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Pond lily in aquarium

TheOslo

Member
Joined
12 Jan 2020
Messages
54
Location
London
Hello all. Wanted to see if anyone used one of those dwarf lilies in an aquarium setting. I’m thinking of getting one for my shallow tank and need ideas. Thanks
 
There's a South American lily that has been discussed here, and which would seem suitable. I was keen to get one, but they seem very hard to source. I forget the name but someone will know.
 
I have two different mini/compact Nymphaea (can't think of the species names right now) as floating-leaf plants in aquariums and they have been easy to grow. One of the plants has bloomed a couple of times. The most important things to maintain are mellow water flow, moderately bright light and generous root fertilization.

Another thing to have in mind is that you will want to plant waterlilies originating from tropical areas. There are some very nice dwarf temperate Nymphaea, but these plants have strict winter dormancy cycles and are thus less suited to aquariums.
 
Hello all. Wanted to see if anyone used one of those dwarf lilies in an aquarium setting. I’m thinking of getting one for my shallow tank and need ideas. Thanks
Hey, I keep a Nymphaea helvola in my aquarium and it does well considering it's in quite high flow which they don't like. However, the leaves are undisturbed at the top.
 
Hey, I keep a Nymphaea helvola in my aquarium and it does well considering it's in quite high flow which they don't like. However, the leaves are undisturbed at the top.
hello thanks for this! Decided to go with the helvola instead of the alba.Also do you have any photos of the helvola in your tank?Thanks again.
 
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hello thanks for this! Decided to go with the helvola instead of the alba.Also do you have any photos of the helvola in your tank?Thanks again.
Not the best photos but you can see it growing here!

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Massive thanks for this. Im also surprised you haven’t posted the plant on your ig? And regarding the rhizome how big was it?
I guess it's tricky to get good photos of it, especially when all the other surrounding plants are mixed in. 😅

When the rhizome came it was about the size of a thumb, or shall I say my thumb. Definitely much bigger than the rhizome of the Nymphaea helvola in my outdoor pond.
 
I have two different mini/compact Nymphaea (can't think of the species names right now) as floating-leaf plants in aquariums and they have been easy to grow. One of the plants has bloomed a couple of times. The most important things to maintain are mellow water flow, moderately bright light and generous root fertilization.

Another thing to have in mind is that you will want to plant waterlilies originating from tropical areas. There are some very nice dwarf temperate Nymphaea, but these plants have strict winter dormancy cycles and are thus less suited to aquariums.
The leaves are white? Four ?
 
I guess it's tricky to get good photos of it, especially when all the other surrounding plants are mixed in. 😅

When the rhizome came it was about the size of a thumb, or shall I say my thumb. Definitely much bigger than the rhizome of the Nymphaea helvola in my outdoor pond.
gotcha thanks. And I hear it needs to be planted at an 45degree angle? Also is that the micrantha in there too?
 
I'm not sure about that, I just planted it straight down and left the top part exposed above the soil.

That is indeed micrantha and zenkeri.
Ahh awesome! Do you happen to have any for sale ? I’ve been after those and gardneriana for some time. I know AG have both but couldn’t get a reply from them
 
Ahh awesome! Do you happen to have any for sale ? I’ve been after those and gardneriana for some time. I know AG have both but couldn’t get a reply from them
I've only got one of each unfortunately but if I get any babies I'll let you know.

Also Wildwoods in Enfield have had Micrantha every time I've been there.
 
I've also grown helvola in an aquarium and it did very well planted in aquasoil. I don't know how necessary a winter dormancy period is because I was only growing it out from a small piece of rhizome before I moved it into an outdoor pond but it thrived for many months in an aquarium. Even these pygmy varieties can actually grow quite large though and very quickly under aquarium conditions, especially if they have access to enough nutrition for flowering. I wonder if you might be able to keep them small by trimming older and larger pads - I suspect so, but this would probably also prevent flowering.
 
I've only got one of each unfortunately but if I get any babies I'll let you know.

Also Wildwoods in Enfield have had Micrantha every time I've been there.
ooooo thanks for that. Gotta love wildwoods. the Micrantha, it would be the tri color?
 
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