Leaf colourgreen, red +1
Native range
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guinea
- Gulf of Guinea Is.
- Ivory Coast
- Kenya
- KwaZulu-Natal
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Nigeria
- Niger
- Northern Provinces
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- Sudan-South Sudan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
rosette background midground Conservation status: LC
The red tiger lotus is the most popular water lily in the hobby: red underwater leaves with dark spots or stripes. The 'green' form is a related green-leaved form with the same dark spots.
- Light
- medium
- Difficulty
- medium
- Height
- 20 – 30 cm
- Temperature
- 15 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness2 – 14 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground, midground
Propagationrunners, seeds
Grows emersedunknown
Appearance
'Tiger lotuses' are forms of the species with dark-spotted or striped underwater leaves ranging from red to green; they are also called Nymphaea zenkeri, native to West Africa. The species is widespread across Africa's tropics and subtropics and variable in the colour of its underwater leaves.
Keeping
Difficulty medium, growth fast, light medium to strong, CO₂ 10–40 mg/l, temperature 22–28 °C. A colour accent, propagated by runners and seeds.
Placement
Background and midground.
Trade names
The 'red tiger lotus' is the most popular water lily in the hobby and is often in the trade. Not every plant sold under this name belongs to Nymphaea lotus: a plant with brown-red underwater leaves that are almost free of spots may actually be the Asian Nymphaea pubescens. In Ancient Egypt the species was revered as the 'white lotus' alongside the 'blue lotus' (Nymphaea caerulea); it is not related to the Indian lotus (Nelumbo nucifera).
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1007 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoZebra Mbuna
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaSpined LoachMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight GouramiMelanotaenia parva
Will uproot it
These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.
Marble LoachPeacock EelForktail LoachGuntea LoachLong-nosed LoachHorseface LoachPearlscaleBlack Moor GoldfishShubunkinPainted PlecoFeatherfin SynodontisReddish Mystus CatfishBlue AcaraAulonocara maylandiAulonocara multicolorAulonocara OrchidGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearlscale CichlidPearl CichlidRedbelly CichlidRed-spotted CichlidChuco godmanniHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid