Hi willow, I just currently started Tropical Lotus seeds. I live in zone 6 so I was originally worried about the cost of Tropical Lotus every year. I recently seen a video how to store tubers for long periods of time.
Now on starting your seeds, are you prepping the seed first. I know I mention allot of videos on this site. However, when I have an interest I research. For water lilies and lotus, Pondmegastore has allot of great videos on youtube for growing tips.
People use sand paper to file down the tips of the seeds, I use a dremel with a small carving bit. This way you don't destroy most of the seed attempting to get to the core with sandpaper. Starting the seeds I just drop them in a clear container. Remember to change out the water every day.. Some will rot and some will grow. When it gets to the point in which to seeds start floating again, this is where I finally plant them in clay.
I'm a Koi guy, I love my fish. I've seen the growing power of pond water on my plants. This is a great excuse to get a few pond fish during the winter months. I have a high 20 gallon aquarium with two small koi. You can plant each seed in a clear 12 ounce plastic cups. I don't put gravel on the bottom of fish tank, its just easier to clean. When the plants reach the top of the fish tank, take the lid off. You will have a nice showy fish tank and your tubers will be getting ready for your pond. Remember is they are tropical lotus, don't put them in the pond until the water warms up.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Craigger7 that helps a lot. I currently have 8 seedlings. The oldest two are nucifera and both have 1 floating leaf, I have those in a small pink tub temporarily. The other 6 seedlings are from an unknown lotus, I got the pods from Hobby Lobby. I have those currently in shallow plastic containers. Right now I only have an empty 10 gallon aquarium. I don't have a pond so I have to grow them permanently in the 20 gallon tubs. Here is one of the tubs
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That will look great, I have allot of landscaping to do this year. If I get really adventurous, I would like to grow some in a large pot. I never knew hobby Lobby sold pods. I was just there for small zip lock bags for storing them. Here are some pics.

I have a bunch of other seeds, just didn't start them yet

Wow your koi are beautiful. I wish I had room for a koi pond. I'm still thinking of spray painting the tub to make it look more like a plant container. I got 5 lotus pods for $3 and ended up with 52 seeds. I know they sometimes use a heat treatment that usually kills the seedling, but I decided to take a chance and now I have healthy seedlings. Here are pictures of mine.

Nucifera floating leaf
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Nucifera seedlings
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Unknown lotus seedlings from Hobby Lobby
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That is amazing, I hope mine grow that well. I had to make some adjustments. I placed the pods in cups, cleaned up the tank and then went to do my shift at the hospital. I came back and omg what a mess. I know koi will dig into plants, I never knew they could make such a mess. It must be the clay in the soil they were after, but the tank was a mess. I moved the pods to another container, however I still am using the aquarium water.

Craig

Oh no, did you get your tank clean again? I can't seem to get rid of the mold on my seedlings. I always add peroxide to the water and every 3 days I clean the seeds off. This last time I soaked the seedlings in a very mild bleach solution but the mold keeps coming back. I've been dealing with this mold for weeks now.

Cameron

I've put my seeds in soil already, I can't really tell if I'm getting mold. I found some high cylinder glass containers used for beta fish and have the Dixie cups in there. I did have some problems with seed floating out of the soil. I used clay that you would find at Hobby lobby to put a small ring around the seed to hold them down. So far so good, I have been changing the water every day with aquarium water, still no pads.

Craig

Hi Cameron
How are your lotus doing, I'm finally getting some pads.

That's wonderful news Craig. Are you still using the water from your aquarium on your lotus seedlings? My pink lotus seedlings started molding and the pads fell off. So I went ahead and put them in a container outside. If they die, I still have 6 more of the unknown lotus seedlings that can take their place. I figured being outside might help the two pink lotus seedlings. I'll keep you updated on their progress.

Cameron

Hi Cameron, I made a few changes. The weather here is still really cold, my big pond still has ice on it. So for now, everything has to stay inside. I'm looking to move my couch out a bit to make more room for plants..lol. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had to take the seeds out of the aquarium. I still replace a cups of water every day or two in each container, and I'm still using the aquarium water. The problem I'm having now is my 18 year old cat has decided that the fish water tastes so much better than her water bowl. I've even put up barriers to keep her away, I don't know if the water will harm her. I've noticed that as the plants grow, the water clears up and less algae. I know algae is at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to aquatic plants. I'm going to hate to move them they look so nice. Oh the containers I'm using are beta fish containers. Good luck with your seeds, have you fertilized your other plants. I may be time to put them in a clay base. I've seen that after a seedling sprouts so far it will begin to float. If you don't plant it, it will rot.

Craig

Hi Craig. I hope your pond thaws out soon? Today through Wednesday its going to be in the 60s and upper 50s. Surprisingly my pink lotus seedlings outside haven't died even when the temperature dropped into the upper 30s for 1 night. Thanks for telling me about lotus seedlings rotting after a while. I'm thinking about putting a couple of the unknown lotus in the 20 gal. tub on Thursday. I have clay and silty clay in my yard so hopefully its perfect for lotuses? Hopefully your cat will be alright? I know when I was cleaning out my aquarium one time, one of my dogs started drinking the dirty water while my back was turned. Thankfully it didn't make him sick. Those are nice containers. I have mine in an ugly green bowl lol.