Possibly insufficient "Fe" or insufficient micro nutrients in your water and good lightings.
But whats your tanks size and lightings here?
Possibly insufficient "Fe" or insufficient micro nutrients in your water and good lightings.
But whats your tanks size and lightings here?
If after initial planting and new growth is greenish, then the lighting seem insufficient. Make sure it is also not shaded by other plants. This plant also needs more CO2 to show its best.
BTW - maybe you let us know your tank size/ parameters.
koah fong
Juggler's tanks
CO2? Don't think so leh...
I setup a 1ft tank in my office. I got some Narrow leaf Rotala Macranda which is in weak health... But when placed under bright light 36W (The GREY Colour tube, you gave me...) it grew back to it's formal glory!
1ft (five plan) tank got no CO2 injection... but green algae always clouds the tank walls! every 2-3 days must clean!
UPgraded office tank to 2ft liao, got chance show you photo!
Baby Steel!
I bought some iron pills from pharmacy, hope it helps. My water got a layer of oil, is that going to affect the water condition? Any ideas to get ride of it?
Surface protein buildup...
- Get a surface skimmer.
- Get surface Dwelling Molly to clear
- lay Newspaper to soak it up
Or let it be...
iron pills from pharmacy... Did you leave it lying around or you stuff it down the gravel? Also please update on results... quite interested...
Baby Steel!
It's a form of capsules. I just remove the capsules and mix the powder with water. After that, pour into my tank. Anyone here pls tell me, if what i'm doing is correct? i dosed 2 capsules..
Stable low NO3 levels and good ranges for the rest of the nutrients and CO2 should bring out the intense reds.
Regards
Peter Gwee
[quote:656f8cc26b="Shaun-"]It's a form of capsules. I just remove the capsules and mix the powder with water. After that, pour into my tank. Anyone here pls tell me, if what i'm doing is correct? i dosed 2 capsules..[/quote:656f8cc26b]
Never try this before. It is very interesting. Update us the situation. How much do you spend on the iron capsules?
Iron do not really do anything to the redness of the plant. High intensity lighting and low nitrate will induce the redness. But this is rather risky for algae outbreak.
BC
[quote:b2681a3a0d="limsteel"]CO2? Don't think so leh...
[/quote:b2681a3a0d]
Heh heh... I got that info from Teo Farm. They said their R.macrandra in their 9ft tank grew best near the filter outlet where the CO2 reactor was.
I believe light is still more important especially for red plants.
koah fong
Juggler's tanks
You had more NO3 added to your tank you can watch this plant turn greener, then not dose the tank for a couple of days and watch it redder up again.
The problem is that you can run the NO3 too low and stunt the plant.
This low NO3 method works when you have either low PO4 slowing NO3 uptake or lower light.
Fe is not present in any red pigment, while N is present in Green Chlorophyll and a lot of it.
So if you add N, you will get green color, remove it, and the reds that are there already will show through.
This was discovered about 5-6 years ago on the APD with several of us wondering about this issue.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Rotala Macranda is a very demanding plant High to Very High light, CO2 hungry and need fert sticks to really let it grow...
If it's not dying or growth is not stunt.... green is okay....
I do not think high light has a hill of beans to do with it. I've seen some downright gorgous results with 2w/gal of Normal FL's in a 24" deep tank.
CO2 and nutrients(higher N in particular seem to help)
Regards,
Tom Barr
I read somewhere in the net (as usual, sorry lost the link can't show you guys) that plants when given much light will start to turn red (meaning only those that are capable, forget about Nana, fern and moss). Don't know whether does it sounds absurd to you... Stated on the site, The plants shed it Chorophyll in order to stop making too much food when exposed to too much light... In low light condition, it regenerate the chorophyll thus making itself green again to manufactured food.
Next, some Commercial fert indicates on the bottle that Fe is the need for Red pigment or something like that.
Then comes the theory that N is affecting the manufacturing of chorophyll...
Finally, PERSONALLY I find the "light" theory being the most true TO ME (I don't know about you guys...)
Senarios:
1. My Rotala Macranda in my 3ft tank roughly 2.5W/gal light (Over shadowed by other plants) doesn't do well, colour more to Dirty greenish red... When placed in my office 2ft 5plan 54W tank, it gain back the red colour in a few days time!
2. My red lotus, with deep red colour in my 3ft. Taken out and replanted in my 1½ft tank... was doing well until Moss over grown and over shadow the lotus. The leaf started losing the red pigment and green vein are seen...
Baby Steel!
Limsteel, unless these bone heads actually do controlled studies and keep track of the other parameters, they can do nothing more than mere speculation and re parrot old myths.
