I recently put some Rotala rotundifolia ‘Blood Red’ into the Fireplace Aquarium and it came in more of a burnt ochre shade of dusky reddish orange than ‘blood red’ as such. I looked around for the (potentially mythic) ‘Singapore’ (SG) variant of the Rotala which is claimed to be more red under a broader set of conditions. The SG variant was pretty hard to source but RareAquaPlants on Ebay had some listed, so I picked it up. A big advantage of smaller Ebay vendors vs. most commercial sources is that aquatic plants from commercial houses tend to be brought in direct from big professional nursery growers like Tropica or Dennerle. These growers almost without exception supply plants grown emersed (“ebb and flow” hydroponics) rather than submersed, so these plants require a period of adaptation to transition to their new underwater environment. Ebay vendors are more likely to be selling extra trimmings grown submersed in an aquarium, so already fully adapted to the underwater environment. These stems arrived in great condition and there were even some bonus red stems thrown in for free – I thought these might be Ludwigia palustris ‘mini Super Red’ (which the vendor subsequently confirmed).
as received
Rotala ‘blood red SG’ and mystery bonus stems
individual stems
Trying red stems in a low-tech aquarium
The main purpose was to try the Rotala SG in the Fireplace Aquarium but there were beaucoup great looking stems from the vendor so I figured lets also have a go in the Shrimphaus. I put a nice cluster in the front left side where the lighting is strongest. I have never tried Ludwigia palustris in low tech (not CO2 gas injected) conditions so why not also have a go there? I put a couple stems on the right side, also at the front. Whilst messing with the Fireplace Aquarium I also hauled out one of the long-suffering stems of Alternanthera cardinalis variegata (pretty sure – at least it’s definitely an Alternanthera of some flavour) and put a few of those in. Shrimphaus previously had success with Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’ so these guys stand a fighting chance. The shrimp did check them out straight away, but not much nibble evidence so far. They are in the front middle.
Rotala ‘blood red SG’
Alternanthera from Fireplace Aquarium
bonus stems (Ludwigia palustris ‘mini super red’)
Shrimphaus red plant update
It’s been 5 weeks since the red stems went into the Shrimphaus, so we can do a bit of an “early look” update.
Ludwigia palustris ‘Super Red’
Super happy with this ‘Super Red’! There is clear evidence of new growth in the Shrimphaus. All of the nice red colouration has been retained. The new leaves are smaller than the CO2-injected source tank leaves and have much shorter internodal distances, for a more compact look that delivers even more concentrated punchy redness.
Rotala rotundifolia ‘Blood Red’ (SG)
The Rotala SG has gone through a thinning out phase where a good amount of the previous CO2-injected leaves were lost. That said, I think the plant is growing. Same story as with the Super Red with shorter internodal distances in the low-tech Shrimphaus. The brighter red the SG started with has gone over to more of a darker, duskier “firebrick red” tone. The very newest growing tips look green rather than red but we’ll see how that might change as those new leaves mature.
Alternanthera
Not much action here. Looks like some of the leaves have grown over with a light dusting of green algae. I think I see some evidence of a small amount of new growth? The main conclusion so far is the alternanthera does NOT look like the shrimp are eating it, so that’s something anyway.
red plants in the Shrimphaus
5 weeks later
Trying Rotala SG in the Fireplace Aquarium
To be sure I could tell the SG apart from the other Rotala ‘blood red’ I clustered all the SG right up against the left wall at the back. I already know Ludwigia palustris ‘mini super red’ will do well so that went into the very back left corner. These locations don’t get a lot of light since they are deep in the tank, far from the centrality of the LED light, and already shaded behind some other stems, so it might take a while for these to get going. I’m actually quite interested in whether the Rotala SG does any differently from the other Rotala. I’m a little sceptical to be honest, but we’ll see how it plays out.
Rotala ‘blood red SG’
Rotala ‘Blood Red SG’ (hard to see in bottom left)