Nymphae Lotus, not so small anymore...

koi-boi · 06-01-2006, 06:48 PM

Hi all,

When I added pressurized CO2 to my tank, to balance the amount of light that I'm using, they little dwarf lotus stopped being a dwarf.

It had grown about a foot high, with leaves about 2" long. With CO2 the new leaves immediately grew to about 6-7" long, and with petioles up to four feet. Obviously these leaves are on the surface, the tank being 24" deep.

Is there a way to keep these red lotus dwarfed, or do they always grow this big under hi-light, hi-CO2 conditions?

Thanks in advance.
Bruce

Wasserpest · 06-01-2006, 10:23 PM

They way to keep them dwarf-ish is to remove any leaves that start their way up to the surface. You can see the difference between regular leaves and wanna-be lily pads, and should remove the latter quickly.

Once the lotus has figured out that up there is more light and CO2, each leaf will go straight up. You might be able to revert that by removing all leaves. Hopefully that will give lotus a big scare and it'll start growing nice compact leaves again.

kotoeloncat · 06-02-2006, 02:27 AM

heh heh but if you compare a standard pond lily the one you have is considered a dwarf

one way i did is put a shade on the lotus only, i removed all floating leaves and all huge leaves bigger than my palm

shaded it with a driftwood that arched above the lily

koi-boi · 06-02-2006, 08:17 PM

Thanks!
The pruning has begun! And I'll try shading it too. I'll post results in a few weeks.
Cheers.

06-01-2006, 06:48 PM	#1
koi-boi Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 16	Nymphae Lotus, not so small anymore... Hi all, When I added pressurized CO2 to my tank, to balance the amount of light that I'm using, they little dwarf lotus stopped being a dwarf. It had grown about a foot high, with leaves about 2" long. With CO2 the new leaves immediately grew to about 6-7" long, and with petioles up to four feet. Obviously these leaves are on the surface, the tank being 24" deep. Is there a way to keep these red lotus dwarfed, or do they always grow this big under hi-light, hi-CO2 conditions? Thanks in advance. Bruce

06-01-2006, 10:23 PM	#2
Wasserpest Are these real? (View User Tanks) PTrader: (140/100%) Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 14,669	They way to keep them dwarf-ish is to remove any leaves that start their way up to the surface. You can see the difference between regular leaves and wanna-be lily pads, and should remove the latter quickly. Once the lotus has figured out that up there is more light and CO2, each leaf will go straight up. You might be able to revert that by removing all leaves. Hopefully that will give lotus a big scare and it'll start growing nice compact leaves again. __________________ All my tanks Autodosing Water Change Temperature Monitoring Cheap Filter The Wasser-Controller

06-02-2006, 02:27 AM	#3
kotoeloncat Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (125/100%) Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia Posts: 825	heh heh but if you compare a standard pond lily the one you have is considered a dwarf one way i did is put a shade on the lotus only, i removed all floating leaves and all huge leaves bigger than my palm shaded it with a driftwood that arched above the lily __________________ hey...my algae pearls

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06-02-2006, 08:17 PM	#4
koi-boi Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 16	Thanks! The pruning has begun! And I'll try shading it too. I'll post results in a few weeks. Cheers.