Water Lily Pads
Floating green plates that shade the water and frame everything beneath them.
Hardy Nymphaea grown from established rhizomes, sending up broad floating pads on long flexible stems. Beyond the obvious beauty, lily pads do real work: they shade the surface to suppress string algae, cool the water column through summer, and give koi and goldfish overhead cover from herons. Pads reach the surface within two to three weeks of planting in warm water.
What it needs to thrive
- Lighting
- Full sun — 6+ hours direct daily for strong pad and bloom production.
- Flow
- Still to very low flow. Keep well away from waterfalls and fountain spray.
- Feeding
- Column and root feeder — dose a complete liquid fertilizer weekly; root tabs for heavy substrate rooters.
- Temperament
- Peaceful — shrimp-safe, fry-safe, and grown pesticide-free.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Ideal Tank Size
- 50 gallon pond or larger
- Water Parameters
- 60–85°F seasonal · pH 6.5–8.0 · full sun to part shade · nutrient-rich pond soil, gravel capped
Plant the rhizome at a 45-degree angle in a wide pond basket of heavy soil capped with gravel, set 12–24 inches below the surface.
Peaceful. Thin pads once they cover more than 60% of the surface so oxygen exchange continues.
Quarantine, dip, and acclimation
Quarantine
Hold all new fish in a bare-bottom 10–20 gallon QT for a minimum of 4 weeks. Observe for flashing, clamped fins, white spots, or breathing changes. Treat preventatively with copper (1.75–2.5 ppm chelated) or tank-transfer method for ich, plus a praziquantel course for flukes. Invertebrates and corals skip QT but go through dip and observation instead.
Recommended coral dip
For every new coral: a 5–10 minute bath in your reef-safe dip of choice (Bayer Complete, CoralRx, or Reef Primer) following label dosage, followed by two clean saltwater rinses. Inspect plugs and bases for flatworms, pyramid snails, and eggs — remove or refrag onto clean plugs before placing in display.
Acclimation
Float sealed bags in your QT or display for 15 minutes to match temperature. Then drip acclimate at 2–4 drops per second for 45–60 minutes until volume has tripled. Net livestock into the tank — never pour shipping water in. Dim the lights for the first 24 hours to reduce stress.
