A member of the water lily family, the tiger lotus is not a native species. It originated in Africa, where it experiences occasional drought but not frost. That's why he stays in this country primarily in the aquarium. This is how you keep it species-appropriate.

The tiger lotus needs it warm

Ensure warm environment

Tiger lotus thrives when the water is consistently around 23°C. Due to its size of up to 60 cm, it is less suitable for small aquariums. Otherwise you should plant it in the middle or back area.

Solitary or group planting?

Green tiger lotus puts out green leaves speckled with red spots, the length of which can be measured at up to 20 cm. It is an eye-catcher both individually and in groups. This also applies to the red tiger lotus, whose leaves are red and also have spots. The red variant is often used with green plants, because then the red looks even more contrasting.

Plant the tuber the right way around and only about halfway into the substrate. If necessary, you can fix them with larger stones.

Care for optimal growth

When it comes to maintenance, you must ensure that the water and light levels in the aquarium are ideal:

  • the water should be soft
  • with a slightly acidic pH
  • CO2 content around 10 - 40 ml/l
  • the red variant needs a lot of light and plenty of nutrients

Occasionally you will need to prune the plants to keep them from spreading too much. The roots can also be severely shortened.

tips

Plant tiger lotus together with a pot. This makes it easy to take it out of the water and put it back in for trimming. Targeted fertilization is also possible in this way.

leaves instead of flowers

Tiger lotus does not flower underwater. When it has formed its floating leaves, it can form white flowers above the water in an open aquarium. These smell intense, but only open at night. In most cases, however, the floating leaves are removed as early as possible because no new underwater leaves would sprout after they had unfolded. In an aquarium, however, these are of primary importance.

tips

Viable seeds can be obtained from the flowers. You can also multiply tiger lotus simply by daughter tubers.

Category:

Vegetable garden