# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Rotala macrandra



## tsunami06 (Feb 6, 2003)

Rotala macrandra

Lighting: 2 w/g+ PC + or 3 w/g+ NO Flo

Growth: Very fast under good conditions

Demands: Demanding!

Pruning: Top and replant

Water hardness: preferably soft

Experiences: Rotala macrandra is one of the
more demanding stem plants in terms of
water quality, lighting, and nutrient regime.
CO2 is a must to bring out the best in the
plant. Lighting should be intense. Water
quality should be low in NO3 (10 ppm or below).
Iron and micronutrients should be supplied
regularly. Low NO3 coupled with high PO4 (up to 2 ppm) leads to blood red coloration and compaction of internodes. The plant depicted
above was grown in low NO3 and low PO4 --
coloration can be much more intense than shown!
A rich substrate also helps. Excellent
stem plant for the aquarist trying to gain
experience in plant nutrition and care.

That said, this plant is an amazingly fast grower under good conditions. Pearls
beautifully with large oxygen bubbles covering
the leaves and stems in the afternoon. Great
for the aquascaper trying to add a splash
of red to an aquascape.

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"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." -- Van Gogh


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## Vicki (Jan 31, 2003)

Another photo showing the differences in coloration possible with macranda:









I second everything Carlos said. Getting macranda to grow well is an education in tank management. It is a magnificent plant, but it can be difficult to aquascape with it successfully, and it doesn't fit in every tank. Personally, I think it looks best on a big canvas; the intensity of coloration can be very jarring in a small tank and doesn't always work, as below:










I wound up replacing it within a week of setting up this 30 gallon. This plant is difficult to keep looking good in deep tanks, however; upper growth will be lush, but the lower portion of the stems will begin to fade as they're increasingly shaded. Planting something low growing in front of it, and judicious pruning will help, too. In short--this plant is tough to grow long term!!! But its beauty makes it worthwhile if you have the time and motivation to tend to its needs. Even in a big tank, it can be overly dramatic, but this whole tank was overly dramatic at this point in its life anyway.










[This message was edited by Vicki on Sun September 14 2003 at 07:12 AM.]

[This message was edited by Vicki on Sun September 14 2003 at 07:13 AM.]


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## 2la (Feb 3, 2003)

My macranda exhibited a variable leaf shape, and still to this day I'm not sure if this is the broad-leaved version or the narrow-leaved version...









_Before pressurized CO2_









_After pressurized CO2_


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## imported_Creature (Feb 6, 2003)

I've always had trouble growing this plant and I always keep trying. I blame the LFSs for such poor quality, then I blame myself for not being able to get these beautiful results.


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## imported_Creature (Feb 6, 2003)

These photos are just gorgeous. I'm adding them because I "can't see" the above posted images except the first.


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## imported_Creature (Feb 6, 2003)

I've currently got a few stems that I'm, again, attempting to grow. Hopefully this time with new lighting and new PMDD fertilization regimen, my results will be like these delicate gems.


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

I too have had trouble in the past growing this plant. It one of my favorite. Not that I have better lighting I am doing just fine growing it. I have used both 9325K and 6700K with AH lighting kits. I thing the thing that made it a success now is the light penetration I get with the reflectors with the AH lighting. Before The plant would die from the bottom up.

This is a bad pic and its old. I will be taking some new pics soon and I will post some new ones.








I am having very good luck so far. It only took my 4 time before I got it right.

Hawk


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

gotta love those ahs lights hehe


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## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

I need to give this plant another try also. I got it with my 'plant assortment' when I first set up my 46g. Needless to say, but I was very ill-prepared for this type of plant starting out a newbie tank.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Trust me, the mental and visual reward of finally seeing this plant growing beautifully will more than make up for all those frustrated moments you had when you first started having this plant in your tank. I must've tried and failed at least 5 times before I finally got the hang of just what makes this plant come alive, both figuratively and literally. It was well worth it. Don't give up, man! Lots of light, lots of ferts, and lots of CO2 are the 3 main ingredients for this plant to do well.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

> Originally posted by SurWrathful:
> Trust me, the mental and visual reward of finally seeing this plant growing beautifully will more than make up for all those frustrated moments you had when you first started having this plant in your tank. I must've tried and failed at least 5 times before I finally got the hang of just what makes this plant come alive, both figuratively and literally. It was well worth it. Don't give up, man!


I know that feeling exactly. It took me two years and three tries to finally figure this one out. Now I am always in awe of it when I see the stand of blood red macrandra, no other plant comes close to its beauty when macrandra is happy. Funny thing is, after I figured out the plant, I can grow it also under lower light, no C02, high ph. In my CO2 enriched tank, it also has high temp, high kh/gh. So don't let anyone tell you that it needs "softwater", and that it can not handle high temperature.By the way, it does not even need substrate! I am growing it using plant weight, it hardly has time to grow roots before the next pruning.


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## rwong2k (Jan 13, 2005)

Wow I wish my piece looks like that,
about a week or so ago I received a tiny piece from a local person, although this one stem is in pretty poor condition it's making a recovery, so after a while I hope to have enough for a bunch ofthem, I'll post some before and after pictures later =) it's still in the before stage right now =)


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## ragn4rok (Jan 23, 2005)

My Rotala macrandra


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