What red plants need to stay red ??

[peterkoh]

Thanks to Gchoo who gave me some red plants a few wks back. It's really beautiful when contrasting against some other green plants. I believe it's MM for short ?

I notice the lower part of some stalks melted away. Due to insufficient light ?

The top part is much lighter and pink in colour ...is the plant lacking in iron ? Afraid of algae bloom again if i reintroduce liquid fertilizer as i've controlled my bba recently ... thanks to floating plants like hornwort given to me by Juggler. Has anyone manaed to maintain red plants without fertilizer ?

Thks.

[bclee]

In my experience, liquid fertilisers are never a concern for algae. Liquid fertilisers usually contains trace elements, K and others except N and P. Use Seachem Flourish and usually dose 2 to 3 times the recommended dosage... no problem.

I feel it is the NH3 and PO4 that contribute most to the algae outbreak. If you have high light, it is important to maintain same level of CO2, macros (Ca, Mg, N, P, K, S) and traces (Fe, Mn, ...etc.) This is to ensure that your plants are not limited and will outcompete the algae.

Go ahead to add fertilisers... Ensure balance nutrients... should not be a concern.

[gchoo]

Hi Peter,

If the bottom part of the stalks melt away then insufficient light lor...
Is your macrandra starting to turn yellowish green? Not enuff iron and other trace elements...
Personally for me... I put in 7 ml of ferro nutrient, 8 drops of Dr Mallick's solution every 2-3 days in my 4 foot tank. No algae bloom for me coz
tank packed with fast growing plants hungry that are nutrient hungry...

[Simon]

macrandra dun really require lotsa light.. even in my 4ft, lighting is ard 2watts per gal, the Rotala macrandra is doing fine and without any melting

[peterkoh]

Hi gchoo, thks for the plant. like you said, it needs lots of light. really impressed with the colour of the plant you gave me. the new leaves that grow are yellowish-green but they turn pinkish after i added in iron. but still not as red as yours. yours really no horse run

[peterkoh]

2 watts only ?? my 2ft is 54w total. so about 3+w/galon. is your macadran red or greenish ?

[Simon]

i got both red and green species

[gchoo]

mine is currently 288W for my 4 ft.. I also have the green variant... turns reddish at the tips in my other tanks...

[gchoo]

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On 7/17/2002 4:43:53 PM

2 watts only ?? my 2ft is 54w total. so about 3+w/galon. is your macadran red or greenish ?
----------------

Peter, if you want, I can pass some more to you.. its havest time again...

[DEA]

different kinds of algae tend to thrive in different conditions
what i notice is bba likes high N and PO4, black BEARD algae simply loves N, and green spot likes conditions that plants like as well
some say high levels of iron encourage algae, while others (iirc, tom barr) have maintained macro levels of iron in their tanks
it's a VERY thin line, imo
what sears and conlin did was to measure the PO4 while dosing different kinds of fert
you could keep a very close watch (micromanagement) by measuring the N and PO4, and adjusting your liquid fert dosage to keep the two readings as low as possible

the most important thing was already mentioned by bc, which is nutrient balance
this one takes a bit of trial and error though
important thing is not to give up when your tanks screw up
it'll get better []