Red Tiger Lotus

Does anyone have one of these in their aquarium?
Where did you get it from?
Is it an easy plant to grow?
How quickly does it grow?

I REALLY want one and just want info from those who have experience w/ it

Yeah i've grown it before. I don't know if you can get them with corms on or as just rooted plants. They require bright light and lots of food.

One good tip with them is to let them get established for a while (a few weeks) and then start pinching all the leaves off right back to the corm. Then, every time they put a leaf out that rises to the surface, pinch it back. Eventually, they get bored of sending out surface leaves and will produce spectacular underwater leaves.

The pic below was my 30" planted tank which i no longer have. You can see the pink leaf of this spatterdock. Usually there were 2 or 3 leaves measuring up to 8" across but it put all the plants in the shade underneath so i had to trim them off.

Hope this helps a bit

Andy

Yep, that helps a bunch!! Thanks alot for the info! Not sure if our tank is alrge enough for one of those bad boys heh. I knew they got big but didn't realize the leaves get that large! I'd still love to get one though heh.

Would a root tablet be enough for one?


oh and that was a gorgeous tank btw! What's the plant w/ the pinkish/whiteish leaves?

Andy, what's the plant in the top, left corner?

Been trying to get an ID on it for ages.

i got mine from ebay

its doing well with 1/2wpg light and just adding liquid feeder when doing a water change.

Aquaticmagic have them on eBay at the moment. I have just bought one, but it's just a bulb at the moment with a couple of shoots.

Sorry, I had to get mine out.

Sorry, I had to get mine out.
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Been hoping that you would...

OOOO the pics are just making me want to get one even more! lol
I saw the ones on ebay... trying to convince fiance to get one

I have kept Red Tiger Lotus (Nymphaea lotus var zenkerii or rubra or even Nymphaea stellata, plants are sold under both names) on and off for the past 3 years. Based on habits I've observed, I think I may have actually had Nymphaea stellata, though the plant was advertised as Nymphaea lotus var zenkerii when purchased back in I think '05. I've kept it in a high-tech system in IL (3+ WPG, EI, and CO2) and in lower light systems (anything from 1.4-1.8WPG no CO2 or CO2, etc). It had been dying off gradually last year, and finally leaves no longer grew. I know that they often go dormant, but I didn't want to take the chance that the bulb would die (supposedly it can happen) and rot in the 36g, so I chucked it in a fountain tub outside, thinking if the bulb did die, it wouldn't harm any of my stock. Some months later, I'm cleaning out the pond and I see little red leaves growing from a tiny bulb. I moved it back to my 36g and it has now regained much of it's former size and strength. This plant seems impossible to kill and it actually survived a 2 day move from IL to Miami, FL. Probably a good investment for all but the lowest light levels. It can run rampant and dominate a scape. I don't personally recommend it for small tanks. My profile picture has a picture of my high-tech 15g with the lotus featured.

llj