I am trying to help folks by not approaching things that way but rather focus on a much more scientific method that takes into account the confounding factors.
This simply was never done with aquatic plant tanks until recently(last decade or so).
Companies included.
Somewhere on the net, somewhere on some product label is meaningless really.
It proves nothing whatsoever. I'm not arguing with you personally, just making a strong point regarding the myths seem on the web and true culprits as to the cause and effect.
I have a difficult time accdepting something because someone says it.
I could say PO4 causes algae by the same token if you believe your line of reasoning. Or excess Fe, NO3 etc causes algae, soft water is preferred by plants etc etc.
I did not believe these things and tested them.
I've been right about many things, but I have to rule out all the other issues first. Seems folks did not do much of this in the past.
My point is that these tid bits of advice are nothing more than speculation rather than a viable arguements of substance.
Doesn't matter what the source is unless you have hard science to support it and show your arguements.
I've yet to have anyone come even remotely close to agruing these points whether they were a company, scientist or individual.
Most said excess PO4 caused algae and I know they never even tested for it. So whate else did they not test for?
A hellva lot.
They sell things, they don't do research.
You are welcome to bring anyone you wish to explain to me why these myths are true in these cases mentioned here. All the plant people in aquatic science I know always end up agreeing with me about these notions.
Why do you think adding more light causes the plants to turn redder generally?
More light= more uptake= less NO3=> red coloration.
You have a finite amoi8unt of NO3, unlessd you change the dosing, the level will drop(same can be said for CO2 if you increase the light intensity and provide non limiting conditions for other nutrients).
Plants will not shed Chl to stop making food in response to high light at the levels we expose them to.
You simply have no where close to enough light in your tank to cause photoinhibition. This takes far more light unless you have a series of 400W MH's or something in a shallow tank like many reef folks do, other wise you are not even close.
In the past, like 20-10 years ago, 2 w/gal of NO was a lot of light.
Today things have really changed but those myths presist.
Too much light will destoy the D1 protien, not harm Chl. Chl simply catches the light and can fluroresece and relsease the excess energy in 4 basic methods, you can find these methods on any plant Physiology site(Flurescence, Xanophylle cycle, phortorespiration, CAM idling, DI protein destruction are the main ones). Plants can change their Chloroplast placement within the leaf etc and other tricks, Hydrill rotates it's Chloroplast in response to high light, not destroying the Chl.
Getting redder/losing Chl ain't one of them.
You can view a list of sun vs shade leaves on the APD I wrote some years ago(2001?)
Commerical products need to check out what are in these red pigments, there is no iron at all my friend. Look up the chemical compsition for Anthocyanin. These same pathways that produce this pigment also produce many other products for plants and the enyzmes are needed by all plants, not just red plants.
Additionally, most every red plant you find is from a dark forest, so all the terrestrial plants do not follow the pattern, more light= less Chl and more red. Cactus are not red, they are green, I think they live in very sun lit places.
This discussion took place years ago on the APD.
Your so called test does not measure NO3. So how do know anything about NO3 and it's effects on color?
You don't.
Are you suggesting that you have similar nutrient levels in both tanks and you measured the light?
I see not mention of any testing at all.
I tested CO2, NO3, PO4, Fe, GH (via standard reference solutions) and changed the lighting and then changed the NO3. I use a light meter.
I've done NO3 manipulations for about 9 years now.
i might know what I'm talking about and be able to answer things like what a particular range of NO3's levels will cause the color to appear.
Rotala and Ludwigia are very easy to illict a color change via KNO3 dosing. Even at high or low lighting.
See APD for more discussion.
Regards,
Tom Barr
sounds logical: more lights plant use up NO3, thus causing low NO3. So lighting is indirectly involved. I should get myself a NO3 test kit to check my water chemistry.
Anyone know a test kit with 5ppm unit. I had a Tetra test kit with 12.5ppm unit... can't get a precise reading...
Baby Steel!
You can make standard ref solutions to test your NO3 test kit against also and should.
Use Chuck's Calculator and make a series of different concentrations and see how well they match with the ref solutions.
Saltwater kits have seemed to do better in general, Tetra stuff you can forget, Hagen, AP apparently I've heard a few good comments.
I use lab spects/Ref solutions etc, or Lamott/Hach.
I use large water changes and use that as my standard for re dosing and hitting fairly close to the needed ranges for NO3 etc.
While NO3 is the driving factor for the color, it does seem like light causes this, but if you think it through, this is not the real cause for red coloration.
We could say the same thing about PO4 and assumed it caused algae.
We should be careful as to what is the really the cause and not just a mere "symtom"
Regards,
Tom Barr
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