# Aquarium dwarf lily (Nymphaea stellata) trimming



## jeff5347

Ok so im wondering. My lily has exploded and growing like crazy. I love the plant as it brings out the tank with its rusty red but i am getting a ton of leaves *h/b.
Do i trim it or let it sit and if i trim how do i go about it and do i just trim at the base like the rest of the plants?


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## Gizmo

The dwarf lily will eventually start putting pads to the surface if you don't trim it. I usually break the stems off as far down as I can, and the rest of the stem will die and melt away.

Alternatively, you could let the pads get to the surface. Much less clutter in your tank, but the pads do tend to block light to the lower parts of the tank.


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## jrman83

Just depends on what you want. If you want them to grow, let them. There is a way to keep them low, if that is the way you want. What I did was let it get over the super-fast growth spurt it had once it sprouted (I would have sprouts reach the surface in about 36hrs) and then trimmed every stem (with scissors) all the way down to the substrate. That was over 2 months ago and not a single runner has reached the surface again. It sort of hangs at about 10-12" and actually looks like part of the tank instead of the leaf resting on the surface and not seen very easily.


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## Kehy

I have a dwarf lilly with two crowns, and it's kind of funny, one crown got more light and grew HUGE leaves (I'm hoping for actual pads in a couple of months) while the other crown didn't get anywhere near as much light and is staying very small. Maybe lighting's part of why it's growing so much?
One thing I've noticed when I got lilly pads last time though, is that once there's several pads on the surface, many or sometimes all the leaves on the bottom melt away, leaving just the bare stems of the pads. Not particularly attractive at that moment, but interesting anyways.


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## majerah1

Mine I let stagger.Some leaves will reach the surface and others not.I was entertaining the idea of leting one flower if it decides too,but who know.Maybe,maybe not.


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## Gizmo

I've heard if the conditions are optimal the dwarf lily pads will flower.


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## snail

Sorry to butt in here but what kind of lighting does everyone have for their dwarf lilies? I got given one from a fish shop that was closing down. From what I have read they are high light plants but I don't have any tanks running with high light at the moment so it is in low light. It had a couple of tiny leaves which have grown a little and it has a couple new ones but it looks nothing like jeff's. Do you think it will survive?


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## jrman83

Snail, I've had mine in medium and high light. It did very well in both, but the growth speed was different. Will grow much slower in lower light.


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## majerah1

Mine is in high light.I have tried them under less than stock lighting,meaning on my 29 I had years ago,I had a light from a ten gallon on it.It grew very slow.


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## Kehy

I've had mine under terribly crappy lighting, could barely read by it and very yellow, and now mine's under too many watts of full spectrum lighting and it's thriving. Just a note though, they change color depending on the lighting. Mine went from very red to brown-ish purple green with the changed lighting and extra ferts.


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## jeff5347

I have mine under 72 watts total. Just under 4 watts a gallon. Mine is a reddish -purple. ALmost a red rust. Mine was somewhat slow at first but then it just took off. My aponogetons seemed to have hit a lull. They were cruising along and now they just send up a floater but the leaves that die off take a long time to come back nce i cut them away. I do like the lily as it breaks up all the green in the tank and gives some shade (although not where i need it.. um anubius) to the fish and plants. 
My next endevor is a El natural tank...


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## Kimberely

I have had one in my 55 gallon for about 6 weeks now under low light conditions. Only about 1wpg. In the six weeks since I added it, it has completely filled the top of the tank with pads. It will put on a new pad that will reach the top in less than 2 days. It is seriously blocking the light out of my tank and I am wondering if it is going to kill my aponogetons. Thanks for posting this question. I was wondering if I should trim it and how.


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## jrman83

Eventually, the other plants will suffer from the blocked light. You could just trim the leaves back that affect the area over your other plants. Or, if your whole tank is planted you can trim all of them back. They come back pretty fast and the growth tends to slow after the trim. Just trim with scissors or pinch with fingernails close to the base.


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## J9swallie

It can!


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## J9swallie

J9swallie said:


> Mine did! Beautiful! But I don't know if i should dead head.


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