Elaine T wrote:

Bill Stock wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
.. .

Bill Stock wrote:

wrote in message
egroups.com...


Bill Stock wrote:


I stopped at the LFS to pick up some Java Moss for the GF and I saw an
interesting red plant for the Tropical tank. Unfortunately I wasn't
paying
enough attention to the name and I can't make out the invoice. It
looks something like Red Strata, but I could not find any plants under
this name.

It's a red stem plant about 6" tall, with narrow (1/2") leaves about
1.5"
long. Any ideas?

Red stricta? Red temple? All names for Alternanthera reineckii. Another
red plant is Nesaea or Hygrophila polysperma "tropical sunset",
Rotala...the list goes on



Thanks,

I think it's this one Alternanthera reineckii ''lilacina'' .

Figures, I would pick a difficult one, although my tank conditions
should be OK. Perhaps my PH is a bit high at 7.2.




Don't sweat the pH. I have some growing just fine at 7.6. It's actually
pretty hardy for a red plant.


Thanks, it seems to be doing OK, but has dropped a few leaves.

Cabomba is having a bit of a meltdown though. It's lost a lot of needles
and is not rooting at all. This might be PH, but I'm wondering about
nutrients. Although the Hornwort is pearling.

Mine dropped leaves off of the lower parts of the stem when I first got
it. Once it got good roots going into the substrate, it started doing
better. It's a slow grower - it would probably like more light - but
I've had it for 6 months now and have even propagated some.

Cambomba has always had me stumped. I had the notoriously difficult R.
macranda thriving once and the Cambomba next to it died. I even tried
C. caroliniana in my pond this spring where it could get all the
sunlight it could possibly need and it fell apart. I'm starting to
think along the same lines as you - high hardness and/or pH may be the
problem.

If its Red it'll need lots of light, as a general rule

Take Care
Ross T