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🌸 Rotala Blood Red – Striking Stem Plant for Aquascapes
Description:
Rotala Blood Red (Rotala sp.) is an amazing choice for aquarists who are ready to branch out into keeping stem plants or have an interest in Dutch-style aquascaping but feel a little nervous about diving straight into CO₂ injection. This wonderful plant produces bright, almost glowing hot pink stems and leaves — especially at the top — with just the use of strong lighting. It’s a fantastic way to achieve that bold Dutch-style splash of colour without the extra hard work.
In non-CO₂ setups, Rotala Blood Red will show vibrant pinks at the mids and tips under bright light, making it ideal for shallow tanks. In CO₂-enriched aquariums, the plant transforms into a uniform, intense hot pink from base to tip — a true showstopper in any aquascape.
Key Features:
Perfect introduction to colourful stem plants
Dutch-style colour without needing CO₂
Stunning hot pink tones with strong lighting
Easy to grow in both CO₂ and non-CO₂ tanks
Great for adding height, contrast, and vibrancy
Care Requirements:
🌡️ Temperature: 20–28°C
💡 Light: Medium to high (higher light for best colour)
💧 Water: Freshwater, nutrient-rich preferred
CO₂: Optional (enhances colour intensity and growth)
Growth Rate: Moderate to fast
First two photos show this plant with moderate lighting and last shows it with co2 and bright lighting.
You can see a video of what this plant looks like here (3) Instagram
This example is grown with high light and no fertilisers in a shallow tank I grow it in aquasoil but it is over two years old and has had a lot of plant growth so it most likely doesn’t have much nutrients left tank has no nitrates that show up on an aquasoil master test kit as the tank cannot keep up with how much plant growth there is compared to shrimp waste higher nitrates may contribute to less red colouration.