Red plants are usually background plants — by the time they color up they are tall enough to hide behind everything else. 'Mini Butterfly' is the exception: a dwarf macrandra that tops out around 6 inches and holds pink-to-red color at midground height, where it is actually visible.
It is also, by some margin, the hardest plant we stock in this size class.
What You'll Receive
One 4-inch sealed Vitro Culture® bag containing healthy Rotala macrandra 'Mini Butterfly' plantlets—ready to rinse, acclimate, and plant in your aquarium.
Plant Profile
- Common name: Mini Butterfly Rotala
- Scientific name: Rotala macrandra 'Mini Butterfly'
- Origin: India (species range); this cultivar is aquarium-developed
- Placement: Foreground to midground
- Shipped size: Small tissue-cultured plantlets, roughly 1-2 inches
- Mature height: 3-6 inches
- Suits: 10 gallons and up
- Growth rate: Medium
Care
- Difficulty: Advanced
- Light: High. This is not negotiable — under medium light the plant stays green, stretches, and loses the compact form that is the entire reason to grow it.
- CO₂: Recommended. In practice, high light without injection produces algae rather than red leaves.
- Water: pH 6.0-7.0, 72-82°F (22-28°C). Soft water deepens the color.
- Substrate: Required — nutrient-rich soil or root tabs, alongside water column dosing. Iron in particular drives the red.
- Growth habit: Dense, compact stems with fine rounded leaves that flare outward in pairs
- Propagation: Cuttings — trim healthy stems and replant the tops
Grower's Notes
- Restraint on nitrate is what makes it red. Well-fed macrandra grows green. Keeping nitrate lean while holding iron and micros steady is the lever most growers miss.
- Start with a stable, mature tank. This cultivar reacts badly to swings in CO₂, temperature or dosing, and a new setup supplies all three.
- Plant the stems separately with an inch of space. Crowded groups shade their own lower leaves and rot at the base.
- Replant tops, discard old bases. Cuttings root and color faster than the stumps.
- The tissue culture transition is rough on this one. Expect most of the emersed foliage to melt away before submerged growth appears — judge the plant by its new leaves, not the ones it arrived with.
Notes
- Photos are for reference. Actual plant color and form may vary based on lighting, nutrients, and aquarium conditions. Some melting may occur during the transition from tissue culture to submerged growth, followed by regrowth under proper care.
- Never release aquarium plants into natural waterways.
At a glance
- Free shipping on orders of $150 or more (after discounts) within the contiguous United States, by USPS.
- Free thermal protection is included with every shipment, all year round.
- Processing: most orders leave us within 1 to 2 business days. Tracking is emailed when your order ships.
- USPS (2 to 5 business days) ships Monday through Saturday.
- UPS 2nd Day Air® ships Monday through Wednesday. Order by Tuesday at 6:00 AM Pacific Time for same-week delivery.
- UPS Next Day Air® ships Monday through Thursday. Order by Wednesday at 6:00 AM Pacific Time for same-week delivery.
- Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and military addresses ship by USPS at a flat rate shown at checkout.
- Weather holds: during extreme heat or cold we may hold live orders until it's safe to ship.
- We ship within the United States only.
Please bring live plants indoors and unpack them the day they arrive. Every live order is covered by our 24-Hour Live Arrival Guarantee.
The complete rules, including lost packages and address issues, are in our Shipping Policy. If anything conflicts, that policy applies.
Every live order is backed by our 24-Hour Live Arrival Guarantee. If a plant arrives dead, we'll make it right.
How it works
- Tell us within 24 hours of the delivery time on your tracking.
- Send photos of the affected items in their original, unopened packaging, plus a photo of the shipping label, to hello@aquariumplantsfactory.com with your order number.
- We'll make it right with a replacement, store credit or refund for the affected item.
Good to know
- Some melting or yellowing as plants adjust from greenhouse to aquarium life is normal. They regrow from healthy roots and rhizomes.
- Please bring your package indoors and unpack it the day it arrives.
- Free promotional items and shipping charges are not covered.
The complete rules, including what's covered and what voids the guarantee, are in our Returns, Refunds & Live Arrival Guarantee. If anything conflicts, that policy applies.
Please review your state's regulations on restricted plants, as we are committed to not shipping plants that are restricted in your area. Do not release any plants into the wild or waterways, as this can harm local ecosystems by introducing invasive species.
Your cooperation in protecting the environment is appreciated. For continuously updated information, refer to the USDA State Noxious Weed list here.
Thank you for your responsible commitment to environmental preservation.
K
This is the second time I’ve ordered the mini butterfly tissue culture. The first order had much smaller plants and were destroyed in my tank by hair algae.
I was pleasantly surprised by my second order. The tissue culture arrived with much more mature plants.
My water is alkaline and I’ve read mini butterfly prefer acidic water, but after a week in the tank, they still look healthy to me.
S
I've ordered this twice in the last month (or so) and each time, I recieved tiny plants.
The first time, I tried to plant each individual stem directly into one of my mature aquariums with UNS Controsoil, CO2, Easy Green, and good lighting. None of them made it past a couple days, wilting and quickly taken over by algae.
The second time, I put the clumps in a cup of ADA Amazonia Powder from another mature tank and into a 5 gallon quarantine tank with lower CO2, light dosing of Easy Green, and lower lighting. The only other thing in the tank was weeping moss. In a couple days, they all wilted and turned into mush.
From reading Katy M's review, I'm going to order the grown plants instead of the tissue culture.
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