Red tinted leaves?

Hello all,
I'm not much of an aquatic gardener but I do enjoy the use of some live
plants in my tanks.

I've acquired a small collection of plants and placed them in my 240 gal
tank which uses an overflow and sump for circulation. This means that there
is unfortunately a large amount of air/water turbulence.

I understand that this practically strips out the CO2 from the water and am
trying to create a more laminar flow to reduce the air/water mixture. My
last modification helped and now the air/water turbulence is low enough that
I suspect some CO2 is remaining in the water column (albeit not much
though).

I do not currently have many test kits that seem customary for planted tanks
(KH, CO2, etc.) So my question is more of a suspicion type. Could it be
that my tank is also short on other elements such as iron or nitrate that
would make the leaves less green?

The plants are still showing new growth and the new leaves begin a nice
green color, but as they age, they become less green.

Lighting consist of two 250watt MH @6500K each running 10 hours a day.

Thank you,
Fishman

"Fishman" wrote in message
news:ZW0Bf.2622$jO3.2330@trnddc07...
Hello all,
I'm not much of an aquatic gardener but I do enjoy the use of some live
plants in my tanks.

Well mate, you better brace yourself for a new 'LIFE ADDICTION'. Aquatic
plants have the uncanny ability to suck you in and keep you there. See you
at the next AA (Aquarists anonymous) meeting

Join a forum like www.aquaticplantcentral.com and begin to learn. Not much
happening in the NG's these days.
--
Kind Regards
Cameron

Fishman wrote:
Hello all,
I'm not much of an aquatic gardener but I do enjoy the use of some live
plants in my tanks.

I've acquired a small collection of plants and placed them in my 240 gal
tank which uses an overflow and sump for circulation. This means that there
is unfortunately a large amount of air/water turbulence.

I understand that this practically strips out the CO2 from the water and am
trying to create a more laminar flow to reduce the air/water mixture. My
last modification helped and now the air/water turbulence is low enough that
I suspect some CO2 is remaining in the water column (albeit not much
though)....

Fishman



If you're not injecting CO2 into your aquarium then the water turbulence
may actually be a good thing. It'll at least keep aquarium CO2 in
equilibrium with that in the air.
Steve

I do not currently have many test kits that seem customary for planted tanks
(KH, CO2, etc.) So my question is more of a suspicion type. Could it be
that my tank is also short on other elements such as iron or nitrate that
would make the leaves less green?

The plants are still showing new growth and the new leaves begin a nice
green color, but as they age, they become less green.

Lighting consist of two 250watt MH @6500K each running 10 hours a day.


New leaves are quite green and I wish all my plants would remain thus.
If you can keep the algae from growing on them then you should have
several shades of greens going on from new growth to old. I have a 26
gal heavily planted and have found that I need to reqularily fertilize
and also to add extra iron and especially POTASSIUM. The latter did
wonders for new growth.

Growing healthy plants is every bit as much a science as keeping ones
fish healthy. IMO

Take a look at this site. It will be useful to you.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm
All the best

Larry

Fishman wrote:
Hello all,
I'm not much of an aquatic gardener but I do enjoy the use of some live
plants in my tanks.

I've acquired a small collection of plants and placed them in my 240 gal
tank which uses an overflow and sump for circulation. This means that there
is unfortunately a large amount of air/water turbulence.

I understand that this practically strips out the CO2 from the water and am
trying to create a more laminar flow to reduce the air/water mixture. My
last modification helped and now the air/water turbulence is low enough that
I suspect some CO2 is remaining in the water column (albeit not much
though).

I do not currently have many test kits that seem customary for planted tanks
(KH, CO2, etc.) So my question is more of a suspicion type. Could it be
that my tank is also short on other elements such as iron or nitrate that
would make the leaves less green?

The plants are still showing new growth and the new leaves begin a nice
green color, but as they age, they become less green.

Lighting consist of two 250watt MH @6500K each running 10 hours a day.

Thank you,
Fishman



What type of plants are they? Some go naturally reddish at the top as
they grow....Hygrophila being a prime example...I find it quite
attractive...

Gill

"Dogma Discharge" wrote in message
...

Well mate, you better brace yourself for a new 'LIFE ADDICTION'. Aquatic
plants have the uncanny ability to suck you in and keep you there. See you
at the next AA (Aquarists anonymous) meeting
=================================
I've not only got the Aquatic plant addiction, but fish addiction and
MTSyndrome as well. I went to PetsMart today and came home with two more
swordplants of some kind, and 2 more goldfish.......
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Sorry that I don't know what kinds of plants they are, but I do know that
they should not be turning red like this.

If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the plants are Broad Leaf
Tropical Sword and Crypt beckettii

Fishman

"Gill Passman" wrote in message
.. .
Fishman wrote:
Hello all,
I'm not much of an aquatic gardener but I do enjoy the use of some live
plants in my tanks.

