# morphing rotala sp mini butterfly



## nycfish (Nov 6, 2009)

hey folks, i have been trying to grow rotola sp mini butterfly the last few months now. growth is fine but the color is no longer lush red from since i got it. in fact, the new growth is growing out green rather than red. can anyone give some advice or direct me to a similar thread on the topic?

i'm currently running 48w t5 HO on a 10g with co2. dosing macros and micros now as well. 

thanks


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Rotala mini butterfly is not a stable form and can revert back to Rotala macrandra green from what I understand. There is a few threads on other sites that you can look at and see others have had this same experience.


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## nycfish (Nov 6, 2009)

ua hua said:


> Rotala mini butterfly is not a stable form and can revert back to Rotala macrandra green from what I understand. There is a few threads on other sites that you can look at and see others have had this same experience.


Thanks ua hua , I'll have to a bit more research then. By unstable, do you mean that this plant is not meant to stay in that red form over the long term or is it more that conditions need to be optimal ?


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

nycfish said:


> Thanks ua hua , I'll have to a bit more research then. By unstable, do you mean that this plant is not meant to stay in that red form over the long term or is it more that conditions need to be optimal ?


I don't know for sure what would make it revert back whether it's the lighting, parameters or what but take a look at this thread.


http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...27-rotala-sp-butterfly-morphology-change.html

Another interesting read on R. butterfly:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...7191-rotala-butterfly-mutation-very-cool.html


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## nycfish (Nov 6, 2009)

Cool thanks for the links . I took a second look and the leaves on mine look similar to one of the pics - greenish on top like macandra green and pink like other rotala


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I suppose a lot of this plant came from me, but it's stays nice and red in the 2 -3 tanks I've had it. But I have seen a stray stem every so often that turns green in 1 tank.


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## nycfish (Nov 6, 2009)

plantbrain said:


> I suppose a lot of this plant came from me, but it's stays nice and red in the 2 -3 tanks I've had it. But I have seen a stray stem every so often that turns green in 1 tank.


Thanks Tom. It's possible my plants trace back to you  . Anything recommendations ; try higher light or color-band and dose more ferts ?


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## FreshPuff (Oct 31, 2011)

From my experience, in order to keep this plant red, CO2 MUST be dialed in and a soft substrate, such as ADA amazonia, helps. The few times I grew it in ecoComplete I had to baby it a lot more. Anytime CO2 was low in the water column it started to develop green shoots and the leaves slowly became wiry looking.


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