# Ludwigia Repens/Arcuata (Getting that good coloration)



## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

Ever look up pics of Repens or Arcuata and you always see either SUPER vivid reds or bronze colors,
Well welcome to my world where its Green.
My arcuata sometimes on a happy day has a few leaves that are reddish bronze, but its green usually. The ludwigia repens i have is always green usually.
How do i amp up the red coloration in them? i know the potential for arcuata to turn red is Stunning. And i want the nice bronze color in my repens. 

My ludwigia glandulosa is a beautiful light red color but those guys aren't... 

Do i pump iron or is there something else?


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

Light!


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi DutchMuch,

Iron has nothing to do with the red coloration in leaves. The red coloration we see in plants where the leaves are normally green is due to stress. This is usually due to excessive light intensity causing plants to generate additional anthocyanins which cause the red coloration. Along with increased light intensity reducing the amount of nitrogen dosed can further increase the red coloration.


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi DutchMuch,
> 
> Iron has nothing to do with the red coloration in leaves. The red coloration we see in plants where the leaves are normally green is due to stress. This is usually due to excessive light intensity causing plants to generate additional anthocyanins which cause the red coloration. Along with increased light intensity reducing the amount of nitrogen dosed can further increase the red coloration.


Oh wow didn't know that, thanks. So either MORE light, or decrease nitrates? its a dirted tank so is decreasing nitrates possible?


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

Glandulosa / Peruensis can be a weed.
Gets big thick 1/4" stems, leaf spread from top is every bit of 5"
Dark maroon color top and bottom of leaves.


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

Maryland Guppy said:


> Glandulosa / Peruensis can be a weed.
> Gets big thick 1/4" stems, leaf spread from top is every bit of 5"
> Dark maroon color top and bottom of leaves.


YOUR MAKING ME JELOUS!! lol!!!

I need your advice!


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...sions/67290-how-do-i-get-ludwigia-repens.html
Everyone says light and iron?


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

DutchMuch said:


> Oh wow didn't know that, thanks. So either MORE light, or decrease nitrates? its a dirted tank so is decreasing nitrates possible?


I wouldn't recommend creating a nitrogen deficient environment for your plants.
Others species will suffer just because you want one plant to become "more red".

Every tank I have put dirt in has never leached NO3.
I have very few phish so bioload is very low.

PO4 is another water column saturated story, it is very mobile and will leach from soil to reach an equilibrium.
WC's are the only cure until PO4 is no longer on the rise.

Ammonia has always showed a .25ppm level. 1 year even.
Most soil mixes have poultry litter or manure as an additive.
Kind of like testing NH3 after using Prime in chloramine treated tap water.
Now if I were not heavily planted would the NH3 rise higher, I don't know.
But I also dose Urea on top of all this to provide NH4 to plants.

If you need advice ask.

Reckon I could start a journal here regarding the growing conditions.
But once it gets scrutinized by others it's not worth continuing.
The proof is in the pudding!

Yeah I have algae too, several types even.
It's not gone mad and is easily manageable, reckon I'll always have some.


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

I believe the iron part to be a myth.
Just like putting some rusty nails in you substrate.:bounce:


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

Maryland Guppy said:


> I wouldn't recommend creating a nitrogen deficient environment for your plants.
> Others species will suffer just because you want one plant to become "more red".
> 
> Every tank I have put dirt in has never leached NO3.
> ...


Wait wait wait, back up a bit.
How do i make them red though? XD


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

DutchMuch said:


> http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...sions/67290-how-do-i-get-ludwigia-repens.html
> Everyone says light and iron?


Didn't see not one mention of PAR or a picture of any red plants.
Is everything on the web true?


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

Maryland Guppy said:


> Didn't see not one mention of PAR or a picture of any red plants.
> Is everything on the web true?


i am so confused 
Do u need my par?
i got high light i know.

and idk maybe lol


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

DutchMuch said:


> Wait wait wait, back up a bit.
> How do i make them red though? XD


Light will make them red as @Seattle_Aquarist stated.
More light and plants produce a chem to redden their leaves.
Like us getting a sun burn in a way.

I have Rotala macrandra, magenta and miniB in this tank.
Let them get shaded are they start to turn green.
This just means I need to trim lots of stuff out of the way to continue with the red.
Even the nesaea golden will turn to green if shaded.
Heck even the red crypt I have will produce green leaves in the shade.


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

DutchMuch said:


> i am so confused
> Do u need my par?
> i got high light i know.
> 
> and idk maybe lol


I didn't "See the Light" until I got a PAR meter.
Lighting is very deceptive.
People will state "My lights are very bright".
It is a personal interpretation of the lighting in their tanks.

There is a lot of PAR data on many fixtures and bulbs out there.
If measured correctly this web data may be valid.
I would trust an aquarist measuring PAR before I would trust a manufacturer with PAR data that is selling a light.


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

ok, this tank is my fluval spec V that i dirted a while back (gotta upload pics lol its WAAAAAY thick rn and pretty!) and the plants base are about 4-6" from the light which is a fluval aquasky... What can i do to increase light? like what light fixture.


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

I'm not much help on lighting and don't own any commercially available fixtures.

I've been soldering up my own LED pucks for some years now.
Crank them up to desired PAR, set it and forget it.
4 WPG on average, but I dim them to desired PAR.


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

Found a good read from another forum.
https://www.advancedplantedtank.com/


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## tiger15 (Apr 9, 2017)

Yes, Dennis Wong has some world class planted tanks, and his youtube tutorials are great treasure. Don't let his accent deter you. I watched all of his tutorials which are more convincing and accurate than other tutorials I came across. Some said he is Amano II.


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

I have a hard time watching videos, but!

The website is extremely informative and accurate.
It would benefit many to read before they ever purchase a plant.


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## tiger15 (Apr 9, 2017)

Maryland Guppy said:


> I have a hard time watching videos, but!
> 
> The website is extremely informative and accurate.
> It would benefit many to read before they ever purchase a plant.


I didn't know he has a web site, until I read your post. I learned about his tutorials from youtube, but ignored them at the beginning only to find out how much I have missed. There are many inaccurate info in the web and I wished I had read his tutorials first to start my planted tank.


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

Yea ive seen his vids before, extremely informative as previously said. He has stunning aquascapes ive followed in previous years. I have one of his scapes on my all time top 5 favs actually lol.


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