You may have damaged the tubers. Some time back I tried to transplant some Lotus and they rotted. Making enquiries I was told that if parts of the plant get broken or damaged rot sets in. Also that if you want to get rid of Lotus you break the leaf stems below water level, then rot gets in down the stem and into the tubers. When leaves die naturally the plant seals off the bottom of the stem. So it put me off trying it again. Now I just propagate with seeds. Give it time anyway and see if any do come up, there's always a possibility that some didn't get damaged. But at the same time, don't hold your breath.

Thanks tropicbreezent. I know that's true of smaller lotus in a container, but I was hoping it didn't happen to this much larger stock tank. I'm thinking there must be a lot of tubers lower down that are okay. But......when you plant a single tuber, you're supposed to have it very close to the top of the soil. We'll see. I sure hope we didn't kill it, but I'm not sure there was any better way of thinning it. I'm sure the entire stock tank is filled with mostly lotus tubers and roots. Maybe that part is still too crowded. Sure don't want to have to dig all that out and replace it with new soil. It was such a beautiful area when it was blooming.
Thanks again.

Well, one little sign of hope. I found a small floating leaf at the edge of the stocktank. In my experience, that's what lotus do........they move out to their perimeter and then fill it in from there.
I'm so excited. Hopefully, it's all still alive and just needs more sun and warmth!

It's been a cool spring and even here in Texas, I'm just now seeing the lotus beginning to send up foliage.