Red Plants

Red plants in the aquarium.

Many species have leaves of different colors that contrast effectively with green plants. Therefore, it is not surprising that thriving plants with burgundy, red, brown, or yellowish-brown leaves are in high demand among aquarists. There are also aquarium plants that are green but sometimes produce leaves of various colors under the same conditions. However, forms with leaves of various shades of red and brown are generally considered mutations, varieties, subspecies, or lines, rather than independent species. The new leaf coloration is caused by processes occurring inside plant cells.

The leaf tissue originally consists of cells containing chloroplasts, which cause its green coloration. These same organelles can become completely colorless (leucoplasts) as a result of starch formation or accumulate pigments that give them a yellow to red coloration (chromoplasts). Color shades are the result of the percentage of various pigments. If they accumulate in the cells of the upper side of the leaves, they can protect the plant from excessive light. Pigments accumulated on the underside of the leaf can increase the amount of absorbed light under low-light conditions by capturing reflected rays.

Keeping “red” plants is considered more difficult. In fact, they simply require slightly more light, CO2, nitrogen, and phosphorus.

Lighting intensity. First, sufficient lighting intensity must be provided. It is under the influence of excessive light that plants acquire red leaf coloration. Flavonoids are produced in the process, protecting plants from the damaging effects of ultraviolet light. The presence of a sufficient proportion of blue light in the lamp spectrum is very important. If there is very little of it (2700-5200K lamps), the red leaf coloration will be significantly less pronounced. The closer the plant is to the water surface, the stronger the red coloration appears. The easiest way to meet the high light requirements of red plants is by using metal halide lamps.

If fluorescent lamps are used, at least four T5 lamps equal to the length of the aquarium should be installed in the aquarium hood, complete with effective parabolic reflectors. If this amount of light is somewhat excessive when illuminated for 10-12 hours, a very effective stepped lighting method can be used. Red plants do not need as much light as many people think. Instead, they need slightly less light and plenty of nutrition – curling leaves and dying growth tips will not occur, and the coloration will be magnificent.

Light spectrum. In general, for a planted aquarium, and red plants in particular, broad-spectrum daylight lamps (daylight white light) or special aquarium lamps with a color temperature of 7500-10000 K should be used. Lamps with a distorted spectrum to obtain the maximum proportion of red or blue light to improve photosynthesis are hardly suitable. Long-wave red light (700-800 nm) leads to a lower chlorophyll content per unit of leaf area, which can be explained by the fact that red light at the end of the day leads to larger and thinner leaves. These leaves have a slightly lower photosynthetic efficiency per unit of chlorophyll.

CO2. CO2 concentration should always be around 30 mg/l. Along with light, this is the main growth factor. By increasing the light, you get “red” plants that spend part of their energy on producing flavonoids to protect themselves from harmful radiation rather than on normal growth. Under such conditions, red plants require an appropriate amount of energy for photosynthesis and carbon dioxide. Their deficiency leads to poor growth and, consequently, a less-than-optimal appearance.

Substrate. A substrate with a high CEC significantly improves plant growth. Although stem plants receive most of their nutrition through the water, a nutrient substrate will provide a second source of nutrition, which will immediately affect the condition of the plants. There is also an opinion that such plants require a large amount of iron in the substrate.

Red plants and those with a slight red tint.

List of plants for the foreground, middle ground, and background.

Red plants in the aquarium. List of red plants.