Martin Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Hey all! I'm looking for an easy to keep plant that would provide a bit of color to my tank as all my plants are green. I've got a crypto green, so I was trying to stay away from a crypto red. All of my plants are low light beginner plants (amazon sword, windelov, dwarf hairgrass, aponogeton, crypto lutea). I tried my hand at a scarlet temple but that ended... poorly. I'm open to floating plants as well! Any suggestions? Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 3 minutes ago, Martin said: Hey all! I'm looking for an easy to keep plant that would provide a bit of color to my tank as all my plants are green. I've got a crypto green, so I was trying to stay away from a crypto red. All of my plants are low light beginner plants (amazon sword, windelov, dwarf hairgrass, aponogeton, crypto lutea). I tried my hand at a scarlet temple but that ended... poorly. I'm open to floating plants as well! Any suggestions? Martin Like you . . . I failed at Scarlet Temple. Have you considered Ludwigia Repens? The underside of its leaves turn pinkish-purple. I understand your misgivings about crypt . . . but bronze crypt are really nice dark contrast to green plants. We have one little red melon sword from CoOp that has proven very resilient. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I have a red twist sword and a lilly bulb in my community tank. Both have excellent reds and very easy to have thrive and grow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 Thanks guys! I will do some research on all of those to see what parameters/light they need. That scarlet temple melted and melted and melted and just never came back, not sure if it was the high light requirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmedByFish Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I have a dwarf red lily - but it's more bronze than red. It's low light and easy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 How about a red tiger lotus? (on the right) 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I'm going to second @Fish Folk Repens is pretty easy and can get quite red when it's healthy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 Thanks all, I forgot to mention, my tank is a 10 gallon. I read up on the repens and understand that it can get quite large. Given I already have the aponogeton, I'm not sure how well it will all hold up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanoNano Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) Since you already have some other Crypts "going on", you might want to have a look at Cryptocoryne Spiralis Tiger. It grows tall thin pointed 9-12" leaves that can vary from pink to burgundy in color. I have it in a couple of my tanks and really enjoy it. One heads up- I've gotten it from two different sources. One appeared to have grown it submerged - this plant has been fast growing (tripled in size in about six weeks) with straight leaves that have a bright green vein up the stem. The other appears to have been grown "in air" - these plants have been very slow growing (not even doubled in size in three months) when submerged and have had curled leaves with a dark brown/black vein up the stem. I'm not clear if the differences are simply due to how they were grown or if there's different subspecies of this plant. On the opposite end of height, Cryptocoryne Nurii / "Rosen Maiden" might be another thing to look at. It grows to the same general footprint size as Wendtii Crypt varieties (Green/Red/Bronze) but it tends to grow leaves that lie flat on the substrate. The leaves have green edges, gold centers, and black and pink veining in them. Extremely slow growing, so they're a little tricky to find as full grown plants. You can find it as a tissue culture more readily, but again it's a slow grower, so it can be 6 months or more before the culture really starts to mature into a well rooted plant. Edit- A Red Melon sword might be another thing to look at as well. Edited May 24, 2021 by NanoNano 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Posted May 24, 2021 Author Share Posted May 24, 2021 Thanks @NanoNano! I'll have to check out the spiralis, that sounds like it has potential. I was also looking at some red root floaters, but am undecided on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDoc Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 I second the red tiger lotus. Amazingly easy and a nice, interesting color. Doesn't need a ton of light and is so simple. Looks great against a field of green. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel C Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 I was going to +1 on the red melon sword but I had one once and as I recall it got pretty big and you have a 10 gallon like me. Pretty plant, though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjcarew Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 20 hours ago, Martin said: Thanks all, I forgot to mention, my tank is a 10 gallon. I read up on the repens and understand that it can get quite large. Given I already have the aponogeton, I'm not sure how well it will all hold up. Ludwigia palustris is smaller than ludwigia repens, almost guaranteed to be red and pretty hard to kill. Ludwigia repens is itself very easy to keep a manageable size, just trim it when it gets too big. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 Wow, so many beautiful options... I'm gonna need a bigger tank. 😈 On 5/24/2021 at 1:54 PM, Joe L. said: Maybe Pink Flamingo Crypts? Wow you are right, that bad boy is a really beautiful, (seemingly) low lying plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 One more vote for Tiger Lotus. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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