The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I picked one up from petsmart.. Says it grows up to 12-20 inches tall, and from I dug up it only requires medium lighting and no CO2 and some ferts... Has anyone ever used it ?
Yeah I have... it's more common name is alternanthera reineckii.
It does require medium light or higher and will do better with co2 or at the very least, liquid carbon dosing such as with Excel or Glut alternative.
It will tend to lose its color and grow green in lower lighting. You can deepen the reds by increasing the light, co2, and increased micros and phosphates.
Well my 27g hex is tall with 3 T8 lights its at nearly 2WPG even though WPG is kinda outdated, and my 30g is short with near 2WPG of T5's.. so I think that should be enough lights as I am managing to keep my red Neseae a deep orange on the new growth and my old growth from the store that was green turned orange so I guess well see..
The plant right now is like a really bright hot pink lol and it was under the shelf with no light although I think the hot pink leaves are "dying" leaves.. But its a **** nice looking plant.. If the phosphates need to be high that might be a problem.. I use a Filter pad in my HOB filter to remove phosphates and silicates... I have been having a diatom problem for like 9+ years in my tanks.. found out the city water has high silicates in it.. Seem the filter worked as my diatoms haven't grown back on my glass or plants in a few weeks now..
Maybe I'll take it out and redoes some flourish to get some phosphates back in the water.. But as for ferts I use Flourish, API CO2 booster, and API leaf zone..
Yeah that should be good... I would double check with Rivercats on the phosphates and what would be advisable in your situation. Hopefully she chimes in on this here.
Anyway... it's a nice plant and looks really good when you can get the colors to deepen.
Your dosing is fine for now... have you considered making the switch for more economical, yet more comprehensive methods of dosing ferts? You can save a lot of money by dosing dry ferts via the PPS-Pro or EI method. I personally use PPS-Pro from GLA. So far, it's been working out well. Also, if you continue to use Excel or API, it can get pricey. Consider using the generic stuff such as Metricide 14 (AKA: "GLUT"). Here's some info on it... http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ator-dilute-glut-to-excel-stength-267615.html
That plant from Pet Smart is in it's emersed growth form and the new leaves that grow in will look different. In it's immersed form the underside of the leaves are bright pink and the tops of the leaves are a bronzy green. Not one of my favorite plants but can tolerate medium lighting and still look okay.
Rivercats.. What do you think about dwarf hair grass ? I wish I had enough lighting and such for baby dwarf tears but until I get a T5 HO setup on my 27g im just gonna keep the tank the way it is now.. But the 30g has the lighting so I was thinking of trying like hair grass... does the stuff from petsmart carpet or no ?
DHG will carpet if you have enough light. It also does much better with CO2 and good ferts. The stuff from Pet Smart in the boxes is in it's emersed form so when you plant it- it needs to changed to its immersed growth leaves.