My plants are going red ?!

hey mate,

red with swords can be normal, but ill let another member address that. I would like to point out though that it seems like some of your "underwater" plants aren't underwater plants at all. How long have you had the plants? Especially the ones in the left of the tank, and the fern looking thing in the middle (although I can't really see that well). Also on the far left, it seems like you have "mondo grass" which is not aquatic at all and will slowly die and perish when fully sumberged. Where did you get your plants?

The one on the right is a little suspect too
you're burning through your nutrients moar efficiently
Iron specifically can enhance a desirable red effect in some plants
are you fertilizing? may want to consider starting

hi thanks for the responses, yeh i did actually think the middle fern one and the bamboo type ones where not aquatic plants, i actually bought them from water world an aquatics shop lol, i just grabbed em maybe they where for something else lol, the grass type one actually is doing rather well but only time will tell

i do fertilize twice a week, with plantamin liquid fertilizer and crypto root fertilizer

this is my first planted tank so im bound to make mistakes its alot to take in lol
i was just not sure why they would go red when the plants green, and its only since i added co2. ill replace them plants soon infact, cause the ferns rather ugly and the other bamboo things look dried up lol

thanks again

Red coloration is normal for a lot of swords, but it's hard to tell since we don't know the particular species.

In general, a nitrogen deficiency causes green plants (ie supposed to be green) to form a reddish hue.

Quite a few swords will have leaves that are red when they emerge from the center of the rosette. In most cases they will turn green once they have grown to their full length. There are some that stay reddish though.

I can add to the curiosity for another plant. L. Repens.

Now I know that under the right conditions, they will have red/maroon coloring which looks absolutley amazing. But ... what would cause one plant to be a brilliant green and another a deep red/maroon? Here's the catch with this scenario... they are in the same tank ... and ... are right next to each other so there is no favoritism in regards to lighting or ferts. I definately like the contrast it is throwing so not looking to change anything. It's just more out of curiosity.

thanks guy that cleared that up then )