What is this plant?

[ChasingFish]

Please and thank you for your help IDing this plant... the one with the peachy ginko shaped leaves (some tips are this color, others are green).

 

[Stan510]

Red Cabomba?

 

[ChasingFish]

Red Cabomba?

It is a type of cabomba (cabomba carolinia? i think), thank you!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Isn't cabomba a Latin dance?

Maybe Cabomba Furcata?

 

[ChasingFish]

Isn't cabomba a Latin dance?

Maybe Cabomba Furcata?

So....since the time that I initially posted this inquiry, I have learned that - this plant is definitely cabomba, I believe it's cabomba carolinia, and it changes color based on your nitrate levels (higher nitrate equals more green, and less nitrate equals more peachy purpleish underleaves)

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I am not so sure about the nitrate part. there are different color varieties of Cabomba. have a read here https://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/aquarium-plants/cabomba-plant/

A Cabomba plant is becoming a popular freshwater aquarium plant for hobbyists. Cabomba plants are almost always available in stores, and may also be sold under the names Green Cabomba, Carolina Fanwort, Brazilian Fanwort, or simply Fanwort. Cabomba plants can be green or reddish-purple, with Green Cabomba plants being the more popular and more readily available. A Purple Cabomba, sometimes called a Red Cabomba, is somewhat more rare. Purple Cabomba and Red Cabomba plants can also be sold as Purple Fanwort and Red Fanwort........

Cabomba Care: Not Hard, But Not Easy​

Green Cabomba care can be pretty tricky. Red and Purple Cabomba care can be trickier still. So Cabomba plants may not be the best choice for beginners. This is especially true if hobbyists are trying to keep it in low light, low tech tanks.

Even under the best conditions, some hobbyists still have a difficult time growing Cabomba plants.

In low light, low tech tanks a Cabomba plant can look good for a couple of days, but the plants often start to break apart and die. The lighting requirements for Green Cabomba plants are beyond standard lighting hoods used by many new hobbyists for their freshwater community tanks. And the lighting requirements for Red Cabomba and Purple Cabomba are more stringent than for the green. The solution for the lighting requirements is not as simple as providing more low lighting for longer hours. Cabomba plants require more watts of light per gallon for longer hours.

 

[ChasingFish]

I am not so sure about the nitrate part. there are different color varieties of Cabomba. have a read here https://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/aquarium-plants/cabomba-plant/

The thing is, the cabomba that I purchased (that created these different colors pictured in the original post) is just one plant. I purchased just one clump at my LFS months ago, and it has grown enough for me to put it in multiple tanks now. In some of my tanks it is the green color, in other it is more of a peachy or purpley color - but all is from the same plant. I had been wondering about this for months, why is this happening?? But then I saw a video on the channel "Secret History Living in your Aquarium" by Alexander Williamson (youtube) where he talked about how nitrates affect the color of this plant. And that actually, it can be an indicator for you to visually monitor it even without testing the water. So, that's where I got that info. I haven't independently verified his statement, but I do plan to do some water testing of my various tanks that have the cabomba and I'll report back my findings.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Look at the variety I posted and you will see it has green and red. Here is the stie from which it came. Notice the pics across the top and you see green. My guess is if one wants to see thebest/most coloring you need higher light and added CO2. Otherwise you will get butss of reds and mostly greens. I could be rwong.

 

[Byron]

More false information--and I am referring to the nonsense about nitrates. I have never seen any aquatic botanist mention nitrates as the reason for colour differences. And @TwoTankAmin posted reliable links.

Many aquarium plants will respond to different light (primarily) and sometimes nutrients by being different in colour. Chain swords can do this, the "red" leaf plants like Alternanthera do it, Ludwigia species do it...and Cabomba species. But there are also different varieties and species involved in this.

Cabomba carolineata:

The leaf colour varies from light green to medium green; there is also a pale red form, and some exhibit purple colouration on the leaves. The leaves are in the shape of a fan, which gave the plant its common name of Fanwort. This species does well in moderate light [see additional comments under Lighting Requirements], without CO2 addition, and in a plain substrate of small gravel or sand. Nutrients must be added to the water with a comprehensive liquid fertilizer. Propagation is easiest by division of the stem.​

​

Cabomba palaeformis:

The leaf colour depends upon the cultivar of this species. The Green variety has opposite leaves, the Red-Brown variety has leaves that are opposite or arranged in whorls of four around the stem. The red-brown cultivar tends to grow faster and bushier than the Green cultivar, and this variety is more common in the hobby.​

​

The cultivation of the plant you bought may have been different from now, thus the plant responds differently. And this is certainly known to occur even with stems from the same parent plant that are maintained in different aquaria where the conditions differ.

 

[BrianK]

I wish I could have some of that. It is considered an invasive species here (in Washington).

 

[ChasingFish]

I wish I could have some of that. It is considered an invasive species here (in Washington).

Sad it's one of my favorite aquatic plants, I hope they don't ban it where I am. But I feel bad for you!