Lotus plant

[Beastije]

Hi, so I am wondering if this plant has any chance.
I bought this plant a year and some time back, planted it in the substrate, uprooted it, had another part that was just leaves in the substrate and this one was just the bulb and leaves.
The leaves were being eaten by the snails, the bulb was being eaten too. I moved it to another tank and since then, it looks exactly the same, maybe minus the very very small leaves as is in this picture

from the other side, the bulb is basically hollowed out, even the nerite sometimes parks there and eats it. At this very moment, the lighting in the tank is only a small 40W bulb but it is on like 13 hours a day, trying to promote the algae growth in the otocinclus quarantine, as you can see it only grows on the substrate which doesnt interest them much.

Is there any way to improve the plant, divide it, make it whole or something? Or is it a lost cause. Thanks

 

[Aqua67]

Your lotus plant looks like it is doing just fine to me. You just need to let it sit in one spot for a while to allow the roots to develop more. Leave the bulb on top of the substrate. If it is getting mushy you may have had it under the gravel a little too long. The plant should do well if roots have developed even if the bulb becomes detached. Chances are that bulb won’t push out another plant though.

If you want to “improve” the plant, you could use a root tab fertilizer which includes iron to improve redness in the leaves. The plant itself will be greenish without the iron and can still grow and do well even without extra iron. If you have a well and your well has a lot of iron, you could always use a little of that water in your aquarium if the parameters align with what your fish require. Also they grow well if you can add more pink/red light to their days. If your plant is in an unseated aquarium, a heater may also help improve the plant, keeping temps near the mid-70s.

Be careful what you wish for though as these plants can take over the substrate in the aquarium and choke out anything else trying to grow nearby. I keep mine in a 4 inch plastic pot filled with gravel substrate. I may need to put it all in a mesh bag to keep roots from existing through the top and spilling over into the rest of the tank’s substrate. I also keep mine trimmed as I prefer a bushy look in the water and am not looking for the leaves to hit the surface and produce flowers. I shoved a root tab into the gravel when I potted it. I can pick the pot up and trim roots coming out the bottom as needed. The bulb detached from my plant and now drifts around on the gravel, so far no new plant has sprouted but I do fully expect that a new one will sprout eventually as this bulb is still firm and in good shape.

I hope some of this helps.