Nymphaea lotus 'rot'

Nymphaea lotus

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 (7.9 – 12 in)
Temperature: 15 – 30 °C (59 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green, red +1 green, red, bronze or brown
Plant type: rosette
Growth rate: fast
CO₂ demand: low
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 8
Carbonate hardness: 2 – 14 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background, midground
Propagation: runners, seeds
Grows emersed: unknown

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).

Water conditions match

The water suits 1007 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Swordtail Guppies Cobra Guppy Blood Red Molly Butterflyfish Red Zebra Cichlid Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Kenyi Cichlid Cuckoo Catfish Golden Swordtail Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Zebra Mbuna

Will eat this plant

These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.

Bengal Loach Zebra Loach Burmese Border Loach Emperor Botia Spined Loach Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Molly sphenops Balloon Molly Lyretail Molly Marble Molly Hi-Fin Platy Hawaii Platy Blue Platy Pintail Platy Black Platy Chocolate Molly Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Will uproot it

These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.

Marble Loach Peacock Eel Forktail Loach Guntea Loach Long-nosed Loach Horseface Loach Pearlscale Black Moor Goldfish Shubunkin Painted Pleco Featherfin Synodontis Reddish Mystus Catfish Blue Acara Aulonocara maylandi Aulonocara multicolor Aulonocara Orchid Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearlscale Cichlid Pearl Cichlid Redbelly Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid Chuco godmanni Haplochromis philander Red Chromide Jack Dempsey cichlid

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Castalia edulis, Castalia lotus, Castalia mystica, Castalia pubescens, Castalia sacra, Castalia thermalis, Leuconymphaea lotus, Nymphaea acutidens, Nymphaea aegyptiaca, Nymphaea boucheana, Nymphaea coteka, Nymphaea dentata, Nymphaea edulis, Nymphaea esculenta, Nymphaea fragrantissima, Nymphaea hypotricha, Nymphaea leucantha, Nymphaea liberiensis, Nymphaea lotus thermalis, Nymphaea lotus dentata, Nymphaea lotus aegyptia, Nymphaea lotus grandiflora, Nymphaea lotus monstrosa, Nymphaea lotus ortgiesiana, Nymphaea ortgiesiana, Nymphaea reichardiana, Nymphaea sagittata, Nymphaea thermalis, Nymphaea zenkeri, Nymphaea omarana, Nymphaea ortgiesiano-rubra
Nymphaea lotus: L.
Family: Nymphaeaceae
Conservation status: LC