# Trick to red tiger lotus?



## 1aqumfish

Three years and then it flowered, was not trying. This tank is a breeder. Dirt tank.


----------



## AirstoND

*What happens next?*

TO 1AQUMFISH:

1) After your lotus bloomed did it give a nice scent?
2) Did it become a bulb or another plant?
3) I noticed one of the pads has holes like mine, Is this from pond snails? I think my nerite is becoming opportunistic and taking chomps at mine during the night
4) I've been trying like mad to get mine to bloom, I'm currently trying a 10-14-8 lily grow root tab. I also don't keep many fish (you keep angelfish?) in tank, What kind & How much livestock have you kept in yours?

Thanks


----------



## 1aqumfish

1.	No scent from this plant.
2.	This is a breeder tank, I just hacked off the surface leafs. I don't want to disturb the substrate.
3.	I think the holes are due to 3 year old dirt and no fertilizers.
4.	That’s a 30 gal Angels would just fight in there. The tank houses 14 or so white cloud mountain minnows and a boatload of tiger endlers.


----------



## OVT

Lotus needs 3-5 floating leaves before it will flower. Mine was white and I ended up with a ton of baby bulbs at the roots of the mother plants.

And this is how it starts:


----------



## moonshinetheslacker

I was in an area without internet for quite some time, in the mountains of California recently, so my apologies as to not responding to ANYONE who has replied to my thread.

Something interesting happened when I came back home though... My home's thermostat broke...

And my heaters weren't powerful enough to keep the tank above 60 degrees... 

But I have two floaters!

I'm pretty sure I lost a GBR due to the cold, and the fish-sitter didn't tell me. The lights were also on too long, as I have a ton of algae on the...... everything.

Nonetheless, could something about colder temps and longer lighting periods be the trick to getting these bad boys to bloom? No ferts or co2 were added while I was gone, and it was for about 15 days.

I think I'm going to try an experiment with the 3 gal. shrimparium in my son's room. A little snippet from the mother plant, as well as keeping the temp. lower, and lighting on for about 10 hours per day, with no ciesta. 

Thoughts, anyone?


----------



## 1aqumfish

Are you saying that your plant has a flower? Sorry for your loss, tank sitters just don't react to problems.


----------



## rollinghills

I have a hunch might be because of dirtier water. I see that you were away for 15 days. How often do you normally do water changes?


----------



## AirstoND

Lilies prefer static tank water, and warmer waters and from what I've read take up more NPK when heavily lit also


----------



## Eldachleich

The red tiger lotus is a water lily. 
Actually I've noticed that its just any kind of tropical water lily.. Which is why the flower colors vary so much. Thats why they are raisd above the water and whatnot. Water lilies have no to very faint scent most times. Some of the varieties have a stronger scent, mainly night blooming varieties. But nothing like a lotus. 
Lotus have amazing scents that range widely. My two smell completely different. One smells strongly of anise, while the other smells wonderfully flowery and citrusy.. Amazing.
Oh and the leaves rise above the water instead of rest on it.
I don't know if I would put a lotus in a tank as even the dwarf varieties take up at least 3 feet of space in every direction. They also send their flowers way above their leaves and they flowers are normally very big. I think thats why we dont use them in our tanks.. Though I would imagine that if one was big enough it would be entirely possible. That would be cool... Does someone have one?.. I wonder.
Sorry for the lesson of sorts.. That was something I noted the other day when researching a lily for my tank and it really interested me.

What I want to know is why hardy lilies arent used more in the hobby. I think they are much prettier than tropical. And I love how the flower rests right on the surface of the water. I am ordering one for my six gallon in spring. Its called helvola and has tiny 3 inch white - yellow flowers with 3 -4 inch leaves. Or so everyone says. We will see.

I just bought a red tiger lotus plant and have put it in a tub outside. I cant wait to see what colour lily it is.
As for getting it to bloom.. I can only say for an outside pond not a tank. But lots of fertilization. Heavy on NPK as stated. They make tabs just for them. I put 4 in every month and a half. They like to be in full sun but some of mine tolerate partial shade.... Thats about it... The tropicals are just starting to die out here.. its getting a little cold for them. They like water above 70. But they come back in a few months. I'm not sure if the same rules apply in a tank. When researching them for my tank I noticed that most often people got them to bloom with lower lights levels.


----------

