hans

[JL15219]

Don't try this at home lol but I remember sticking some nails (when they were from real Iron and YES I'm THAT old) in the bottom under the plants.

Years later we bought it in a bottle,

Hans

LOL Whatever works :D

[discusjoe27]

okay, I'll try the nails,just kidding. my birthday is in a week. I'm going to be coming to you hans ;) and will have my bulbs fixed soon. get my blue check in a few days.

has anyone done any business with aquatraders.com I found some replacement bulbs on there site for 12.90 each think with shipping it was going to be 36.80 for 4 bulbs.

grr these pc's are straight 4 pin and not 4 square pin. are they japan bulbs?

[exv152]

In a low tech tank, there really isn't a huge need for Fe supplement if you're doing frequent water changes, the Fe in the tap water should be sufficient. But, I noticed there's an imbalance in your lighting, nutrients and CO2. Too much light for the nutrients and CO2.

[scottishbloke]

The iron in my Georgia tap water and in the Fluorite seemed to do the trick in my low-tech, non-CO2 setup of keeping it supplied with enough iron, but in my case it was definitely the lighting that made a difference, as that's the only variable that was changed- from 3 T5HO bulbs to only one, the plant turning almost all green as a result.

Good luck and keep trying- it is a very beautiful plant.

Colin