# Red Lotus



## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

I have had 3 Red lotus bulbs in my tank for around 2 months. They weren't sprouting at all so i started taking Leaf Zone in a syringe and injecting it right on the bulbs and boom the sprouted within a day now they are 3", 1.5" and barely sprouting still. I stopped injecting the leaf zone since they started sprouting and they seemed to have stopped growing. I have a 65w and 18w currently on the 26g. I was told a while back this would be enough, but im wondering if its not. Is leaf zone safe now that I have Cherry Shrimp in there? Any ideas on how to boost growth?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Do you use any type of ferts? Flourish? Flourish excel? Anything? Leaf zone is nothing more than a fert and I'd be very surprised if it hurt invertabrae. Especially since they are usually in heavily planted tanks.


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## LPUIG73 (Jul 18, 2010)

GeminiPrincess said:


> I have had 3 Red lotus bulbs in my tank for around 2 months. They weren't sprouting at all so i started taking Leaf Zone in a syringe and injecting it right on the bulbs and boom the sprouted within a day now they are 3", 1.5" and barely sprouting still. I stopped injecting the leaf zone since they started sprouting and they seemed to have stopped growing. I have a 65w and 18w currently on the 26g. I was told a while back this would be enough, but im wondering if its not. Is leaf zone safe now that I have Cherry Shrimp in there? Any ideas on how to boost growth?


My experience with Tiger Lotus was a lesson in the virtue of patience. I bought a bulb almost exactly one year ago. For several months there was little growth. Small leafs would grow, die and not much else.. I began to take photos to chronicle the growth.. Today, I have a tank over-grown with Red Tiger Lotus leafs. This is a 20L gallon tank with 48W T5HO lighting, DIY CO2 injection.

DEC 24, 2009









APR 10, 2010









JUNE 30, 2010









JULY 6, 2010









AUG 10, 2010









OCT 15, 2010









TODAY


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

What type of lighting do you have? PC? T5HO?

Also, what are your CO2 concentrations? (CO2 In Your Aquarium | Aquarium Tools)

I have a 30 gal planted with RCS, Amano's and snails in there and I dose ferts as per the EI method, and my tank is doing great. The only one you need to be wary of, IMO, is anything with copper in it in quantities other than trace amounts.


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## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

I haven't been using any ferts actually. I was using the leaf zone but i got worried about it when i got the shrimp. It didn't say it had copper in it, but i wasn't sure if i should trust that. The leaves on the lotus are more brown then red, though they do look healthy and still have a red hue to them. The lighting is a corallife 65w andthe 18w is the one that came on the tank.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Gemini - if it's an AquaLight I'm guessing it's a T5HO in which case you've got PLENTY of light for your tank. And start dosing ferts. For an idea of what to dose, see other threads but I'm thinking Flourish is the easiest way to go (I dose dry ferts with an EI index dosage system). The Lotus may just be taking its time growing up - mine take between two and six months to start putting pads up to the surface. Don't fuss with it too much either or you'll ruin the root system it's trying to put out.

The shrimp and fish I've got aren't bothered by my ferts at all (I dose iron in 2 forms, Plantex CSM+B and the Flourish chelated liquid fert, KH2PO4, KNO3 and K2SO4). Or at least, my critters aren't bothered to the point that I notice.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Definitely need to add some ferts. I would look into EI dosing, but just keep in mind that the amount of ferts you put in will depend on the tank and the setup. A standard daily EI dosing may not apply to your tank, although you do have high lighting. It is substantially cheaper than buying the liquid products, but it is a preference thing. Personally, I just bought into the pfertz system, but haven't gotten them in the mail yet. You can check them out online.


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## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> Definitely need to add some ferts. I would look into EI dosing, but just keep in mind that the amount of ferts you put in will depend on the tank and the setup. A standard daily EI dosing may not apply to your tank, although you do have high lighting. It is substantially cheaper than buying the liquid products, but it is a preference thing. Personally, I just bought into the pfertz system, but haven't gotten them in the mail yet. You can check them out online.


What is EI dosing?


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

GeminiPrincess said:


> I haven't been using any ferts actually. I was using the leaf zone but i got worried about it when i got the shrimp. It didn't say it had copper in it, but i wasn't sure if i should trust that. The leaves on the lotus are more brown then red, though they do look healthy and still have a red hue to them. The lighting is a corallife 65w andthe 18w is the one that came on the tank.


I have used leaf zone in a tank with red cherry shrimp in it before with no ill effects. I did lower the dosage to about half. Copper will kill them, so avoid anything with that, of course. I have read people who use ferts, especially with strong concentrations of iron, sometimes see the shrimp stop breeding. You might want to slowly increase the dosage over months, and see if you still see the shrimp breed. They will drop the eggs if something is upsetting them in the water.


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## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

mfgann said:


> I have used leaf zone in a tank with red cherry shrimp in it before with no ill effects. I did lower the dosage to about half. Copper will kill them, so avoid anything with that, of course. I have read people who use ferts, especially with strong concentrations of iron, sometimes see the shrimp stop breeding. You might want to slowly increase the dosage over months, and see if you still see the shrimp breed. They will drop the eggs if something is upsetting them in the water.


Yeah, one of the shrimp came pregnant and the night i got her home she was under the log and her abdomen was moving kinda looked like contractions. Anyways i have yet to see a pregnant shrimp since then or any babies so i figured the transport stressed her out.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

GeminiPrincess said:


> What is EI dosing?


Estimative Index. Basically, it is overloading the water column with nutrients your plants need. That way you don't need to decide if it needs more of this or that. Requires a daily dose and weekly 50% water changes. My definition may not be perfect, but pretty much it. You can search for the topic on here....some discussions have occured.

You may not need all of that with what you have and if you do it and don't really need ferts to that level you'll just end up with a lot of algae. If you go to the pfertz website, they describe different levels and it may make you understand what I mean.


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