I've acquired a small collection of plants and placed them in my 240 gal
tank which uses an overflow and sump for circulation. This means that
there
is unfortunately a large amount of air/water turbulence.

I understand that this practically strips out the CO2 from the water and
am
trying to create a more laminar flow to reduce the air/water mixture.
My
last modification helped and now the air/water turbulence is low enough
that
I suspect some CO2 is remaining in the water column (albeit not much
though).

I do not currently have many test kits that seem customary for planted
tanks
(KH, CO2, etc.) So my question is more of a suspicion type. Could it
be
that my tank is also short on other elements such as iron or nitrate
that
would make the leaves less green?

The plants are still showing new growth and the new leaves begin a nice
green color, but as they age, they become less green.

Lighting consist of two 250watt MH @6500K each running 10 hours a day.

Thank you,
Fishman



What type of plants are they? Some go naturally reddish at the top as
they grow....Hygrophila being a prime example...I find it quite
attractive...

Gill

Hey I had a nice bright green amazon sword that I planted once. Then it
seemed that the green leaves were not the emersed color. All the new leaves
that sprouted were a deep burgundy red and they grew HUGE like 3 feet high.
I realized that this wasn't a green sword but a Red Rubin Sword. That's what
your's might be. Also, I have a forest of crypts that have green leaves when
they are small and new and turn a reddish brown when they grow older. Pretty
standard for most of the crypts I have.

Chlorophyll gives plants their green color. The reddish color on plants not
typically red, from what I understand, is caused from the lack of nitrates.
Chloropasts need nitrogen for their green pigment. With higher light the
plants will grow quickly and have much less time to create more chlorophyll.

Dave.

"Fishman" wrote in message
news:y0hBf.31040$RK3.4117@trnddc06...
Sorry that I don't know what kinds of plants they are, but I do know that
they should not be turning red like this.

If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the plants are Broad Leaf
Tropical Sword and Crypt beckettii

Fishman

"Gill Passman" wrote in message
.. .
Fishman wrote:
Hello all,
I'm not much of an aquatic gardener but I do enjoy the use of some live
plants in my tanks.

I've acquired a small collection of plants and placed them in my 240
gal
tank which uses an overflow and sump for circulation. This means that
there
is unfortunately a large amount of air/water turbulence.

I understand that this practically strips out the CO2 from the water
and
am
trying to create a more laminar flow to reduce the air/water mixture.
My
last modification helped and now the air/water turbulence is low enough
that
I suspect some CO2 is remaining in the water column (albeit not much
though).

I do not currently have many test kits that seem customary for planted
tanks
(KH, CO2, etc.) So my question is more of a suspicion type. Could it
be
that my tank is also short on other elements such as iron or nitrate
that
would make the leaves less green?

The plants are still showing new growth and the new leaves begin a nice
green color, but as they age, they become less green.

Lighting consist of two 250watt MH @6500K each running 10 hours a day.

Thank you,
Fishman



What type of plants are they? Some go naturally reddish at the top as
they grow....Hygrophila being a prime example...I find it quite
attractive...

Gill

"Dave@AquaFlora" Spaketh Thusly:

Hey I had a nice bright green amazon sword that I planted once. Then it
seemed that the green leaves were not the emersed color. All the new leaves
that sprouted were a deep burgundy red and they grew HUGE like 3 feet high.
I realized that this wasn't a green sword but a Red Rubin Sword. That's what
your's might be. Also, I have a forest of crypts that have green leaves when
they are small and new and turn a reddish brown when they grow older. Pretty
standard for most of the crypts I have.

Chlorophyll gives plants their green color. The reddish color on plants not
typically red, from what I understand, is caused from the lack of nitrates.
Chloropasts need nitrogen for their green pigment. With higher light the
plants will grow quickly and have much less time to create more chlorophyll.
Thanks for this info, Dave!
I've wondered for years why the crypts in my low light and high light tanks
were so different. They're all from the same plant I got many years ago and
have divided several times. The ones in the low light tank grow vertically
with 3-4" stems and green leaves with a reddish stripe down the center, while
the same plant in the other tank is a mottled reddish-brown/green and grows
horizontally, never more than two inches above the substrate. If I hadn't
divided and planted them myself, I wouldn't believe they were the same plant.

--
Bill H. [my "reply to" address is real]
www.necka.net
Molon Labe!

I've wondered for years why the crypts in my low light and high light tanks
were so different. They're all from the same plant I got many years ago and
have divided several times. The ones in the low light tank grow vertically
with 3-4" stems and green leaves with a reddish stripe down the center, while
the same plant in the other tank is a mottled reddish-brown/green and grows
horizontally, never more than two inches above the substrate. If I hadn't
divided and planted them myself, I wouldn't believe they were the same plant.

They do that. In the low light tank they're struggling to reach out for the
light. In the high light tank they act as though the were emerse and
grow "normally".


--
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