Lily pad

[JosiahBass]

Does anyone know if you can grow normal size lilies in a aquarium.

[JoeQ]

Im not exactly sure what you mean by "normal" size, but I recently clipped a 8" pad from my dwarf aquarium lilly (pictured in my 36g Journal). The main problem of huge lillys being that if you get 2 or 3 huge lillys they block a good deal of light.

[JosiahBass]

By normal Lillys I mean like what you would put it a pond. And I am fine if they block light, I a building a native aquarium tank. I want it to look as natural and as realistic as possible. I am wondering when it comes to lighting and temperature if it could stay alive in an aquarium.

On 5/10/2024 at 8:36 AM, JoeQ said:

Im not exactly sure what you mean by "normal" size, but I recently clipped a 8" pad from my dwarf aquarium lilly (pictured in my 36g Journal). The main problem of huge lillys being that if you get 2 or 3 huge lillys they block a good deal of light.

 

[JoeQ]

On 5/10/2024 at 8:58 AM, JosiahBass said:

By normal Lillys I mean like what you would put it a pond. And I am fine if they block light, I a building a native aquarium tank. I want it to look as natural and as realistic as possible. I am wondering when it comes to lighting and temperature if it could stay alive in an aquarium.

 

If you mean native lillies in an aquarium I suppose it'll grow with the proper light/fertilization, but I don't have any first hand experience.

[JosiahBass]

Alright, thank you for your help.

On 5/10/2024 at 9:45 AM, JoeQ said:

If you mean native lillies in an aquarium I suppose it'll grow with the proper light/fertilization, but I don't have any first hand experience.

 

[Odd Duck]

Yes, you can with enough light but they need a LOT of light to flower.  I was buying lilies for an outdoor tub years ago and there was a tiny lily with 2 tiny leaves growing in a discard container that happened to have a bit of rainwater in it.  I asked if I could have it and it went home with me.  I initially put it in a 70 G tank that was moderately lit by today’s standards (bright by the standards back then).  It produced a few leaves - sent them right to the surface.  Once weather was better I put it outside in another tub and I still have it decades later when the other water lilies I got did not prosper and I don’t even remember why, now.  It clearly is a survivor!  But it’s much better off in the outdoor tub.  It does get a small pond heater every winter so the ceramic tub doesn’t freeze solid and crack. 

[JosiahBass]

On 5/10/2024 at 11:54 AM, Odd Duck said:

Yes, you can with enough light but they need a LOT of light to flower.  I was buying lilies for an outdoor tub years ago and there was a tiny lily with 2 tiny leaves growing in a discard container that happened to have a bit of rainwater in it.  I asked if I could have it and it went home with me.  I initially put it in a 70 G tank that was moderately lit by today’s standards (bright by the standards back then).  It produced a few leaves - sent them right to the surface.  Once weather was better I put it outside in another tub and I still have it decades later when the other water lilies I got did not prosper and I don’t even remember why, now.  It clearly is a survivor!  But it’s much better off in the outdoor tub.  It does get a small pond heater every winter so the ceramic tub doesn’t freeze solid and crack. 

Thank you, I have hade Lillys in an outdoor fish tube before, for this project I am building an all natural native aquarium aquascape indoors so I want the Lilly will be in a tank. Is there any special lighting needed? Or will a powerful LED be fine.

[Odd Duck]

A strong LED should work but there are definitely several on the forum that could give you better advice on lights than I.  I just know they need more than what my lily had years ago in order to prosper.  Honestly, I would try for an open top tank set low enough to catch sunlight through a window if you really want a hardy water lily to prosper. That will NOT be the easiest tank to maintain re: algae.  But your lily would likely do best with a south-facing window plus a strong LED, especially if you’re hoping for blooms.

If I was going to set up a tank with a lily, I would use a lily species that is known to do well with aquarium lights instead of trying to use a species that would do better outdoors in direct sunlight.  The overall look and tank would be far easier to maintain and sustain.  Nymphea lotus var. ‘Zenkeri’, Nymphea stellata, and Nymphea maculata are better bets and will send lily pads to the surface if that’s the form you want.  It takes a bit of time, but after they get established, they will only send up surface leaves.  Zenkeri can get monstrous leaves.  This was when mine was dominating my 100 G.  I trimmed it back too hard and lost it.

 

[JosiahBass]

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it, it has been very helpful.

[gardenman]

For most water lilies you'd need a really big tank and lots of soil for them. You'd want to focus on the tropical lilies. Park Seed Co used to sell tropical water lily seeds and I'd start them in January and grow them in pots in my aquariums until they were ready to go out into the pond in June. They'd take over an aquarium in those months. To grow one in an aquarium full-time, you'd need a big tank with either a deep soil bed or a good-sized pot to hold the soil. Can you do it? Absolutely! If you have a big enough tank and are willing to put up with either a large pot for the lily or a deep soil bed in the tank and can give them enough light.