# rotala wallichi



## BOTIA (Dec 23, 2003)

I've been wanting this for awhile, finally got some today from my lfs.
Anybody have any tips on growing it successfully?
Botia


----------



## kenneth_kpe (Jan 25, 2005)

i know that it needs high light if you want that pink plant effect on its tips, kinda like rotala rotundifolia, but IMO a lot harder to grow ? 

i tried it before but that was last year before i switched to roughly 4WPG, oh and i dont think it will do well in hot watered aquariums.


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

kenneth_kpe said:


> oh and i dont think it will do well in hot watered aquariums.


Not true. I had trouble before, but not because of high temperature. Now it does just fine in 83F with consistent nutrient dosing.


----------



## Crs2fr (Sep 22, 2004)

the only thing i didnt like is if the bottom does not get much light .. they die off.. and all that crap sits at the bottom.. the tops and new growth looked great. but the dead stuff made my tank always look dirty. so i took them out

chris


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

If you have shorter plants in front to hide the legs, you won't notice.


----------



## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Rotala wallichii also demands clean water. Aquarium water should be algae free, as algal attacks will almost certainly choke off the plant. 

Herbivorous fish will consider this plant a delicacy, and devour it with great enthusiasm. If you have any SAEs, better chain them up!

Mike


----------



## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

I've had this plant twice- I'm seduced be beautiful, delicate-looking red plants.
The first time I had it (when my tank was new), it was swiftly overtaken by thread algae, so I got frustrated and pulled it out. 
The second time I had it (about 6 months later), I had a bit of the same problem, but less so. (Let me explain, I had just gotten my JBJ unit back from repair, so the tank had been without light for 2 days. When I put the lights back on, the algae had a brief field day). The rotala again grew lots of thread algae. But I kept pulling it off in the hopes that the plant would have a chance to catch hold. I have basically left the plant alone for the last 3 months, while being very diligent in my weekly water changes, fertilization, and maintenance, and it seems to be fine. It is definitely not a fast grower, or even a medium one, but it doesn't have any algae on it!
They are awfully pretty plants, but I'd say you really need lots of light, good filtration, and maybe even some gentle current to keep debris off the needle-like leaves.


----------



## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

I had to ditch mine due to algae problems. I fought algae for a month with this plant in my tank. This plant is a fuzz and hair algae magnet. It never looked right. After the algae battle.


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Maybe I am the guy with the most patience on this board. It languished for 6 months(maybe more like 10 months) in my tank before it turned around. And this is my second try. Same thing happened to r. macrandra and r. magenta


----------



## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Wow, that is definately one plant I would _not_ put in the "slow growing" list... it grows like any other rotala variety... like gangbusters ! 
*IF* it has a lot of available nutrients, good lighting and higher end CO2 levels... 

CO2 may have been the cause of some of the problems I read about here. When I grew this plant I had my bottle run out on me and as timing would have it , it was a week before I could get it filled, the wallichi took the hardest hit of any plant varieties in the tank. Growth stopped in 2 days from getting an inch a day on each stem before that, and I swear sometimes it seemed like more on a few stems _but_ If you have low (or no) CO2 levels dont even bother with wallichi ,or if you have any algae , it will get the wallichi first !

A beautiful plant and very easy to grow *IF* you abide by *ITS* rules... LOL... and its biggest reward when grown properly is the mix of pinks and reds and greens, especially when the wallichi pearls ! Thats a great show ...

One more thing about this plant that comes to mind... It's the ugliest lookin stuff when you pull a stem from the water... as a matter of fact, Its the ugliest stem I have ever seen of any plant out of water... LMAO !

Its a great plant... I hope it works well for you ! 

Heres one of my favorite photos... my angels when 
they were youngsters in front of a stem of my wallichi. roud:


----------



## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

Guess that would explain why mine don't grow that fast. I have relatively low light (2.4 wpg) in a deep tank (20"+), AND DIY co2, which isn't consistenly cranking. 
Oh, well, at least it's hanging in there. Thanks for the pic, Buck, at least I know what it will look like if I ever get pressurized and more wpg! Beautiful pic!


----------



## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

Wow, Buck, I have never seen R. Wallichi get so red! At my LFS they have some that gets pink on the tops, but what you have in that pic is MUCH better! Now that I have gotten fully automated CO2, I have picked some more up, since it didn't do very well with just a Carbo-Plus running. I am hoping for something like what you have in that pic, but I would be happy with just a little pink at the top. 
-Aphyosemion


----------



## fishwife (Apr 11, 2004)

Buck said:


> One more thing about this plant that comes to mind... It's the ugliest lookin stuff when you pull a stem from the water... as a matter of fact, Its the ugliest stem I have ever seen of any plant out of water... LMAO !


