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Red Tiger Lotus

Plant the whole bulb, if you want it to grow low, ou can train it by pinching of the surface leaves.

these are pics from Andy's tanks, sure he wont mind ;)


This is a true zenkeri red, normal tiger lotus you dont get the markings.
ZenkRed.jpg

tigerhiding.jpg
 
Yes,
Mine start out very red but then quickly fade to green as the leaves mature. I'm not sure whether to blame the fact that they are under relative shade or whether to blame their being dosed with high nitrates. :? Maybe a combination of both.
2105673420038170470S600x600Q85.jpg


2129072220038170470S600x600Q85.jpg


Cheers,
 
I have 2 Ceg. One on the left and one on the right. They were sold as Zenkeri Red and Zenkeri Green and have stayed the same ever since. The red one goes very pink when it gets up to the lights.

I wish that I had cut that Crypt leaf off now pre picture. Always seeing that BBA laden disgrace whenever I see that pic ;)

This is the green and as you can see it is very close to the lights. lol. I don't think the colour can be attributable to the shade!!! You can draw your own conclusions.

ZenkGreen.jpg


Andy
 
Nymphaea lotus 'Zenkeri' - from AquaticMagic.

I also got an Aponogeton madagascariensis bulb. I've loved this plant for many years but never even thought to try it. After seeing Liam's moss tank I just had to give it a go :D

Any suggestions for a red midground plant that isn't too demanding?
 
i have lotus as well, though i'm not sure if it is red tiger. it looks very similar to the one in the picture, but not as red. how do you guys get the lotus leaves to face in front? my lotus leaves are everywhere. it looks quite messy... unlike the ones in picture, neat and facing front.

probably my tank is too small for lotus... its only 27 litres :( bad choice...
 
a1Matt said:
JAmesM said:
Any suggestions for a red midground plant that isn't too demanding?

How about one of the red amazon sword varieties, they seem fairly easy going in my experience. I have one of these in my tank and it does a fine job as mid red... http://www.tropica.dk/productcard_1.asp?id=072A
hmmm, probably a bit big for my 20gal... maybe a larger foreground plant would be better :lol:

Yeah, I'd like to know how to keep the leaves facing front too.
 
JAmesM said:
Yeah, I'd like to know how to keep the leaves facing front too.

Easy, remove all leaves that don't face forward. :D It also helps if the corner they are planted in has less light than what's available up front...

I have it easier in this regard because I have a lot of ambient light streaming in from the front glass.

Cheers,
 
For a smaller red specimen plant get either Echinodorus 'Red Diamond' or 'Oriental' (though the latter has pink new leaves rather than red). My Orientals are in my Juwel with good light, Aquasoil and ferts and it's still only about 8" tall. In my previous tank it topped out at about 5"!!!
 
How about a nice nymphae stellata? They are a nice red colour (mine is anyway) and smaller than Zenkeri.

nymphae.JPG


full2.jpg


Ade

PS. Yeah I know that Fluval 2 looks ugly, but it's serving a purpose there at the moment. :D

PPS. Doesn't actually look exactly like that now anyway as replanted a bit and added more fern, but those pics serve well to show the nymphae.
 
this plant grows nutso.. if left unkempt in unlimited space, they can reach a meter wide, with leaves as large as a dinner plate.

the best way to train it, is to keep the roots under control.. restricting the roots will keep the leaves small and compact. Ive developed 2 good ways to do this:

1) get a stanley knife blade, wedged into a slit on a thin bamboo cane, you can ziptie the cane just above the blade to stop splitting. (this doubles as a pretty decent algae scraper as well!) chop down into the substrate about 3 inches away from the bulb in a circle. Do this once a month or so. This will keep the roots from getting out of hand, and encourage the plant to root more locally to the bulb, restricting its supply of nutrients thus slowing down its growth (which is desirable!)

2) when you plant it in the beginning: take a 5 - 6 inch flower pot, and carefully cut the top off to a depth of a little less than your substrate depth. Plant the bulb inside this ring.. this will be similar to planting a terrestrial plant outside in its pot to control its root spread (such as bamboo). This is a pretty good way if you have a jungle type layout which is hard to find the bottom of plants! but obviously you have to think about it right at the start. If you already have an established plant, do method 1 then put the ring around the bulb afterwards, you can cut it down the side so you dont have to loose any leaves or risk breaking any foliage.

Both these methods will keep the plant 'pot bound' which is prefers, Ive managed to get them to flower under these conditions far more than I can if I let the plant go mad on its own accord. Smaller leaves will create much less shadow and allow more leaves for a given area which, to me anyway, is more attractive.
 
Thanks for the advice Matt, didn't know that, I am trying to prevent it shooting too many leaves to the surface, sometimes it doesn't then all of a sudden they all shoot up there, will try your sugestions and see how it does then. :)
 
LondonDragon said:
Thanks for the advice Matt, didn't know that, I am trying to prevent it shooting too many leaves to the surface, sometimes it doesn't then all of a sudden they all shoot up there, will try your sugestions and see how it does then. :)

being a lotus, it will always try to find the surface.. As soon as the leaf hits the surface just cut the stem just below substrate level. Itll then just be a constant process of snipping, growing.. Itll keep up with you dont worry about that!

another way to get a good variation of leaf sizes is to allow it to root its baby's.. obviously you have to be reaaaaally on top of this and be ruthless in removing any plant before it gets too big. Once established the mother plant will be almost always trying to make new plants anyway, so this is no problem. In fact, if you get quite a few, when they get too big and have to come out, offer them in the plant swap section on here! Theyre quite expensive plants to buy 1st off for some unknown reason so its always nice to spread the wealth a little :)

speaking of which.. I might have a few going spare after I rescape next week. Ill post on the swap section if so.. they ship pretty well in polystyrene cups with clingfilm lids.
 
Now my plant has had time to grow from its bulb, I've discovered Aquatic Magic have actually sent me a nymphae stellata or nymphaea rubra bulb. Whatever it is, its not a tiger lotus :(

Guess I'll be posting in the wanted section soon! :lol:
 
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