Dwarf aquarium lily care
Nymphaea stellata
The dwarf lily grows from a bulb into wavy red-green underwater leaves, then sends pads to the surface.
- Light
- Medium
- CO₂
- Not needed
- Where it goes
- Midground
- Growth
- Fast
- Care level
- Easy
- Height
- 6 to 24 in
- Temperature
- 72 to 82 °F
- How to plant
- Rest the bulb half in the substrate
- Propagation
- Runners and new bulbs
In a 20 gallon long
12¾ in tallHow to grow dwarf aquarium lily
The dwarf lily grows from a bulb into wavy red-green underwater leaves, then sends pads to the surface. Trim the surface pads if you want it to stay underwater and bushy.
Common problems
- Surface pads shade everything below; cut their stems at the base.
Light for dwarf aquarium lily
Medium-light plants grow best under a planted-tank LED that spans the tank. Check the mounting length against your tank before buying: how to fit a planted light.
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Fluval Plant 3.0 22W
Adjustable mounting range 15–24 in; maker publishes 1,450 lm and PAR at several depths.
Finnex Planted+ 24/7 CRV-24
Fixed 24-in fixture model; fit depends on the supplied legs and tank span.
Plants that grow in the same light
Sources
Plant identity from Wikipedia: Nymphaea nouchali. Heights, temperatures and care are typical ranges in aquariums from common planted-tank practice, not figures from that article. Drawings are our own; photo credits follow.
Photo credits
Real photographs from Wikimedia Commons, resized and cropped to fit; each is used under the license named.
- Dwarf aquarium lily Vengolis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Amazon sword Brianza2008, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Dwarf hairgrass Andrey Zharkikh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Monte Carlo Yercaud-elango, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Water wisteria Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ludwigia repens Show_ryu, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Anacharis Ernst Schütte, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
