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Red dwarf sag/val question - Plant ID question
I bought a little pot of dwarf sag from a petsmart about 5 months ago. I separated out the individual plants and planted then in a co2 injected, higher light (4 4' t-8s), PMDD tank with a flourite/tetra initial sticks substrate. Lower hardness (3-5 KH) and lower pH (6.8 or so). After a few weeks, one of the plants took off. It grew up to the top of the tank (55 gallon) and was a very brilliant shade of red. After doing a little research I noticed that occasionally dwarf sag will do something like this when conditions are right. A few weeks later I was trimming back the tank and moved the specific sag strand into a 20 gallon with no co2, medium light (40w CF), low PMDD tank with flourite substrate. Higher pH (7.4-7.6) and higher hardness (seashells in filter box)
After 2-3 months of being in this new tank the strand has grown at a normal rate (for the set-up) and has continued with it's red hues. The new runner growth shows some of the redness but not near the intensity of the initial strands (green with a reddish tint in some spots rather than a blood red coloring). I purchased a sample of red vals to compare and contrast the two species and they similar, but not the same plant. The val has "specks" and is more overall reddish but not with the intensity. The "sag" doesn't have the specks.
Finally, the current lengths and widths of the main sag plant in question are something on the order of 3' long (up from the bottom of the tank, over to the other side, half way back) and about 1" wide for the largest strands. The newest strands (plants on runner from the original) are still growing taller than normal sag and much wider (12' tall, 1/2" wide - still growing, turning red). I have had the plant in question for about 6 months with the growth in question for about 5 of those months. It didn't take off until after a few weeks.
Does anyone have any experience with dwarf sag reacting this way? If so, is it the particular plant or a particular growth stage/spurt of a normal dwarf sag? Does anyone have any experience with some other plant that matches the description?
Chris