Tiger Lotus Red (Nymphaea Lotus 'Zenkeri')

While often sold as "red lotus," this is not a true lotus at all, but a small, night-blooming water lily — often an aquarist's first introduction to red plants, since it's certainly among the easiest. Usually sold as a tuber with a small leaf or two; plant in substrate with leaves facing up and above the substrate. Small in terms of water lilies, but not a small plant — it will easily take up a lot of real estate in a 4-foot tank.

It will periodically try to send up a floating leaf; pinch these off before they break the surface if you want it to keep its beautiful underwater leaves. If it gets away from you and produces lots of floating leaves, snap off all the leaves and "retrain" it to stay underwater — or let it flower, keeping the water level far enough below the light/cover for the flower bud to fully develop (it opens at night, closes during the day). Floating leaves shade plants below, so a specimen allowed to flower is best kept without light-loving plants underneath it.

Care & Planting: Plant the tuber in substrate with leaves facing up and above the substrate line. Feed regularly with quality root tabs — an underfed specimen can starve out neighboring plants.