# Water lilies?



## Kehy (Feb 5, 2012)

I'm thinking that the biggest issue would be the spread of leaves. Even my Nymphaea Stellata, one of the dwarf lilies meant for tanks, can spread out to cover well over 1 square foot- quite large compared to most tanks, and very very good at taking ALL of the light. Enough light might also be an issue- maybe direct sunlight from a window might help, but that could lead to algae issues if you don't stay on top of it. 

Lilies are root feeders primarily. You want a rich substrate, so root tabs at least are very helpful. Just pop one in under the lily every 2-3 months, after its started growing. A fine substrate like sand helps because until they get firmly rooted in, lily bulbs like to float, and fine substrates tend to be light enough to be piled on the bulb without hurting the sprout. Bulbs are easy enough to find, and go for a sprouted bulb if you can. The sprouts are very delicate though, and easy to knock off the bulb. Most bulbs are just listed as 'dwarf lily', or 'tiger lotus'. 

There's a few varieties that should be most suitable for tanks:


> Nymphaea Stellata: fairly compact growth but large (2.5" x 4") leaves. Can be trained to grow shorter. leaves have solid reddish-bronze color with a green shine. Blue flower.
> 
> Nymphaea Rubra: leaves have solid color, appears to be more reddish than Stellata. Red flower.
> 
> ...


If you want floating leaves, in my limited experience with them, my Red Tiger did go straight for the top when I got it, and had huge leaves. I trained mine to stay lower and have smaller leaves.

Edit: You may also need to be careful with the amount of flow in the tank or at least the area they get planted in. Lilies are pretty easily damaged by even moderately strong flow. I lost several of mine by not paying attention to that.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

Bulbs are the cheapest option but you don't know what kind they are. And not all will sprout. If you want the leaves to reach the surface, let them. If not, you have to train them to grow short and small by trimming all leaves that shoot for the surface. These are the leaves that grow 6" per day. You can have a nice tank with floating leaves and some tall grassy plants like Vallisnera americana in the background.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Everything not on the surface is low-light stuff. I may put some vals in the back corners, but I think I can direct the leaves away from the two back corners. I plan to put the lily mostly in the middle so it can have plenty of space. 
I have empty filter cartridges (no charcoal, just the meshy stuff) under the filter outlet. The water runs down through the cartridges and there's very little actual current, though there's some mild water movement. That preserves the duckweed, which I need alive so it can clean up the nitrates. 
I'm going for kind of a backwater look, like those areas up under riverbank overhangs where little fish live. Sticks and tannins, not many plants. 
Will a lilypad get upset if it's had its leaves on the surface for a while and then they're flooded?


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

I wouldn't worry about submerging the leaves. It will just grow back to the surface.


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## CannaBrain (Oct 3, 2008)

One year at the garden center where I work, my boss was able to bring in a couple "pygmy" lilies. They were awesome and cute. Would have snatched one up if I had somewhere to grow it at the time. There was one in probably about a 2 - 3 gal bucket w. tons of lil pads reaching the top. So was a pretty small container and still contained the plant w. room for pads to reach the surface. A quick google search produced some results, but there's lots out there.

Edit: Not sure where the idea that you wouldn't know what kind of bulbs/tubers you get would be a couple replies up... If you order a specific variety from a reputable company, there's no reason you shouldn't receive what you order.


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## Kehy (Feb 5, 2012)

CannaBrain said:


> One year at the garden center where I work, my boss was able to bring in a couple "pygmy" lilies. They were awesome and cute. Would have snatched one up if I had somewhere to grow it at the time. There was one in probably about a 2 - 3 gal bucket w. tons of lil pads reaching the top. So was a pretty small container and still contained the plant w. room for pads to reach the surface. A quick google search produced some results, but there's lots out there.
> 
> Edit: Not sure where the idea that you wouldn't know what kind of bulbs/tubers you get would be a couple replies up... If you order a specific variety from a reputable company, there's no reason you shouldn't receive what you order.


I'm guessing the difference between actual pond lilies and the ones more often used is tanks are the light requirements. For my pond I was told to have 3-4 hours of direct sunlight if I ever wanted a lily. In the tank, I can keep dwarf lilies in low light, no prob. They do like higher light, but are fine just puttering along in low light.


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## CannaBrain (Oct 3, 2008)

No, they're the same if you're talking about the lily bulbs that come in plant packages at fish stores. We just rarely achieve the same light that the sun gives in an aquarium environment. Lilies actually want more direct sunlight if you want them to bloom. I recommend full sun to guests at work. Tiger lotus (nymphea zenerki, prolly the most common lily for aquariums) will form pads and blooms too if they get the right light. Sure they'll be very paddy in low light, but aren't lilies known for their flowers too?


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## Kehy (Feb 5, 2012)

Hmm, I've tried regular aquarium lilies (stellata and micrantha) in an outdoor pond, but despite my best efforts, they just couldn't adapt to the sun, even in deep shade. Every leaf ended up sunburnt, including the deeply submerged ones. That's why I figure they do better indoors to begin with, where the light isn't anywhere as intense.


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## CannaBrain (Oct 3, 2008)

Well, could be the transition shock. For a lot of people, they don't get blooms from their lilies the first season. As you mentioned, they're reeeeeally heavy feeders also, could have been related to that too. Couldnt guess as to exactly why they didn't fare well, but yeah they'll bloom. Could also be that since they're both tropical, less adaptive to your northwestern waters? I've also had lilies in pond w/ nutrient imbalances and all they spit out is pads. Too much N.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

I'd be okay with lilies that didn't bloom, that's more like a bonus than anything else. I just like how lilypads look, and it seems like a plant that size would nicely fill the tank.


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## Kehy (Feb 5, 2012)

Betta132 said:


> I'd be okay with lilies that didn't bloom, that's more like a bonus than anything else. I just like how lilypads look, and it seems like a plant that size would nicely fill the tank.


If floating pads are what you want, I would suggest red tiger lotus (easy to find as bulbs) with a rich substrate or at least root tabs. The red color really does look fantastic, and for me at least, mine went straight for the top. I would say they'd do best in a larger tank anyways, I'm keeping mine in a 2.5 gallon vase, and it's a monster.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

I've considered them, but they seem to be reasonably high-light plants, and it's kinda dark down there. Plus, the tank is at least 18" tall, and I don't think they get quite that large.


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## Kehy (Feb 5, 2012)

Betta132 said:


> I've considered them, but they seem to be reasonably high-light plants, and it's kinda dark down there. Plus, the tank is at least 18" tall, and I don't think they get quite that large.


Trust me, they'll get tall enough. Actually they might get taller, faster in order to reach the light. In ponds in general, lilies are planted 6"-2.5' deep, so they should be fine. And heck, at about $5 a bulb, it's not the most expensive experiment ever. What's the worst that could happen?


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