I Think I Have Made A Major Mistake!!

Hi Mervyn,

Natalia is the best person to help with plant questions. She has a lot going on at the moment so in case she misses your post, I thought I'd stop by.

I believe all red plants are higher light requiring and pretty much all plants will do better with CO2 injection. However, it is up to you whether you take the plants back or give them a go in your tank. I personally go with the trial-and-error method. If I like the look of a plant then I'll try it in my tank. I had a red plant (alternanthera) that did very well in my low-light tank until the shrimps ate it! And no, I dont use CO2.

If you decide to try them, then take the pots off and remove all weights and as much of the wool as possible. I found that if you then pop the plants in a bucket of dechlorinated tepid water (roughly the same temp as your tank) for about 15 minutes, you can easily tease off the remaining wool (keeping the roots in the water as you do so - helps "wash" the wool off)

9 hours a day sounds about OK to me. I found the best way to check the photoperiod was to go by the plants. Stem plants (like your Cabomba) will stretch and lean towards the light if your lights are not on long enough. In which case, up your photoperiod by 15 minutes at a time (leaving a good 5 days in between to see how the plants are doing) until they stop stretching & leaning. The same goes for turning the photoperiod down. You can knock 15 minutes off until the plants start to stretch and lean, then tweak the timing until they stop stretching/leaning.

It is important to get the photoperiod right. If you have more light than the plants require then algae will thrive 

Mervyn,

I would be careful adding extra iron to your tank. I'm not sure that the red plants get their colour from iron. I think that iron can be present in the tank in two different forms, one of which can be toxic to fish. It is also high on the list of culprits claimed to be the reason for algae problems ( when present in too high a quantity).

I think that if you do want to add extra iron, then you'd be best looking for tablets that you put in the substrate below the plants roots, rather than as a liquid form. This is more likely to put the iron where the plants need it, in the usable form and less likely to introduce it in the toxic form.

I highly recommend doing some more research on the needs of red plants and iron requirements before introducing supplements into your tank. You might also be better introducing a general aquatic plant fertiliser, and noting the effects before going down the route of trying to identify specific mineral deficiencies.

Good luck.

Don't be disheartened if your crypts melt. That is just something they do and doesn't mean that you have the wrong fertilising regime. I've managed to get a good balance on my fertilising regime such that my crypts are spreading like wild fire. But occasionally when I re-locate one to where I want it to grow, it will melt. It is the strangest thing to see, as the leaves literally melt. They go all slimy and just seem to dissolve in the water. If it does happen, just cut off the melting leaves, and with a bit of patience, new leaves will grow from the root stock - as long as it remains undisturbed.

The basics of aquatic plant care is the same as the basics for garden plants. Ie they both like PKN, different species have differing lighting requirements and prefer their roots in different conditions. The main difference is that CO2 is present in water in lower quantities than the air, so it becomes an additional 'nutrient' that we have to consider. I have more success in my tank with plants than in my garden - mainly because I am dealing with a smaller area that requires attention and I have more control over the environmental conditions, as it is a closed system. And there are fewer pests to undo my hard work!

The red colour comes from an abundance of secondary photosynthetic pigments called carontenoids, which absorb i seem to remeber from alevel in the blue light spectrum and reflects red light.