# red tiger lotus is melting!



## fish jihad (Mar 1, 2014)

If its makes you feel better im not sure its possible to kill tiger lotus. My leaves have melted away at least six times. Sometimes cuz i mess something up, but also cuz they drop leaves as part of their natural cycle. The bulb should stay viable as long as its not mushy. When water conditions improve to what it likes, it will grow again.
Having said all that, mine appreciate strong light and co2. My lotus wasnt doing crap. Then got a better light and some diy CO2, it exploded in growth. Your lotus is definitely on its last leg. Think about some co2. Mine did ok on excel but never grew. With diy co2 the first leaf reached the top of the tank in a few weeks.


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## delgado4604 (Dec 28, 2014)

fish jihad said:


> If its makes you feel better im not sure its possible to kill tiger lotus. My leaves have melted away at least six times. Sometimes cuz i mess something up, but also cuz they drop leaves as part of their natural cycle. The bulb should stay viable as long as its not mushy. When water conditions improve to what it likes, it will grow again.
> Having said all that, mine appreciate strong light and co2. My lotus wasnt doing crap. Then got a better light and some diy CO2, it exploded in growth. Your lotus is definitely on its last leg. Think about some co2. Mine did ok on excel but never grew. With diy co2 the first leaf reached the top of the tank in a few weeks.


First thank you for responding! 2nd where is the bulb and whats it look like lol. Ive seen some diy c02 and it looked kinda messy. Are there any clean looking diy c02 systems. Also would i need better lighting im only using 2 cfl daylight bulbs 14 watts each 5000k in this 10 gallon. Any help or info on diy c02 would be much appreciated how cheap is it compared to the real systems


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## jeepguy (Jul 24, 2013)

You don't need co2 for a lotus. Especially once they send a floating leaf up as then they access co2 from the atmospehere. The only time mine melts is when it is low on nutrients. I would guess without more info and more pics that the plant is absorbing itself because new growth needs the nutrients. They are heavy root feeders and I find that sticking a root tab or two underneath the plant every two/three months is all it needs. Strong light helps but not necessary.


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## Thenoob (Jan 15, 2014)

Even if the bulb is going mushy you can save your lotus, just carefully cut the crown off. I did this to my lotus and now I have way to many of them.


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## delgado4604 (Dec 28, 2014)

jeepguy said:


> You don't need co2 for a lotus. Especially once they send a floating leaf up as then they access co2 from the atmospehere. The only time mine melts is when it is low on nutrients. I would guess without more info and more pics that the plant is absorbing itself because new growth needs the nutrients. They are heavy root feeders and I find that sticking a root tab or two underneath the plant every two/three months is all it needs. Strong light helps but not necessary.


I kinda dont want it to shoot leaves up i heard if you cut the ones before they hit the surface they will bush out instead of shooting up like that. I have 3 little seperate lillies attached to some small driftwood looking thing which i planted under the substrate and one lilly just the roots and leaves planted on its own. Could it be that theyre all right next to eachother competing for the same nutrients. It looks like theres multiple seperate plants to me but im not sure

Bump:


Thenoob said:


> Even if the bulb is going mushy you can save your lotus, just carefully cut the crown off. I did this to my lotus and now I have way to many of them.


Whats the bulb look like it cant be the tiny drift wood theyre attached to is it?


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