Red plants for higher nitrate levels?

Hi everyone! My 5 gallon high tech tank is doing quite well, but its relatively high nitrate levels have proven problematic for getting my accent plants to turn red - the Alternanthera reineckii 'mini' is staying an attractive red, but the otherwise thriving Rotala H'ra is turning quite green. I can't easily reduce my nitrate dosing because the star grass (perhaps my favorite plant in this tank) is a nitrate hog, so my question is...what are some red plants that will stay red at higher (10-15 ppm) nitrate levels? Thanks

 

I'm not super sure about the whole staying red at higher nitrate levels, but you can get some floating plants that will do a good job of eating up nitrates to hopefully reduce them and allow your other plants to color up.

 

A. reineckii is one of them, which is probably why yours is staying red. Rotala H'ra requires severe limitation.
However I encourage you to consider other factors such as lighting, CO2, etc. With any other plants you get, it's very possible that a red plant simply requires more light or CO2 to turn red than others do. CO2 and light I would say are the primary factors, and then for some specific species also respond to nitrate limitation.

You can find more info and some example species here:

How to Grow Red Plants

 

I'm not super sure about the whole staying red at higher nitrate levels, but you can get some floating plants that will do a good job of eating up nitrates to hopefully reduce them and allow your other plants to color up.

Thanks! However, the star grass - while otherwise easy - requires decent nitrate levels to do well, so reducing nitrates on this tank could be problematic. Plus the floating plants would shade everything else and make it even harder to keep plants red...

A. reineckii is one of them, which is probably why yours is staying red. Rotala H'ra requires severe limitation.
However I encourage you to consider other factors such as lighting, CO2, etc. With any other plants you get, it's very possible that a red plant simply requires more light or CO2 to turn red than others do. CO2 and light I would say are the primary factors, and then for some specific species also respond to nitrate limitation.

You can find more info and some example species here:

How to Grow Red Plants

CO2 levels are quite high (the drop checker is yellowish green, the tank's PH rises 1.2-1.3 if allowed to off gas, etc). I do not have a PAR meter, but my calculations suggested that this tank should have roughly 70 umol of PAR at the substrate. Current weekly dosing is about 14.15 ppm nitrate, 6.63 ppm Phosphate, 21.51 ppm potassium, and .477 ppm iron. Growth in the tank is vigorous, so I don't think it's a plant health issue (the AR mini had a mild BBA problem, but it seems to be going away...none of the other plants have ever displayed any evidence of poor health).

 

Thanks! However, the star grass - while otherwise easy - requires decent nitrate levels to do well, so reducing nitrates on this tank could be problematic. Plus the floating plants would shade everything else and make it even harder to keep plants red...

Right, I forgot about that. However, if you did want to go the floating plant route, lots of people have had success taking airline tubing and making a little "corral" for the plants so you still get the benefits without having the lighting issue.

 

How high are your nitrates? I have been keeping stargrass for 7 years and I currently have it in my 90g with 0ppm nitrates (full tank cycle). They use the nitrates up. Just because it doesn't show up on the test doesn't mean there are none for the stargrass.

Stargrass is more of a canary plant. It will let you know if something is off for the plants. If your stargrass is doing well, the params are good for plants.

 

Right, I forgot about that. However, if you did want to go the floating plant route, lots of people have had success taking airline tubing and making a little "corral" for the plants so you still get the benefits without having the lighting issue.

Good idea! I should try that sometime. Thanks

How high are your nitrates? I have been keeping stargrass for 7 years and I currently have it in my 90g with 0ppm nitrates (full tank cycle). They use the nitrates up. Just because it doesn't show up on the test doesn't mean there are none for the stargrass.

Stargrass is more of a canary plant. It will let you know if something is off for the plants. If your stargrass is doing well, the params are good for plants.

My nitrates were between 10-15 ppm when I did my weekly WC Saturday...I guess I could probably dose a bit less KNO3. That's reassuring about the whole 'canary' bit...the star grass is growing an inch or two a week (maybe more). Thanks

 

My nitrates were between 10-15 ppm when I did my weekly WC Saturday...I guess I could probably dose a bit less KNO3. That's reassuring about the whole 'canary' bit...the star grass is growing an inch or two a week (maybe more). Thanks

Actually I didn't think about the fact that my tanks where stargrass does well are heavier stocked with large fish so I don't add any no3. That means my fish produce enough for the stargrass. I keep my nitrates at 5-10ppm after a WC. Before WC, it's about 15-20ppm. Just so you have an idea where no3 sits for me.

If I didn't have the stargrass, i'm sure no3 would climb higher between WCs, so I believe they have to be using all the no3 they need.

 

Maybe a tiger lotus? It's a bit on the larger side for a 5g but I'm having no trouble getting red leaves even in a low tech medium light tank.

Also, does nitrate actually effect the red in plants? I thought that was a matter of lighting and iron.

 

Maybe a tiger lotus? It's a bit on the larger side for a 5g but I'm having no trouble getting red leaves even in a low tech medium light tank.

Also, does nitrate actually effect the red in plants? I thought that was a matter of lighting and iron.

The tank is intended for some persian killifish and thus will be unheated...tropical water lilies do badly at temperatures below 70 degrees, so that may not be a great choice. Good suggestion, though

Lighting is critical for all red plants, as is keeping the plants healthy; however, a variety of red plants in the hobby (such as the Rotala H'ra I complained about here, and all Rotala rotundifolia variants for that matter) either require low nitrate levels in the water column (but not the substrate...how rich the substrate is doesn't usually affect their color) to turn red, or look significantly more red when they are limited. Iron does not affect plant color unless it was so low beforehand that the plants were struggling to survive.

 

Rotalas are harder to get redder, no doubt about it.

Try your hand at the red tiger lotus, but more importantly, ludwigia ovalis, ludwigia rubin, and ludwigia mini super red. Ovalis adds a light orange color, rubin offers a wine red color at best, and ludwigia mini super red is more of a bright red. Ludwigias are easy to turn red, it is entirely dependent on light and it doesn't care about nitrate or phosphate limitation. They're also just easy plants in general.

You could also try your hand at ammania gracilis, though this is a bit of a difficult plant.

 

Rotalas are harder to get redder, no doubt about it.

Try your hand at the red tiger lotus, but more importantly, ludwigia ovalis, ludwigia rubin, and ludwigia mini super red. Ovalis adds a light orange color, rubin offers a wine red color at best, and ludwigia mini super red is more of a bright red. Ludwigias are easy to turn red, it is entirely dependent on light and it doesn't care about nitrate or phosphate limitation. They're also just easy plants in general.

You could also try your hand at ammania gracilis, though this is a bit of a difficult plant.

This is what I was looking for...thanks The first time I tried Ammania gracilis, I had no idea what I was doing keeping plants, so after a failed attempt at a CO2 system the tank went low tech with no ferts...you can imagine how that ended Now that I have learned how to set up a functional CO2 system and that plants need fertilizer, I may give A. gracilis another try in the future.