# Turning Rotala Colorata and H'ra and mexicana red?



## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Rumor has it is its all about lighting spectrum


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## viridis.ornatus (Mar 27, 2014)

What is the rumor?


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Or light in the 60-80 PAR range/w injected CO2 in some cases.
It also helps to have good ferts in the sub via Osmocote+ cap. or dirt sub.
I had red/w 100 PAR and no injected CO2, but I also had GSA all over the leaves.
Likely better with faster growing plants than I had. What you have probable 
would work better without the injected CO2, but slower growing plants in your tank will suffer.


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## viridis.ornatus (Mar 27, 2014)

I use high CO2 and EI already. I have overdosed micros, Mg, K, and PO4 (separately). KH is negligible, GH is around 6. In the past I have tried 6wpg T5HO, 4wpg and most recently 4wpg further away, with various daylight and plant tubes. Nothing seems to make those Rotalas redder, high light just causes algae and stunting, high micros cause burns.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

viridis.ornatus said:


> I use high CO2 and EI already. I have overdosed micros, Mg, K, and PO4 (separately). KH is negligible, GH is around 6. In the past I have tried 6wpg T5HO, 4wpg and most recently 4wpg further away, with various daylight and plant tubes. Nothing seems to make those Rotalas redder, high light just causes algae and stunting, high micros cause burns.


I feel your pain, badly. What is consistency and stability of your tank? co2 24/7? Just asking q's for peeps


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## viridis.ornatus (Mar 27, 2014)

CO2 on 2 hours before lights on and off with lights off. Around 60ppm. Also tried double or triple that for a while (no livestock).


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Some of the Rotala species like cooler water. I read that Macrandra like it below 75F.


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## viridis.ornatus (Mar 27, 2014)

My Macranda, Macranda variegated and butterfly are red and Macranda green is red-tinged. Vietnam and wallichii are red, true indica tops are red-tinged. Even R. mexicana Goias fragments at the very bottom have red new growth. Temperature is 25C.

It's just Colorata, H'ra and "red" Mexicana (which arrived as the reddest plant ever). So frustrating lol


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

I also feel your pain... I can only make things red with very high light. Unfortunately that comes at a cost. Similarly I received some very red stems and they only grew green in my tank. Eventually they get red when they get close to the light.

Something tells me you can only really pull off red stems with a fully established tank stocked with tons of plants so you can blast it with light.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

viridis.ornatus said:


> My Macranda, Macranda variegated and butterfly are red and Macranda green is red-tinged. Vietnam and wallichii are red, true indica tops are red-tinged. Even R. mexicana Goias fragments at the very bottom have red new growth. Temperature is 25C.
> 
> It's just Colorata, H'ra and "red" Mexicana (which arrived as the reddest plant ever). So frustrating lol


Sorry to stray off topic, do you happen to have a picture of the rotala mexicana red? I really want this plant


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

You'll need light in the red spectrum for red plants to be red. No red light means no red plants. A cheap RGB led light strip with the reds turned up will help the reds pop.


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## viridis.ornatus (Mar 27, 2014)

The red that's possible with mexicana red is a bit redder/more maroon and more intense than this (not mine) http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/Noddy65/mexicanared.jpg

Regarding spectrum, I use grow T5HO with peaks in the 640-660nm and blue range and I also added one of these with no improvement.
Ebay - 5M 5050 SMD Red Blue 8:1 Plant Grow Hydroponic Aquarium LED Strip IP65 + 12V 6A, Red 650-660nm; Blue: 465-470nm, 60 SMD LEDs per meter, 12Watts/M

I've been told to limit N and P but I'm afraid of stunting other species or inducing BGA.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

viridis.ornatus said:


> The red that's possible with mexicana red is a bit redder/more maroon and more intense than this (not mine) http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/Noddy65/mexicanared.jpg
> 
> Regarding spectrum, I use grow T5HO with peaks in the 640-660nm and blue range and I also added one of these with no improvement.
> Ebay - 5M 5050 SMD Red Blue 8:1 Plant Grow Hydroponic Aquarium LED Strip IP65 + 12V 6A, Red 650-660nm; Blue: 465-470nm, 60 SMD LEDs per meter, 12Watts/M
> ...


Omg I want that plant, i just o-


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## viridis.ornatus (Mar 27, 2014)

R. mexicana red is definitely stunning.

Does anyone actually grow Colorata?


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## bsantucci (Sep 30, 2013)

viridis.ornatus said:


> R. mexicana red is definitely stunning.
> 
> Does anyone actually grow Colorata?


I've been trying to get mine redder for months. Nothing I do helps. Best I can get is a slight orange to it.


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