I know what you mean - the stem kind of reminds me of a rat tail, especially after my SAE's were done with it. :icon_frow


----------



## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Yup... thats a good description... rats tail ! LOL

I have seen it redder then mine before, it should be called "chameleon plant" because it can fade in color and get more brilliant in a period of days, I guess the nutrients and CO2 really play a huge part in the coloration. I went on vacation for 10 days and the wallichi, through a lack of ferts during that time, actually went almost green accept for the very tip's of the plant and the bottoms shedded very easily. :icon_frow 

Here is another shot of the 30 gallon I had it in...


----------



## surfnvb7 (Mar 17, 2005)

I have had some of these since october. And it has struggled all of the time, however just within the last 3 weeks it has started to come around. Same with my macrandra. I'd say it takes some time to adapt to your conditions. 

I'm using 4.3wpg, co2 injection, and dosing KNO3 and K2SO4 with micros. The worst thing is the algae on them, it needs a gentle current so algae won't settle on them.

Also, I have read on some other sites about keeping them under 10k lights. Has anyone had any experience doing this with willichi or any other red plants?


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Here is a pic of my r. wallichii among other plants.


----------



## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

surfnvb7 said:


> Also, I have read on some other sites about keeping them under 10k lights.


 That is very true... the first photo with the angel is under an 18,000k 20 watt bulb that I used to use just to hang out in front of the tank at night.
Anything 10,000k and up will really show off the reds and pinks of plants but for overall use in a tank it will make the fishes colors seem very strange, at least thats what I think. They are great "part time" bulbs... like I said, I would shut off all lights and turn on a single 20W 18,000k bulb and melt in my chair... 

But yes, red plants show there best stuff in a higher K bulb ! :wink:


----------



## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

By the way... nice lookin wallichi Shalu... roud:


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Thanks, Buck, not as good looking as yours :wink: It struggled for a LONG time before it made amends, glad I did not throw it out. Same thing for r. macrandra and r. magenta. Now all rotalas are weeds.


----------



## surfnvb7 (Mar 17, 2005)

So do the red plants (willichii, macrandra, magenta etc) just look better under 10k? Or do they actually grow better under 10k? Does this have any positive/negative effects on the other green plants?

I have 4.3wpg along with the other goodies. Would you suggest to switch out my main bulb, a 6,700k coralife PC bulb (34") to a 10k bulb? I'm also running a 30w "nutri grow bulb" on another strip, and I have room for another one in the same strip, but then I'd be up at ~5wpg on my 30g. 

Last question...isn't an 18k bulb almost actinic? Didn't think bulbs like that had any benefits to plants. 

Thanks for your input.


----------



## surfnvb7 (Mar 17, 2005)

BUMP...any advice/suggestion/ideas?


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Well, I don't pay much attention to bulb color, I use 5500K, 6700K, 10000K and the red plants are red anyway.


----------



## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

I switched 2 of my 4 tubes from 10,000k to 9325k, and noticed that not only are the reddish casts of some plants more noticeable, but the redder plants also do better. Straight 10,000k light is very blue/green


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

I tried 9325k for a few months, and decided I did not like the artificial red coloring of everything(can't tell if plants really grow any differently), and switched back to 6700K. Now the tank is a mixture of 5500K, 6700K, and 10000K.


----------



## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

Hmmm...
I have a combo of 9325's and 10,000's. I thinks it's a really nice balance- greens look very rich, yet reds pop as well. And fish colors are very nice. I couldn't see the 9325's as giving off an "artificial" red cast, but maybe that's because I balanced them with the cooler 10,000's.


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

guess beauty is really in the eye of th beholder :icon_bigg To tell you the truth, my wife hates the red coloring much more than I do, the main reason I switched back. That's the least I can do after she allowed me to spend so much money on the tanks.


----------



## wonder woman (Oct 30, 2003)

I guess when you've got such big, colorful fish (like a Marlboro red discus?), you kind of want the plants to be a nice, cooling backdrop. I like a lot of variety in color, size, and texture in my plants, because my fish are relatively small.


----------



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Well, when the SnowFlake discus swims under the GE9325K, my wife would say:"Look, the snow white is now all pink, I want my snow white back!" How can I say no.


----------

