re: Anubias problems

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: re: Anubias problems
From: N.Monks at nhm_ac.uk (Neale Monks)
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 12:30:48 +0000

Mick,

In my experience, only Anubias barteri nana really does well permanently
submerged. As doubtless you already know, these are really amphibious
plants, one only needs to see how tought the stems and leaves are to
appreciate this.

A.congensis is one of the least adaptable. Even A.barteri barteri seems
only to do well for a few months. There also seem to be a lot of
non-barteri species sold under that name.

A.barteri "nana" does not need to buried in the sediment. Treat it as you
wood Microsorium (Java fern) but allow the roots to trail into the
sediment. As you can see, the rhizome is green: this is a clue! If it has
chlorophyll, it must be photosynthetic, so needs to be above ground. I find
they do best attached to driftwood and then laid on the ground. They root
onto the wood very slowly.

To get round rotting rhizomes, you could cut that portion away. If it is a
systemic infection, you won't have cured it, but then you won't do any harm
either.

There was a TFH article in the last couple of years about Anubias, which
described their natural biotope. Worth trying to look for. Otherwise,
Baensch's aquarium atlas, esp. volume 2, have a bit about these plants.

Incidentally, I have found Apple Snails and Panaque catfish happily eat Anubias.

Regards,

Neale.


--------------------------------------------------------------------

From  Neale Monks' Macintosh PowerBook, at...

Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD
Internet: N.Monks at nhm_ac.uk, Telephone: 0171-938-9007

--------------------------------------------------------------------