# Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini'



## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Have a single one in my 15ppm co2 shrimp tank that is doing good

Half tap half ro remineralize with SS GH+
5GH
1.75KH
Temp 73-74f
Tds 150-180
Ph 7.1(no co2)
PH 6.6(co2)
Inert bdbs substrate 
ThriveS 1/2 dose twice a week
Nitrate 5-10ppm
Phosphate .5-1ppm
No additional fe except from what is in ThriveS
Light 40 par about where he is at
Photoperiod 8 hours a day
Water changes 10% once every week or two
Mostly top offs with prepped water with above GH and KH

He grows slow but well. 

Makes me wonder if it's your substrate he doesn't like? Maybe carve out a small area with bdbs and see if different results. 


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Well, looks like there is 2 of us with the same problem. Mine grows more BBA than leaves. Only tank that it "survives" in is the low tech tank.


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

Is it growing flat and broad? Do you have any pics? 

I was thinking about trying the BDBS idea also...

Bump:


Immortal1 said:


> Well, looks like there is 2 of us with the same problem. Mine grows more BBA than leaves. Only tank that it "survives" in is the low tech tank.


I hear ya... I have seen it grown well in high tech tanks though and that's what I'm aiming for. I know that more of us are having problems than those who can grow them. Maybe it's a temperature issue? Who knows. I just figured I would start a thread and maybe we can get the common denominator. Or at least a better idea...


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

I will try and get a pic for you tomorrow. Lights have been off a few hours. Not sure if it matters but it's variegated. 


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Dempsey said:


> This plant has been my achilles heel.. In fact, it's the whole reason that I decided to start using RO water. I love this plant and want to grow it.


Clint, I am with you on this one. It's been a mystery to me. Growing what should be much more difficult plants, and this one just eludes me. I continue knocking my head against the wall, but may give up at some point. 

Take a look at Pikez's thread on TBR sometime, and he grows the dang thing like it is a weed.

If I can't get it right, going to give up soon.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Don't laugh - this is the best example I have (in my low tech tank).


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Try to get a better pic tomorrow. Quickly turned on light to get pic










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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

I think @Dman911 grows some in his high tech tank I believe using Amazonia soil. His look great from what I can tell. I'll try and find his video of his tank with waterfall. 

https://youtu.be/uNN8QkF127U

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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

clownplanted said:


> I think @Dman911 grows some in his high tech tank I believe using Amazonia soil. His look great from what I can tell. I'll try and find his video of his tank with waterfall.
> 
> https://youtu.be/uNN8QkF127U
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


yes ADA amazonia I keep my nitrates about 10ppm, Phosphates 1pmm with 20 ish ppm Co2 and dose 1/6 EI macro (KNO3, KH2P04, K2S04) and 1/12 EI (CSM+B) micro's. Its in a fairly high flow area with about 50ish par. When my nitrates get below 5ppm an phosphates get below .5ppm I can see the tops of the leaves turning purple... I'm not 100% sure if its that or something else but seems that way to me.

Added: 
PH: 7 without Co2
GH: 4
KH: 1
Temp: 76F (Apparently 77F is the ideal temp for red plants)

10hrs Photo Period finnex Ray 2 (that's why it kinda looks washed out)

Dan


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

What problems are you having with yours Clint? 


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

Greggz said:


> Clint, I am with you on this one. It's been a mystery to me. Growing what should be much more difficult plants, and this one just eludes me. I continue knocking my head against the wall, but may give up at some point.
> 
> Take a look at Pikez's thread on TBR sometime, and he grows the dang thing like it is a weed.
> 
> If I can't get it right, going to give up soon.


I'm just glad that I am not the only one. I know that you can grow beautiful plants for that also makes me feel better. I am close to giving up soon also but don't think that I can... I may by some ADA soil and try growing in in a pot, in the tank and see what that does.

Bump:


Dman911 said:


> yes ADA amazonia I keep my nitrates about 10ppm, Phosphates 1pmm with 20 ish ppm Co2 and dose 1/6 EI macro (KNO3, KH2P04, K2S04) and 1/12 EI (CSM+B) micro's. Its in a fairly high flow area with about 50ish par. When my nitrates get below 5ppm an phosphates get below .5ppm I can see the tops of the leaves turning purple... I'm not 100% sure if its that or something else but seems that way to me.
> 
> Added:
> PH: 7 without Co2
> ...


Thanks Dan. I have my temp at 75. Wonder if I should raise it a tad... I also only do a 8hr photo period. I have been thinking about raising that to 9-10hrs.

Bump:


clownplanted said:


> What problems are you having with yours Clint?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


You can see in my videos how it looks. Not good. The new growth comes in good and the "old" growth turns to [censored][censored][censored][censored] quickly. I have a feeling that if I could grow this plant quicker and say on top of pruning, it may do okay but how do I grow it quicker? Longer photo period? lower the lights more?

I just don't think that's the answer since so may people can grow it in low tech tanks...

Bump:


Immortal1 said:


> Don't laugh - this is the best example I have (in my low tech tank).



