Avid aquarists love not only fish: they create a real oasis for their pets, which is a comfortable home for them, pleases the eye and improves their mood. Such aquariums become a real source of pride for their owner, as they ideally combine conditions for the comfort of the inhabitants and an impressive appearance. When creating green spaces in your aquarium, use nymphs, especially for decorating large containers.
What you need to know about the nymph
This plant is a real decoration for any aquarium. If desired and properly cared for, the nymph not only unfurls bright above-water leaves, turning the aquarium into real thickets of an oasis, but also blooms with delicate above-water flowers.
One of the important features of care is the plant’s love for settled water. This should be done to saturate the water with humic acids.
The birthplace of nymphs is freshwater bodies of West Africa.
This plant thrives in warm aquariums with a temperature of 26-28°C and a depth of at least 45 cm. It prefers bright lighting, direct sunlight and long daylight hours (12-14 hours). With a shortened bottom, the leaves become smaller, more of them develop under water without coming to the surface, and the color becomes faded.
Species diversity
Despite the fact that this plant has a fairly long list of varieties, there are several varieties that are most popular among aquarium and pond lovers:
| One of the most attractive varieties. It is valued by its owners not only for its interesting floating flowers, but also for its large, brightly colored leaves. Divided into 2 types: red and green. The first has underwater leaves that are all shades of red. Planted in a container at least 45 cm deep with a large area of water, temperature 28°C. At temperatures below 22°C, growth stops and does not bloom. |
| The interesting shape of the rounded leaves is loved by many: it grows and develops best in the summer; in winter, with short daylight hours and low temperatures, growth significantly slows down. The volume of the bush and the number of leaves depend on the area of the aquarium. |
| This rather voluminous bush is distinguished by its bicolor: the underwater leaves are a very contrasting red-green color, while the above-water leaves are solid green. After the formation of floating leaves up to 30 cm in diameter, the water lily blooms, which will become a decoration for the aquarium. |
| This type of nymph is unpretentious to the hardness and acidity of water, and at the same time has an attractive appearance: the upper part of the leaves is bright green, while the lower part is decorated with lilac and purple spots. The more light the plant receives, the more contrasting the colors will be. |
| This rather capricious species is distinguished by the fact that the leaves are painted in all shades of red. It is demanding on the composition of the soil and attention to its flower. If you manage to achieve flowering, you can see that the color of the flowers is quite varied. The center has a more saturated color, and the edges are usually light. |
External characteristics
The most commonly used decoration for an aquarium is the Nymphaeum Lostus, or otherwise known as the Tiger Water Lily. The plant's homeland is the wetlands of West Africa. But some believe that this is a hybrid created specifically for breeding in aquariums.
The plant belongs to the water lily family, and its main distinguishing feature is the purple and dark brown spots on the leaves. The shape of the leaf resembles a heart and can be of different shades: from green to reddish. On the reverse side of the leaf plate, when the sun hits it, a purple color is formed. This can be seen if you remove the leaf from the water. In its normal state, the reverse side is dark green.
Nymphea in an aquarium can grow from 20 to 70 cm in accordance with the conditions of detention. The dimensions of a normal leaf are about 15 cm, and the total diameter can vary from 20 to 60 cm. The leaves grow from a stem rosette.
In nature, the water lily is distinguished by the presence of a powerful rhizome, but in an aquarium its roots become much thinner, but remain just as strong and tenacious. The peduncle and stem are also very stable. As a rule, the flowering process occurs in the second half of summer, but the blooming of beautiful pink and white flowers begins only if the basic maintenance rules are followed.
Recommendations for care and maintenance
The main criteria for the full growth of an aquarium nymph:
- lighting;
- temperature
- hardness of water;
- acidity indicators;
- regular care.
The condition for normal life activity, intensive growth and abundant flowering of nymphs is compliance with temperature and light conditions. These plants thrive in warm aquariums with a water temperature of 24-28°C; when it drops below 22 degrees, the water lily stops growing, does not unfold its surface leaves, and does not bloom.
In addition, the most rapid growth occurs in bright light. It is possible to use natural and artificial light: use fluorescent, special phytolamps to maintain the lighting of the aquarium.
The recommended length of daylight for this representative of the flora should be at least 12-14 hours.
If everything is done correctly, a beautiful bush with large floating leaves will appear, regularly pleasing the eye with flowering. With little light, the leaves become dull, the cuttings become elongated, and the plant loses its attractive appearance.
For the full functioning of the bush, soft water is recommended, 4-6 dGH. Too hard water causes the plant to become too bushy, have small, hard leaves, and stop flowering.
Useful lifehacks
For successful cultivation, we offer several “working” tips and notes:
- If the water hardness is more than 6°, the nymphea forms a large number of root layers. This contributes to the formation of dense thickets that should be thinned out. Otherwise, the plants weaken and stretch upward.
- The purple tint of the leaf blades is neutralized under artificial lighting.
- In large tanks, it is preferable to plant nymphs in pots and change the soil annually.
- Iron should be added separately from other microelements. Otherwise, it will turn into a trivalent form, which is not suitable for plants.
- During transportation, the bush should not be squeezed, as the delicate leaves of the nymph may be damaged.
