[Nlewis]

I have a few red plants I just got and they are slowly losing their color. From reading through a few threads there are some varying reasons. Some say light intensity, spectrum and needing to dose iron. The plants are in a 40B located at the rear of the tank with the light being only about 9 inches from the substrate in that area. The light I'm using there is a Beamswork .5W pent fixture. If the issue is with the spectrum of light, is there a way to resolve this without buying a new light?

 

[Viclynmastiff]

Red plants need looks of iron and high light. If the leaves are yellow then very well could be iron I dose iron every two days you also need all the dry ferts gh booster kno3 root tabs


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[sohankpatel]

Red plants need looks of iron and high light.


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Ludwiga red grows red in my tank without alot of iron

 

[Viclynmastiff]

Then what your dosing must give them enough iron


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Or very high light I have Dutch 11 build my led I'm pumping light so I need iron


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[sohankpatel]

Other plants like rotala macrandra stay green, and my other red plants aren't as red as I would like, I was saying that ludwiga red is very easy to make grow red compared to others.

 

[Nlewis]

I don't believe it's and issue of light intensity and there is a lot of conflicting information nation regarding the dosing of iron. I dose per the EI schedule for 20-40g tanks.

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[AWolf]

Manganese deficiency is often confused with iron deficiency. Also, iron cannot be easily absorbed in a high pH. In fact, the best absorption is between 5-6.5 pH.

 

[OVT]

Eh, the plants are new to your tank and their primary goal is short term survival, not the color of their leaves. They are putting all of their energy into growing new roots and they will do anything they can, including dropping old leaves, to do it faster.

Before making any changes at all, I would wait for the new plants to start growing new leaves in *your* tank. Only after that, I would check the new leaves to see if they need anything else. In other words, give the new plants some time.