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Rotala 'blood red' vs H'ra

Miniandy

Member
Joined
12 Feb 2013
Messages
150
Location
Uckfield
Has anyone grown these side by side? Is there much difference between the two?

I have H'ra in my tank and whilst I can get it 'fairly red' its far from some of the pictures you see our there.
 
Blood red is supposed to stay red and grow more upright from what I've heard from those who've grown it. Hra has a very unsightly habit of growing sideways.
 
I have both and for me the blood red always grows red and is not very temperamental but the leaves and stem are larger than h’ra. H’ra grows slower with more side shoots and is the first plant in my tank to stunt and get grumpy when things aren’t to its liking.
 
I don't have any side by side comparisons but I've grown both and whilst I know H'ra can get pretty red under ideal conditions, Blood red doesn't take much effort at all. It's still growing fairly red in my low tech, with soft water in a low light position (right at the edge of the tank).

IMG_2071.jpeg

(Blood Red)
 
Has anyone grown these side by side? Is there much difference between the two?
In most conditions there will be a significant difference between the two :thumbup:

20230531_115153 2.jpg


I grabbed a quick (terrible) picture from my tank for you just now :geek: Please excuse the algae and general mess, my tank is going through something :lol:

Like previous posters have mentioned, BR is much more "naturally" red, and does not need nitrate limitation to produce nice red colors.
H'ra can turn very bright red under extremely nitrogen limiting conditions, but to produce such a red is quite an advanced balancing act without having the nitrate limitation get too severe for overall plant growth in the tank.
My tank measured 25 ppm NO3 recently, so as you can see the BR does not need low nitrogen to have a quite red color.
Other differences between the two include a broader leaf on the BR and also a much more upright growth habit.
BR also has a subtly notched leaf tip, you can see it most clearly in the upper right side of my photo.
My tank runs medium light intensity, so BR does not need high light either.

I love the Rotala Blood Red SG, its quickly become one of my favorite plants, and I highly highly recommend it.
I expect it to eventually dominate the market for rotala rotundifolia varieties, given its effortless beauty and ease of care :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the replies, I've only just realised that I didn't post after you to say thanks 😳

I'll be trying to source some at the end of the summer as well. My H'ra needs restarting, but I'll likely swap it out.
 
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