# Keeping plants red



## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

I've been reading a lot on here about how to bring out the best color in red plants. 

It seems that you need to keep your iron high all the time (I do) and you can either keep NO3 low and PO4 high or vise versa. 

I currently have my NO3 around 15ppm and PO4 around 2ppm, I add iron daily. CO2 around 15-20PPM(soon to change to 30 once I seal the sump), lighting is close to 4wpg. Temp is at 78F(I can't seem to get it down). I keep these levels as constant as possible with the amount of light that I have. 

My question is this: Why aren't my plants as red as they can be? My Ammania gracialis is an orangy yellow color with reddish pink new growth. My red tenellus is pink, not red. The leaves on my Kleiner Bar Sword will start out blood red but turn green as they get larger. The only red plant that is showing awesome color is A. reneckii.

To bring out brillant reds, is it better to keep NO3 high and PO4 low, or NO3 low and PO4 high? 

I'd like to hear what your water parameters are like if you have some of the mentioned plants that are displaying nice colors.

Thanks!
-Gumby


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## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

You have to be careful not to bottom out you're nitrates. 15ppm isn't considered very low. Not from my own experience, but people have recommended going down to as low as 5ppm. This can be accomplished by dosing more frequently at a smaller dosage.


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