I have got a full planted tank and i can grow ambulia/indian fren/swords etc. without a problem but I can't get any red plants to grow in there.

Help?

iron deficit?

Do most red plants prefer more light than green plants?

As davidb corectly points out it can be iron deficit, but also lack of light, when you mention red plants do you mean Alternanthera reinecki "Red"? as this plant require lots of light.

Best of luck.

any under water red plant.any thing green i plant it grows but red dont grow they start but stop and die off?/ the tank got heap of ligthing i dont have co2 though the tank is 1500*700h*600w ph7 temp 27.

can you get a test for iron

or is it the tank depth to much for the plants???

Be more specific then 'Heaps of lighting'. Red plants need much more light than green plants to thrive and stay read.....

6500k *2 aqua sky/ 4* grow lux tubes five foot lamps.

p/s i just replace one $85 for one tube grow lux. some be some where else for cheeper???

What are the red plants you are growing? Many red plants are not aquatic plants and will struggle to stay alive no matter what you do or how much you spend. Years ago I used growlux and soft white tubes together (still use that combo on some tanks). Now it is fashionable to use daylight ( 6500K). Growlux (blue spectrum) tends to make plants squat and compact while red spectrum makes them tall and scrawny. This is more obvious when plants are grown emersed. Some people say growlux encourages algae. They are also about 4 x the price of other tubes.

what about use a coral life blue tube???

as for red plants all die. but i whant to get more but i need some idears so they dont die on me

ps my echinodorus broad leafed is starting to flower *2 :lol: :lol:

6500K daylight tubes can be had at your local electrical wholesaler for $7ish

Where available I do *prefer* to go with Powerglo because it has lovely spectrum spikes at the right points, but thats more like $20-30 rather than 7.

I've had trouble with red plants too. I'd be more inclined to look at possible a metal halide fixture if I wanted to do more reds (at least to give it a go).

And yes you can buy iron test kits.

Your local shop should have them.. petplanet.co.nz also sells them and I'm sure there are others.