Rotala Sunset

Care at a glance

Overview

One for established high-tech tanks. It wants soft, slightly acidic water, strong light, steady CO2 around 30 mg/l, a nutrient-rich substrate and consistent macro and micro dosing, and even then it grows slowly. Keep it as a free-standing midground group no taller than about 20 cm so the colour contrast stays visible. It does not tolerate hard cutting well: trim selectively and replant healthy tops rather than shearing the group down. Slow growth also means algae will colonise neglected leaves, so keep the tank clean and the light period disciplined.

In the wild

Sunset is a selected aquarium form, not a wild population. Its parent, Rotala ramosior, is an annual of seasonally wet ground across North and South America, naturalised in parts of Asia, growing emersed on mud flats and pond margins and tolerating only temporary flooding in the wild. Where the cultivated stock was originally collected is unclear, and it entered the hobby under several names at once.

Good to know

A member of Lythraceae, the loosestrife family. The species epithet ramosior means more branched, which reads as a small joke underwater, where the cultivar grows as straight, sparsely branched, densely leafed shoots. One cultivar circulates under the names Sunset, Florida and Florida Sunset; the leaves are elongated, set in opposite pairs, and turn brown-red to purple over contrasting green stems under strong light.

Did you know

It once travelled under the name Ammannia sp. from Sulawesi, even though the species behind it is American. The same plant is still sold as Sunset, Florida and Florida Sunset, three labels for one cultivar.

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