- To ensure that the adaptation period does not last 2 weeks, but is reduced to 3 days, you do not need to bury the plants in the aquarium soil, but lightly press them down with small stones.
- Heavy pruning is fraught with rotting of the roots, which occurs due to a violation of the stem-root balance.
- To prevent thickets of young plants from oppressing the mother bush, the nymph should be replanted regularly. The optimal time for transplantation is March.
- If after transportation the leaf blades dissolve in the aquarium water, do not throw away the bush. Thanks to the developed root system, the plant will recover in 1 month.
- If it is necessary to stop active development, less bright lighting and cold light should be used.
How to plant a nymph correctly
The root system of the water lily is quite powerful, yet delicate. Planting requires soil with a high content of organic matter.
Garden soil is not suitable: it can change the chemical composition of the water, and this will harm the health of the fish. It is recommended to use small pebbles as a base, to which add clay, peat, sand and charcoal.
Landing
For planting nymphs, a substrate consisting of small stones, peat, clay, and charcoal is used. The crop will develop better in fertilized soil. Therefore, bone meal can be added to the substrate. To prevent the fertilizer from crumbling, roll balls of clay and bone meal and place them under the rhizomes. If you place flour in the aquarium differently, the fertilizer will greatly spoil the water quality.
Sprinkle the substrate on top with a small layer of small pebbles. It will prevent soil erosion and the plant from floating up. It is necessary to ensure that the root collar is not buried.
The nymph can be planted not immediately in the aquarium, but first in a clay pot. Drainage made of pebbles is placed at the bottom of the container. Then lay out a substrate consisting of earth, humus, peat, sand, and charcoal. When planting a nymph, the top of the pot is filled with sand. The container with the plant is placed in the aquarium.
After transplantation, the development of the nymph slows down. But after 2 weeks adaptation occurs and active growth begins.
Reproduction
The reproduction cycle of nymphs is simple: the plant is well-produced by cuttings. After the water lilies fade, young shoots begin to grow from the mother root. They need to be carefully cut off from the main plant and planted in a separate container. After adaptation, the young plant is ready to be planted in the aquarium. To quickly root a young plant, you can use Tetra PlantaStart fertilizer.
It is recommended to thin out the nymphea regularly so that the bush has a neat appearance. This stimulates the growth of new young shoots, the plant looks lush and dense.
During the period of transplantation and adaptation, strict control of water parameters is required. The acid-base balance of the container with young plants should be within acceptable limits, and the temperature should not be lower than 26°C.
An alternative method of propagating water lilies is growing from seeds. This is a more labor-intensive method: to obtain seeds suitable for planting at the end of summer, you need to artificially pollinate the flowers using a soft brush. Ripe seeds are planted in sandy bowls covered with water.
Breeding
You can propagate nymphs yourself vegetatively and with seeds. The second method is painstaking and time-consuming. Aquarists rarely use it. You need to know that without artificial pollination, seeds are not formed . To do this, you need to run the brush along the stamens, then along the axils of the petals.
14:47
NYMPHAIA (WATER LILY) - planting, care, reproduction in natural and artificial reservoirs
09:15
Nymphea in a country pond: care, reproduction, wintering
08:49
NYMPHAIA FOR POND. CARE AND REPRODUCTION
Vegetatively
Young shoots grow from the root system. When the bushes grow to 15 centimeters, they are carefully isolated from the mother crop. The separated plants are planted in the substrate. They are grown at a temperature of 26°C.
Separating the shoots from the mother plant is not difficult.
Seeds
Reproduction is done as follows:
- peat is poured into a container with low sides;
- water abundantly;
- place the seeds and cover with wet peat;
- grown plants are planted separately;
- watered, fed.
When the bushes develop well, they are planted in a pond.
Sprouted nymphea seeds are the result of a lot of work!
Why doesn't the nymph grow?
A tropical plant in its natural environment receives quite a lot of light and loves a warm, humid climate. Therefore, when breeding nymphs, you need to take into account that shortening the daylight hours will significantly affect the development of the water lily. The lack of light does not allow the plant to “drive out” the above-water leaves; their color becomes pale and dull. Due to this, the decorative value of the species is lost.
Low temperatures stop the movement of plant juices, because of this, growth slows down, the leaves become small and hard, and the plant may die.
In addition, nymphs are sensitive to the hardness and acidity of water. Maintaining these indicators at normal levels will enable the water lily to fully develop and delight with its beautiful shape and color.
Name variations
Nymphea Tiger has several name options:
- Tiger water lily;
- Nymphea tiger red;
- Nymphea Lotus;
- Tiger Lotus;
At the same time, do not forget about the names of varietal varieties.
Fertilizer use
A powerful root system, strong cuttings and large leaves require additional feeding, especially during the period of reproduction, rapid growth and flowering. The use of special soil will eliminate the need to use humus, and the application of mineral fertilizers will give the plant the strength to develop stronger and more voluminous leaves, and will make the flowering period itself longer. The plant loves iron supplements, which prevent premature yellowing of the leaves.
Nymphea is a rather whimsical aquarium plant. However, if you comply with all the conditions for maintaining and caring for this plant, then it can make the aquarium original and very attractive.
