Beginner Help: Trying to understand the lotus/bulb plants

[nabokovfan87]

I was looking at the store and I'm just a bit confused!!!  I am misremembering information from the older store descriptions or maybe just older plants that aren't carried.

Can someone please help me to understand what these plants look like and how to handle them?  The goal is to have a bit of a "bush" style plant in the big tank and then to propogate it out, then add it to the shrimp tank and let them have midwater stems and a bit of cover.

Tiger Lotus vs Dwarf Red Lily
Do they need root feeding / nutrients at the roots?
Do they both get red?
Do they both get same size?
Do they both shoot pads to the surface?  (I assume I can just cut them if need be or leave 1-2 of them.)
Is there an issue if the pads get wet on the top surface?

Any idea which one of them is used here?


Thanks for the help.  Feels so exciting/weird/nerve wracking to be diving into new species and especially types I've never kept!  I'd enjoy hearing others experiences and issues with this plant.  I am trying to find things that have the right size/scale among other factors.  I need to order some more ferts here eventually and I always am eyeballing these two trying to decide which to try out.

I'll add this, from the plant database website and it's basically the only real source of information I have.  This is for the red tiger lily, but they don't have an article for the other one.

Quote

Nymphaea lotus "rot" is a bulbous plant that grows submersed as well as floating leaves. Even if it grows under low light it is recommendable to provide it with more light if you want to prevent it from growing floating leaves. If it does grow floating leaves you should quickly act and cut them off. If the water lily once reaches the water surface it grows almost exclusively floating leaves.

Continual cutting off these leaves will break this habit. A nutrient-rich soil is especially important for water lily cultivation. CO2 injection and the addition of liquid fertilisers are also welcomed. Under optimal conditions, Nymphaea lotus "red" grows very large, and most hobbyists have to keep it in check. A very popular method is planting the water lily in a pot that is then placed in the aquarium substrate. The limited root space stunts the plant's growth.

N. lotus "red" is mainly propagated by seed. Therefore, the plant must be allowed to form some floating leaves in order to form flowers. These flowers can be pollinated by hand and then produce the seeds.

The bulb can also be cut apart, however, this should only be done if a second leaf crown has formed. This propagation method cannot be recommended, as the mother plant might die off.

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[JoeQ]

Red tiger on left, dwarf lilly on right. The red tiger is definitely bigger, and reder. They both will benefit from root tabs. Under lower light they will grow tall, under high light they grow short but "bushier'. They can also be 'trained' to grow to a desired height by selectively trimming leaves.  On the lilly pads, they can get wet with no issue but I feel (from experience) once they grow lily's the plant no longer will grow underwater growth.

Edit, in the aqua scape picture above they are red tiger lotus(es). Red tiger for the win over dwarf aquarium lilly.

Edited October 13, 2023 by JoeQ

[Ninjoma]

On 10/12/2023 at 8:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Tiger Lotus vs Dwarf Red Lily

I've only tried dwarf lily once. I didn't like how it looked so I removed it. Tiger lotus is one of my favorite plants and I have some in all of my tanks.

On 10/12/2023 at 8:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Do they need root feeding / nutrients at the roots?

I act under the assumption that all bulb plants need root nutrients so I add root tabs under mine, but I haven't tried not adding them to see the difference.

 

On 10/12/2023 at 8:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Do they both get red?

I've seen tiger lotus come in two variants 1. red 2. green with red speckles. The dwarf lily I had was like an orangish brown. I found it quite drab.

 

On 10/12/2023 at 8:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Do they both get same size?

The dwarf lily I had, had pretty small leaves about 1.5" diameter, but I assume it could have gotten bigger. My tiger lotus have had a pretty big range of leaf size from about 1.5" to 8" diameter.

On 10/12/2023 at 8:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Do they both shoot pads to the surface?  (I assume I can just cut them if need be or leave 1-2 of them.)

Yes. You can trim them or leave them.

On 10/12/2023 at 8:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Is there an issue if the pads get wet on the top surface?

Not in my experience.

On 10/12/2023 at 8:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Any idea which one of them is used here?

Pretty sure that is tiger lotus.

[JoeQ]

On 10/12/2023 at 11:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Do they need root feeding / nutrients at the roots?

Dustin of dustins fish tanks made one of the most compelling arguments when it comes to root tabs and root feeders. It went something like this :

"Root feeders prefer to eat through their roots, sure they can absurd nutrients through their leaves, but this is like someone telling me I had to eat strands of spaghetti through my nose. Sure I can do it, but I PREFER to use my mouth!"

Best argument for root tabs ever!!! 🤣

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/13/2023 at 10:05 AM, Ninjoma said:

I've seen tiger lotus come in two variants 1. red 2. green with red speckles. The dwarf lily I had was like an orangish brown. I found it quite drab.

I'm seeing the difference a bit now. Yeah. I have a "feature" of orange plants and so I think that might get a bit lost depending on placement.

On 10/13/2023 at 10:05 AM, Ninjoma said:

The dwarf lily I had, had pretty small leaves about 1.5" diameter, but I assume it could have gotten bigger. My tiger lotus have had a pretty big range of leaf size from about 1.5" to 8" diameter.

Very helpful, thank you!