Hello from my fish room channel in Chicago, where I'm a subscriber to yours. I appreciate the discussion on how so many variations of this plant are so similar and/or labeled wrong from the jump. I have always had a hard time telling them apart and to some extent stopped trying to ;)
Hey Stephan, thanks for dropping a comment - I'm subscribed to your channel too! I find myself watching a lot less and editing a lot more these days though lol. That's fair on not trying to tell them apart. They're all happy little plants regardless of the variety 😊
small tip - you can stick back/inside cut tops, so after trim it doesn't look barren, but bushier, while cut base is growing back not a huge fan of rotundifolia family, it grows chaotically on all sides, if the light is good it likes to grow flat, not up, almost like a groundcover prefer macranda family, especially - sp. pearl - much easier to maintain visually, grows only upright, looks compact, good for smaller scapes, in big volumes it is mid-area plant, not for a background
Thanks for dropping a comment, that's a great tip. Chaotic is a great way to describe this plant. Wish I would have thought of that before doing this video! I love the kind of unbalanced look that R rotundifolia provides, but get that it's not for every tank.
Great question, I had to do some digging around. Looks like there's mixed feelings on this one. Some people are saying that different spectrums of light like blue/red can help promote red pigments more. Others are saying that's not true. I haven't tested it myself, but my gut tells me that a full spectrum is the best light source for them. That's natural, and close to what nature would provide the plants with in terms of wavelength, so it makes sense that in the aquarium that's still what they would need to grow. In addition to limiting nitrates, strong lighting and use of micronutrients like iron are really important to bring out reds. While CO2 isn't required, I do often use it in tandem with really strong lighting - helps me stay on top of algae and keeps the plants a little healthier.
Hello from my fish room channel in Chicago, where I'm a subscriber to yours. I appreciate the discussion on how so many variations of this plant are so similar and/or labeled wrong from the jump. I have always had a hard time telling them apart and to some extent stopped trying to ;)
Hey Stephan, thanks for dropping a comment - I'm subscribed to your channel too! I find myself watching a lot less and editing a lot more these days though lol.
That's fair on not trying to tell them apart. They're all happy little plants regardless of the variety 😊
Have not tried that one. Will try it. Subscribed, supporting your channel from mine @joy of fish keeping
You got some really healthy looking discus!
@@freshflowaquatics thanks you so much
small tip - you can stick back/inside cut tops, so after trim it doesn't look barren, but bushier, while cut base is growing back
not a huge fan of rotundifolia family, it grows chaotically on all sides, if the light is good it likes to grow flat, not up, almost like a groundcover
prefer macranda family, especially - sp. pearl - much easier to maintain visually, grows only upright, looks compact, good for smaller scapes, in big volumes it is mid-area plant, not for a background
Thanks for dropping a comment, that's a great tip. Chaotic is a great way to describe this plant. Wish I would have thought of that before doing this video! I love the kind of unbalanced look that R rotundifolia provides, but get that it's not for every tank.
Does the spectrum of light affect the coloration as well or is it only the nitrates?
Great question, I had to do some digging around. Looks like there's mixed feelings on this one. Some people are saying that different spectrums of light like blue/red can help promote red pigments more. Others are saying that's not true. I haven't tested it myself, but my gut tells me that a full spectrum is the best light source for them. That's natural, and close to what nature would provide the plants with in terms of wavelength, so it makes sense that in the aquarium that's still what they would need to grow.
In addition to limiting nitrates, strong lighting and use of micronutrients like iron are really important to bring out reds. While CO2 isn't required, I do often use it in tandem with really strong lighting - helps me stay on top of algae and keeps the plants a little healthier.