Lotus Leaves keep dying and it's spring

[becasmaf]

Hello everyone,

This is my first time starting an indoor water garden and I've grown some Lotus' from seeds. I've gotten them to grow but they keep dying on me and it's only the start of spring!

I have a couple of goldfish living in the indoor pond with the lotus', I have the pond right near the window where it gets sunlight. Can someone please help me? I've looked around google and I can't find any answers. Could it be the fish flakes? the wrong kind of soil?

 

[j.w]

@becasmaf
I don't have Lotus but many on here do so they will speak up soon for you I hope.

 

[mrsclem]

Are you fertilizing them? Lotus don't like fertilizer till you get leaves above the water level. Having the fish in with them could be the problem.

 

[becasmaf]

Are you fertilizing them? Lotus don't like fertilizer till you get leaves above the water level. Having the fish in with them could be the problem.

They've been water level for about a month and I haven't fertilised them yet. I used miracle grow indoor mix for the base and covered it in sand a some rocks. Miracle grow might not have been the best but they still grew. They were going black before I put the fish in.

 

[addy1]

I have no clue, mine were tubers when I started them, put them in a 300 gallon stock tank 1/2 filled with kitty litter. I have them in the pond loop, they get dirty water from the big pond on a consistent basis.

I tried to start some from seeds didn't work for me. I did get a few leaves started then they just died.

 

[poconojoe]

I don't know anything about lotus, but what is the pond's container made out of? It's hard to tell from the picture. It almost looks like plastic, which would be ok. But if it's a galvanized container, that could be bad for the fish and the plants.

 

[becasmaf]

I don't know anything about lotus, but what is the pond's container made out of? It's hard to tell from the picture. It almost looks like plastic, which would be ok. But if it's a galvanized container, that could be bad for the fish and the plants.

Hi poconojoe,

Yes it is made from galzanized tin. Do you think if I pulled everything out and sprayed it with some plastic dip, enamel paint, or even some kind of vinyl to seal it, that would do the trick?

 

[poconojoe]

Yeah, galvanized is bad...some kind of coating would be good as long as the coating doesn't peel off and the coating itself is fish and plant friendly. To make it simple and Instead of guessing, I would play it safe and buy a small EPDM rubber liner which is definitely fish and plant safe. Normally I wouldn't recommend a cheap PVC liner, but in this case it probably would be ok. A small liner that size wouldn't cost much and you can order it online so you don't have to go out.