# Is this Red Root Floater?



## Firemedic269 (Oct 10, 2012)

Yep! That's RRF. It needs high light and high ferts to get the big red roots. Here is a photo of mine for a reference.


----------



## Rickybobby (Jan 29, 2013)

That's a sweet plant were did you guys get it?


----------



## Firemedic269 (Oct 10, 2012)

On here


----------



## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

Firemedic, what you have looks like frogbit not rrf. I can't give you definitive evidence though since I've only kept frogbit before.


----------



## Tinanti (Aug 25, 2005)

Spirodella, aka giant duckweed (I think, but definitely Lemna/Spirodella), not Phyllanthus fluitans, akd red root floater. Both of them.


----------



## leo1234 (Dec 2, 2009)

Yup that is rrf. 

But firemedic your's look like frogbit


----------



## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

@Firemedic your plants are not Red Root Floaters. Red root floaters 100% don't have that sheen/shiney/glossy top...this is what red root floaters look like..these are my plants:





































I might have some for sale


----------



## Tinanti (Aug 25, 2005)

Looking at firemedic's on my home PC, could be frogbit. Hard without size reference. Spongy underside would give it away.


----------



## Rickybobby (Jan 29, 2013)

chris.rivera3 said:


> @Firemedic your plants are not Red Root Floaters. Red root floaters 100% don't have that sheen/shiney/glossy top...this is what red root floaters look like..these are my plants:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

Taari said:


> I got this from the LFS labeled as RRF, but it doesn't look exactly like the RRF I've seen other people post. It's definately got some red, but it's very small and the roots do not have the featheryness I've seen. the leaves are about 1/4" diameter and the longest roots are about 2"


They are NOT red root floaters.

Red root floaters (phyllanthus fluitans) have runners for producing (and connecting) offshoots. See the following photo from http://alecto.bittwiddlers.com/fish/Tropica/28.htm:


----------



## bluestems (Feb 7, 2012)

red-rooted floaters have red roots  The roots are also shorter, mine only hang about 1/2".


----------



## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

bluestems said:


> red-rooted floaters have red roots


The roots turn red ONLY under optimal condition.


----------



## bluestems (Feb 7, 2012)

zdnet said:


> The roots turn red ONLY under optimal condition.


What are the optimal conditions? Mine are under med-high light, and the roots have always been red, but not high enough light to turn the leaves red. They have been without co2 for a few weeks now while waiting for a new regulator to come in. Are you sure its the roots and not just the leaves that change color under non-optimal conditions?


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

bluestems said:


> What are the optimal conditions? Mine are under med-high light, and the roots have always been red, but not high enough light to turn the leaves red. They have been without co2 for a few weeks now while waiting for a new regulator to come in. Are you sure its the roots and not just the leaves that change color under non-optimal conditions?


I thought it was only the leaves. My rrf roots have never changed colors but their leaves have.

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

@taari: that doesn't look like RRF

@firemedic: that definitely isn't RRF

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Tinanti said:


> Looking at firemedic's on my home PC, could be frogbit. Hard without size reference. Spongy underside would give it away.


Not Frogbit either. Here's pics of my Frogbit. Notice how the leaves aren't glossy.















Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

That looks like dwarf water lettuce. My frogbit had a thick spongy leaf and was glossy green.


----------



## Tinanti (Aug 25, 2005)

Your plant is _Pistia stratiotes_, aka water lettuce. There's no dwarf form, just plants that are smaller from being grown indoors. 



mistahoo said:


> Not Frogbit either. Here's pics of my Frogbit. Notice how the leaves aren't glossy.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## bluestems (Feb 7, 2012)

Check out Spirodela polyrhiza which has the same lines in the leaf, red bottoms and white roots. 

from bing image search:


----------



## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

bluestems said:


> What are the optimal conditions? Mine are under med-high light, and the roots have always been red, but not high enough light to turn the leaves red. They have been without co2 for a few weeks now while waiting for a new regulator to come in. Are you sure its the roots and not just the leaves that change color under non-optimal conditions?


I have seen red root floaters with white roots and some with pink, not red, roots. Water nutrients seem to play a role in the root color variation. My guess would be the amount of iron. But I don't know what the optimal conditions are.

As to the leaf color, Christel Kasselmann's book Aquarium Plants characterized the plant as being "extremely light-hungry".


----------



## Firemedic269 (Oct 10, 2012)

Actually mine are RRF. This was them when I first got them. There was nothing else mixed in. I know this because I put each one in by hand to make sure there were no other species.


----------



## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

Firemedic269 said:


> Actually mine are RRF.


Do you see any runners connecting offshoots?


----------



## Firemedic269 (Oct 10, 2012)

No. They all look like single leaves up to four leaf clovers.


----------



## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

Firemedic269 said:


> No. They all look like single leaves up to four leaf clovers.


The color of roots and leaves are often influenced by environmental factors like water nutrients and light intensity. They are therefore not very reliable for plant identification. But the anatomical (structural) features of plants are very stable across environments.

Since we know that red root floaters are populated through runners, when there is no runner and yet the plants keep populating themselves, we know that they cannot be red root floaters.


----------



## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

Taari - Not RRF
Firemedic269 - Not RRF
chris.rivera3 - That's RRF
mistahoo - Not frogbit. That's water lettuce
bluestems - I think you nailed what Taari has.

RRF propagates through runners, creating great big chains of RRF, not 4 leaf clusters. New leaves tend to curl up at the sides and overlap existing leaves, and with proper lighting you get little white flowers.


----------



## kingjombeejoe (Feb 17, 2013)

This is mt RRF


----------



## aokashi (Jun 12, 2012)

Giant duckweed... mine looks exactly like it. undersides turn red under good light. multiplies like crazy...

see google images here:

http://duck-weed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Giant-Duckweed-Spirodela-Polyrhiza-closeup.jpg

http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/wetland_plants/spipol_aspect01.jpg

http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/wetland_plants/spipol_aspect02.jpg


----------



## kingjombeejoe (Feb 17, 2013)

aokashi said:


> Giant duckweed... mine looks exactly like it. undersides turn red under good light. multiplies like crazy...
> 
> see google images here:
> 
> ...


I would have to agree after those pictures.


----------