The whole top half of the tank looks great to me. I can't even get mine to grow that high.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

GH 10, KH 7, NO3 20ppm, PO4 2ppm, 100PAR
Maroon tops and bottoms of leaves, a lot of red.
Gets messy, white stringy roots on every node.
Some are really tall, about 8"
Never float them not for even an hour while trimming.
They get all twisted and funny looking for light.
Takes a week to straighten out again or one is forced to really trim short.


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## katas (Jan 12, 2015)

22G long tank
ADA Amazonia type 1/aquasolum Black Humate 
Metricide 5mL daily
GLA Ferts per their PPS guide.
No Co2 currently
76/77 F
Lowest flow and highest flow area
PH 6-6.5
GH 5-6
KH 1
10 hour photo period w/ Current USA Pro Plus at 12 inches (maximum) away from light.


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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

Clint thought I would share something I learned from an amazing video on you tube a while back that has been taken down since "The secret to keeping and turning plants red" was from ADU aquascaping and it had apparently been acknowledged by Tom Barr. Anthocyanin is what is responsible for the red coloration of the plants. If I remember right, light in red spectrum cannot be used efficiently by red plants and hi light will cause the plant to produce more anthocyanin as a type of sunscreen (maybe more blue spectrum would help? or maybe it was the other way around?). Also the faster the growth of the plants the more anthocyanin production and less it can photosynthesize or something like that. I will do some reading today and see if I can find most of the info that was in that video. I really wish it wasn't removed.

Found one article here is a blurb on the lighting. Looks like green and yellow spectrum are best suited for anthocyanin production and looks like UVB would be helpfull.

Anthocyanins in vivo absorb the green and yellow
wavebands of light, commonly between 500 and 600 nm
[20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25]. Foliage appears red because of
the subtraction of yellow-green light from the spectrum
of light reflected from the leaf’s surface. Interestingly, the
amount of red light that is reflected from red leaves often
only poorly correlates to anthocyanin content [20]; leaf
morphology and the amount and distribution of chlorophyll
are apparently the stronger determinants of red re-
flectance. The property of anthocyanins to absorb light
provides a mechanism for several important functions in
leaves.

Here is the article: file: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2004/415423/abs/ Click the "full text pdf." at the top right.

Dan


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Dempsey said:


> I'm just glad that I am not the only one. I know that you can grow beautiful plants for that also makes me feel better. I am close to giving up soon also but don't think that I can... I may by some ADA soil and try growing in in a pot, in the tank and see what that does.


Clint I do have some hope. I was just looking over my tank, and the new growth on my AR mini looks as good as it ever has. I've been dosing the Burr custom micros for a few weeks, and it's possible it might be helping. I'll give it another couple weeks to see where this goes, and update in my journal when I get a better handle on it. I do know there has been a lot of talk in the past about micros and AR, mostly relating to the shape of the new leaves. Some people have noticed curling of leaves and stunting with too many micros, and they seem to flatten out when dosing lower.

Who knows for sure, but it is food for thought anyway.


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## milesm (Apr 4, 2006)

clownplanted said:


> Try to get a better pic tomorrow. Quickly turned on light to get pic
> 
> 
> 
> ...


you do not have ar "mini", you have "rosanavig", which has light colored veins, as you noted. i too was sold a rosanavig that was labeled as a mini (the guy at the store knew it wasn't mini, but sold it to me anyway. have since taken my business to their competitors). you may be having difficulty growing it because rosanavig is the most demanding of the ar varietals. see dennis wong's vid, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HHr2SPsoxg


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

milesm said:


> you do not have ar "mini", you have "rosanavig", which has light colored veins, as you noted. i too was sold a rosanavig that was labeled as a mini (the guy at the store knew it wasn't mini, but sold it to me anyway. have since taken my business to their competitors). you may be having difficulty growing it because rosanavig is the most demanding of the ar varietals. see dennis wong's vid, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HHr2SPsoxg




Very interesting. I do not mind as it was given to me as a gift anyway. I really like the plant. When I first got it in the tank all of the existing leaves slowly melted away. I thought it was going to die then all of a sudden it sprouted new leaves and has been healthy from what I can tell since. It's a nice little plant. 


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## slipfinger (Jun 8, 2016)

Greggz said:


> Clint I do have some hope. I was just looking over my tank, and the new growth on my AR mini looks as good as it ever has. I've been dosing the Burr custom micros for a few weeks, and it's possible it might be helping. I'll give it another couple weeks to see where this goes, and update in my journal when I get a better handle on it. I do know there has been a lot of talk in the past about micros and AR, mostly relating to the shape of the new leaves. Some people have noticed curling of leaves and stunting with too many micros, and they seem to flatten out when dosing lower.
> 
> Who knows for sure, but it is food for thought anyway.


I have had issues growing AR mini and AR variegated for ever. I am also currently messing with my micros. 

My situation is a little different as my tap water should be able to supply all micros except Fe and Mn. For the last 2 weeks I was planning to only dose .1ppm of Fe DTPA and Mn from Manganese Sulfate. But I made a little error and ended up only dosing .5ppm Fe and .025ppm Mn. 

