How to Care For a Tiger Lotus
When looking to add plants to a freshwater aquarium, there are endless choices. You should consider color and shape when you want to achieve the best overall look. The Nymphaea Zenkeri, or tiger lotus, is a beautiful plant that is also easy to care for. You can add a beautiful new look to your aquarium with its large, wavy-edged green leaves and variegated coloring pattern.
The tiger lotus is a bulb plant that has two kinds of leaf structures. The first type is completely submerged leaves, which are slightly heart-shaped and grow close to the bulb. The second type is floating leaves on long, thin stems that look like lily pads resting at the surface of the water.
Both the bulb of the tigers lotus and its long-stemmed lily pads, which float to water’s surface, bear bushy leaves.
How do you plant a Tiger Lotus Bulb
If you purchase this plant from Aquarium Co-Op, the bulb will arrive in a plastic pot covered in rock wool. The bulb may have a few small leaves, but these are easily damaged during transit and can melt after planting. You don’t have to be worried – the most important thing is a healthy bulb. Clean the bulb and rock wool from the container. Rinse any debris and dirt off the bulb. Tiger lotuses get rather large, so plant it the midground or background of the fish tank. Push one-third of your bulb into the substrate. Make sure the shoots or leaves remain above the ground. Do not bury the entire bulb or it will rot. If your bulb seems to be floating initially, wait until it becomes sufficiently wet to sink. As the roots grow into substrate, they will anchor the bulb.
How do you grow Tiger Lotus?
Once your tiger lotsus is established, it will soon grow many large leaves. To ensure that it has the best nutrition, make sure you provide it with comprehensive fertilizers such Easy Green and Easy Root Tabs. The iron fertilizer can be added to medium to high-lighting conditions to bring out the plants reddish color.
Some Tiger Lotuses have primarily green leaves with red variegation while others have reddish-purple stripes on their reddish-purple leaves.
How can you prune an Aquarium Lotus?
The tiger lotus can eventually grow so many floating leaves that other aquarium plants are unable to get enough light. To trim the plant, simply clip the lily pad at the base of its stem, closest to the bulb. By trimming a few floating leaves per week, you can keep your plant from growing too high. This allows it to grow bushier than taller.
How do you propagate a Tiger Lotus
One of the most interesting aspects about the tiger lotsus is its ability to grow flowers at the surface. Lots of lily pads can produce lotsus flowers with a range of colors from white to yellow. When the flower wilts, it may develop into multiple seeds for you to collect. Another way to propagate is through the bulb. If the tiger lotsus is doing well, the parent bulb might form small daughter bulbs that can then be separated and replanted into another aquarium.
Do Tiger Lotuses Go Dormant?
Sometimes bulb plants have a dormant period, where all the leaves will die off and leave behind just the bulb. The bulb can be kept in the tank. The bulb will start to grow new leaves after several months. It is also possible to take the bulb out and place it in a moist container. After a few months, it will start sprouting new leaves. After that, new leaves will sprout and begin actively growing again.
If you’re looking for an eye-catching centerpiece plant to elevate the look of your aquascape, give the tiger lotus a try. If you’re looking for a lily which doesn’t require as much sunlight, check out the dwarf aquarium viper here.