Hi, I have had R.Macandra in my minitank from 2 weeks, I've cut (is right say "I've cut" when you talk about plants? ) it before put it into the soil (Aqua Soil Malaya) and now it's growing good, but new parts aren't red like all the rest, bur green. How much time do they need to get red? I've not started with fertilizer yet.. tank you
bye
Sorry for my english, I'm italian
Trimmed might be a better word, unless you refer to making small cuts on the rhizome, in which case "cut" is the proper word.
Depending on the temperature of the water, it should take about a month before you see mature red leaves. Also, I'm not familiar with the species, but red usually means the plant requires some Iron in the water.
Rotala Marcanda is a very high light plant.
What are the lights in your tank. Under low light the leaves will turn green.
All red plants need very high lights, because the red pigment is not very efficient in photosyenthesis (the process by which plants make food), hence in order to survive under sub optimal light, they make more green pigment (cholrophyll), and the leaves turn green.
No problem with light, it's about 1.3w/lt. and I'm going to start with Iron in 2 weeks..Originally Posted by sandeepraghuvanshi
Sorry for my english, I'm italian
i would say light is really important. Like my rotala goias n hong tai yang, i noticed that these red tips plants become green when the plants are blocked from the light by surrounding taller plants. As for iron, it might help, but not so critical because i have reduced the dosage by a lot after having crs in my tank, but the plants are stil as red as before. I used 2x2ft 55w light
W/L rule is an approximation only, it does not apply to all tanks, specially small tanks.
Pls give your tank size and lights, also what other plants do you have.
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