# Can someone give me information on Red Ludwigia?



## PunkinOfSteel (Aug 24, 2013)

My local PetSmart has Red Ludwigia and I would love to have some in my 10 gallon (soon to be 20) tank. Can someone give me some information on their care, are they fairly easy to care for- do they need anything special? Just basic care info would be great.. even links would be alright. I've been looking at info from Google and i'm getting mixed info and would be great to have info from someone who has the plant. 


Thanks a buncheese!


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## peachii (Jan 6, 2013)

I don't have any but I'd sure like some, been looking at it for a few months but not found any to buy that didn't include shipping.

Most red plants grow best under high light conditions but will still grow under low.med light just not as bright color and sometimes will grow in green until it adjusts. If it's bunched plants from Petco they are only 2.99, which is a steal. Get them and try them out, worst case scenario they won't do well best case you get an awesome new plant.

Last week when we were at Petco I got some Rotala indica (true kind) which is kind of rare to find and some Ludwiga ovalis which is absolutely beautiful and also a bit rarer to find, not sure where petco is getting their plants from but worth keeping an eye on because every now and then they get some gems in.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

I have some in my 55 gallon! It grows REALLY REALLY tall. But I'm sure you can cut the tops off and replant them when they get too tall. But like peachii said, it won't stay red if you don't have very high light. Mine turned almost totally green after a couple weeks in my tank, but once it grew really tall the tops turned red again because it was closer to the light.


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## PunkinOfSteel (Aug 24, 2013)

It's beautiful both ways, i'm just looking for something a little different and would be completely fine with them being green or red. Thanks for the information  I'll try getting some tomorrow when I go out.


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Peachii is right, Petco gets some NICE stuff in sometimes...bizarre things that you don't see often. I've started cruising my local places a couple of times a month after they get shipments in just to look at their plants. I'm a sucker for wisteria and anytime they get some in I buy out whatever they've got in stock.  

I got four bunches of red rotala there a week or so ago, and so far it's growing really well and staying red. No fertz, just in a QT 10g with two 100w equiv CFL lamps hanging over it going 24/7. Also got something else that's reddish...I have no idea what it is, but I need to post a picture and see if the forum can ID it.  

I've gotten some red ludwigia at my Petco twice, and each time it's stayed red. The new growth is green, but goes red eventually, though it has been slow-growing for me. The tank where it lives actually use uses my overhead room flourescents for light, since it was primarily just silk plants, and I purchased the ludwigia on a whim because it was 3$ and I didn't know anything about it. Figured it would live...or it wouldn't...lol!  So it's fairly hardy to have survived my treatment of it.  (Now is better, since it has proper lighting and the tank has been converted to all live plants...growth immediately picked up.) And yes, you can trim it back and replant the cuttings and they'll root out. I've found that almost all stem plants that I've tried that with will do so. At this point, any time I trim I replant the cuttings in a holding 10g just to see what they'll do.  

Also, if you're looking for some color, azolla (sometimes colloquially called fairy moss) when exposed to bright light will go red. It's just a nice contrast to the green in my opinion.  

Oh, and Tricker's (www.tricker.com) has some aquatic plants that bloom. Bacopa has pretty little blue flowers...and there were a couple of others. That can add in some color as well. Just look in their aquarium plant section and they'll list in the descriptions if it blooms and have pictures and such. And, apparently, camboda blooms if it is in JUST the right conditions. I went to my one really good LFS, and they get plants from this plant-guru guy and all of the camboda was blooming. I had never seen it before and asked about it...and was told that it's near-on impossible to do, but if everything is JUST right and the plants are super happy, it can be accomplished.  The blooms are very small white/cream color. 

Oh, sorry, one more. Some types of anachris will have pink tips for the last three or four inches of the stems near the surface. The rest of the foliage is a light green color. All the same foliage, but two different colors.


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