How will these plants grow in your tank?
That depends on your tank more than on the plant. Both plants here are Ludwigia stem plants, and their color and growth rate follow the light, CO2 and nutrients you give them. A photo of a deep red stem shows what the plant can do, not what it will do under a weak light.
Want the stronger color? Narrowleaf Ludwigia (Ludwigia arcuata) needs strong light and a well-fed tank to show its reddish-orange tone. Ludwigia repens is the one to start with if you're less sure of your setup. In a low-light tank without added CO2, plan for a greener, slower plant either way.
Do these plants belong in a Sulawesi shrimp tank?
No, we'd keep them out. Warm, alkaline Sulawesi water is hard on most plants, and a stem plant that melts adds waste to a system where you're trying to keep nitrate under 10 ppm. If you want green in that tank, the aquatic plants for a Sulawesi shrimp tank are a short and different list. Save Ludwigia for a planted tank whose shrimp or fish live in more forgiving water.
Getting the stems ready for a shrimp tank
Rinse the stems in clean, dechlorinated water and look them over for snails or eggs before they go in. Strip the leaves from the part of each stem that will sit in the substrate, and plant each stem on its own so light reaches the lower leaves.
Ordering plants from Vietnam
Everything in our catalog is bred or propagated in our own tanks rather than collected from the wild. Shipping is a flat USD 120 per order to every country, so plants can ride along with livestock in one order under our shipping policy for live orders. Shrimp Aquatics pays the duties and taxes the courier bills against the shipment, on every route. You are not asked to settle a customs charge before the box is released to you. Confirming your own import rules is part of ordering. Once the courier collects the box, transit is normally 2-3 days.
