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A few months back, I bought four dwarf lily bulbs (Nymphaea sp.) for my tank. They didn't grow much for a while, and actually appeared to be dying back. However, in the last week or two, they've really started taking off. New leaves have been coming out, and the existing ones have started getting really large. I expect that some lily pad shoots will start heading to the surface soon.

These plants are awesome not only because of their color and shape, but because my cories like to sit on them and the Anubias to rest. It is strangely cool to watch fish perch on plants; one of the reasons that I switched to live plants in the first place. Here are the plants:


Anyways, I have two questions. One, do these plants go into dormant periods? I'm guessing that they do, but I just want to be sure for the sake of curiosity. Also, why do the stems and leaves point straight upwards at night? Is it because they slowly stretch towards their light source during the day? Again, I'm curious.

Thanks in advance for the help.[/font]

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I also have dwarf lily bulbs, and I love them, too. Not everyone has good luck with them, but I've abused mine and been unable to kill them, so I feel fortunate. I am actually not sure whether the lilies go into a proper dormant period. I do know that if they die back for some reason, you should leave the bulb in the water and you will probably get new leaves in a few weeks. I had some leaves that were all choked with algae and dieing, do I was going to take them out of the tank, but when I tried to pick them up by the leaves, the algae-choked part of the plant just came off of the bulb, revealing new healthy sprouts underneath. I recently re-aquascaped and was moving around a healthy looking lily plant, and the large part of the plant also came right out of the bulb, and new shoots were starting from the bulb, so I got two lilies out of one bulb.
The reason they fold up at night is a way to conserve energy. Many plants, when they've taken all the light they can use for a day will fold up their leaves. Then in the morning, they will spread them out so that every leaf gets as much light as possible.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

i dont know any answers but i want to know how much light you have?

Thanks Alex

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

Probably too much light, 2.25 watts per gallon. I have two 65 watt bulbs on my 29 gallon tank, but only one bulb stays on.

Now the lilies have almost doubled the amount of leaves since that picture, and the leaves have all gotten larger as well.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."