My goal with all this is to reduce over all micros and remove the EDTA chelating agents from the mix. I have not and don't plan to change anything else with the tank so I can conclude if the change is actually making an impact.

So far result are encouraging, leaves are flattening out and growing a lot straighter. But I can't say if its my new micro dosing routine or the mini detox that has taken place the last couple of weeks that is causing the changes.

I am just starting another two weeks of my original dosing plan. I'll keep you posted.


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## frenziedpace (Dec 17, 2016)

I started with a Tropica cup of AR around the first of May.
This is what I have now after about 10 weeks.

This group is in a 20 long with a Finnex 24/7(4 on 8 off photoperiod), pressurized CO2 (20-30ppm).
EI fertz, full P and K with half dose of N and half dose of micros. 6ml Excel.
Tap water is hard at about 8 but still use a pinch of gh booster at water change.
These need a little trim and some space but I'm out of room at the moment. They are about 5 cm tall.









This AR is in a low tech with occasional fertilizer. It was started emmersed.
Its getting leggy at 14cm. It has doubled in size in about 4 weeks.









Now for the secret of growing AR.
Take it out of the water.:grin2:


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## Kampo (Nov 3, 2015)

I got a tissue culture of this plant in a club raffel beginning of this month. put all the stems in a new 5 gallon nano tank setup. its dirted with a Black sand cap. light is a Chihiros C-Series 201 currently light is on 18hrs a day. but it slowly ramps to 100 % over 6 hrs then ramps down over 6 hrs. it was pretty rough out of the culture but there is new nodes and growth. new growth is more bronze than red so far. only been in the tank about a week. just added a starter colony of shrimp and a netrite snail to start taking care of the new tank diatom issue. but no major algae issues so far.


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## Deedledee (Sep 13, 2016)

Dempsey said:


> Hey Gang,
> 
> Okay.... What gives....? Can you guys tell me your water parameters and what you are dosing to get this plant to grow well? This plant has been my achilles heel.. In fact, it's the whole reason that I decided to start using RO water. I love this plant and want to grow it.
> 
> ...


I also bought one of those Tropica 1-2 grow tubs of Alternathera reineckii back in Oct /2016. Have pruned it frequently & replanted throughout my tank. It grows well in my setup. Really bright pink on underside of leaves & it has always stayed red. I have Flourite black substrate / Seachem root tabs. Fluval Plant & Fresh 2.0 LED lights. 66 PAR at the substrate.
8 hour photo period @ 75 % power. (on dimmer) C02 is consistent @ 25 -30 ppm. 
PH: 6.6
KH: 120
Nitrate: 20 ppm
E.I dosing ( Seachem macro/ micro alternate daily) Lots & lots of Fe too !









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## aclaar877 (Feb 19, 2014)

In my experience it's very sensitive to traces. Recently I have been able to get it to stunt, get wavy leaves, and look bad just by increasing traces. I have been trying other trace mixes as an alternative to CSM+B, and in the process have had many stems stunt as soon as 24 hours after dosing, even at just the recommended levels of Flourish Trace listed on the package, for example. I stop or lower trace dosing, and the leaves flatten out and the tips unravel and grow again. I've been able to do this a couple of times over the past several weeks. I actually may just return to very light CSM+B dosing, since I have grown great plants when using it before at very low doses. I also have had better results when I add calcium, since my tap is about 15 ppm Ca and 14 ppm Mg. I add an extra 10 ppm at water change. I have stems in very low lighting that are doing great (in corner, shaded and no lights directly over it), so it seems to have pretty low light needs. Macro dosing I use EI levels, and my pH drop from CO2 is from 7.5 to 6.3-6.4.


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## aotf (Dec 19, 2016)

I figured I'd chime in with my parameters and experience so far. I'm less plant focused than many here so I'll let the experts do the analyzing.

I got 3x 1.5" stems of AR some months ago and initially took clippings and replanted to propagate. Eventually, I stopped because I had enough stems. Now it's just growing up, I haven't yet decided what to do with it.

Substrate is Amazonia although many of the clipped stems were planted in my thick MC carpet (couldn't reach substrate).

Water is tap with a little limestone.

pH: 7.2
Temp: 69-74F (no heater)
Nitrates: 25-20ppm
Ferts: NilocG' Thrive once every couple weeks when I remember
CO2: injected at 1 bubble every 7 seconds (very low so as not to stress shrimp)
Light: 8hr photo with Planted+


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

milesm said:


> you do not have ar "mini", you have "rosanavig", which has light colored veins, as you noted. i too was sold a rosanavig that was labeled as a mini (the guy at the store knew it wasn't mini, but sold it to me anyway. have since taken my business to their competitors). you may be having difficulty growing it because rosanavig is the most demanding of the ar varietals. see dennis wong's vid, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HHr2SPsoxg


Very interesting. I think you may be right. I actually got it from a big box store and it was sold in that jell stuff. I think I do have mini also that I got from a member here but that isn't growing well either. I've watched that video 100 times in the past. Good info.

Side note, Things are starting to look better on both plants. I hope it continues!


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