# Growing Anubias Barteri Var. "Nana" Emersed.



## mcorbeil

These are my three Anubias "nana" plants that i have growing in an emersed setup. The low water level ensures Rhizomes and roots remain wet and allows the leaves to grow above the surface.

This is an experiment to see if it's possible to regenerate the plants. I had them originally in my 70 gal. tanganyika, were they were slowly being torn up and abused by the inhabitants. Lots of algae growing on the leaves. They were in very hard water with aragonite substrate tied to some driftwood. I detached them and cleaned off any decaying leaves before moving them to the emersed setup.

The new tank is a 2.5 gallon Marineland Eclipse with about 2 liters of tank water. There is 1/2 inch of garden earth underneath one inch of play sand.

There is no heater, no filter and the lighting is a desk lamp with a 13watt fluorescent spiral bulb.

The following photos were all taken within the first week.

The plants started pearling after the first couple of days. The light has been on for about 4-5 hours a day. At first there wasn't as many oxygen bubbles being produced but now that the lamp has been moved as close as possible they've become plentiful. I hope that means that they are doing well. I'm somewhat worried about the water stagnating, but i don't smell anything funny yet.

If anything this has been a great opportunity to practice my macro-photography. Thanks for looking!


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## jazzlvr123

thats not emmersed get rid of the water just make sure the soil is wet, thats it. damp sol is enough to keep the entire plant wet it you have a sealed cover on the tank. this way atmospheric co2 can reach the rhizome which is the reason emmersed plants grow faster


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## Dryn

I tossed a poor anubias that got abused at walmart into my terrarium without any gradual reduction of water or anything. The tank gets misted twice a day and the anubias sits in a low spot with its roots buried in a deep bed of sphagnum moss. It has grown four new leaves and two more are budding. I would just empty the water and put some sphagnum moss in the tank and mist it a couple of times a day. The open air and better light (no water to reduce quality) will do wonders for those poor little plants.


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## Dryn

Cool up close camera work though. My camera doesn't have that good of a lens.


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## mcorbeil

Thanks guys, 
I guess i will drain the water. But then the setup won't be emersed as per the definition of "emersed". I also won't get to see the cool bubbles forming.  I don't have any sphagnum moss handy, and would rather not buy a bag just for a handful, is there something i could use? Or will they be ok if i just leave them on the sand bed?

Things seem to be doing well as is, is there any harm in leaving it the way it is?

My camera has a Macro setting that allow me to focus on a subject with in 3 inches of the lens. Most digital camera's come with it now, usually a little flower icon.


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## Rob Tetrazona

What's "your" definition of emersed? jazzlvr123 already spelled out the definition of emersed. For the second time, your setup is submersed! You're not going to see "cool bubbles forming" in the air unless your tripping on acid or something. "Pearling" only happens in submersed setups. Get it?


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## mcorbeil

Thanks for your condescending tone NeonRob! I can only hope that the other senior members are a little more tact than you when dealing with new users. out:


I don't try to define the terms, i just use the accepted "dictionary", or literal meaning of the words. 

From thefreedictionary.com


sub·mersed (sb-mûrst)
adj. Botany
Growing or remaining under water.



e·mersed (-mûrst)
adj. Botany
Rising above the surface of water: emersed aquatic plants.

I have drained the water down to the sand level for now as per everyone's advice. I would have to say there has been definite new root growth on the plants over the past week, With out the water absorbing the light i should see better results. Thanks for the tips gang!


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## hamsterman

Any updates? See any growth yet? I too recently set up an emersed tank and was wondering just wondering how your anubias are doing. :thumbsup:


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## mcorbeil

Actually they are doing quite well at ~ 2 weeks emersed! I will try and get some pics of the new leaves that opened up. At least 2 per rhizome , maybe more. Some of the roots have grown fuzzy tips searching for nutrients. All in all going well , i 've moved them to a larger container and intend to divide up some other Anubia that i have on hand.


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## PAXpress

mcorbeil said:


> Actually they are doing quite well at ~ 2 weeks emersed! I will try and get some pics of the new leaves that opened up. At least 2 per rhizome , maybe more. Some of the roots have grown fuzzy tips searching for nutrients. All in all going well , i 've moved them to a larger container and intend to divide up some other Anubia that i have on hand.


Id be interested to see the update pics, seeing your pics made me decide to remove the anubias nana from my 55 and put it in a little 1g to start with submersed and move to emersed eventually.


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## Klaus07

hi Mcorbeil,

First I want to say that I know Neonrob, and he is a good guy, I wouldn`t take it personally, but chaulk up to a guy having a bad day, and forget about it.

Second, I recommend that you read the following thread on here:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/photography/69991-my-collection-anubias.html
How to grow Anubias emersed is discussed at depth. It is important to know that there are many ways to grow Anubias emersed successfully. The hydroton clay balls is one way, sphagnum moss another. I have almost all of my Anubias in Floramax with root fertilization (osomocote in pills).

When I get a new Anubias now, I pot them up and grow them emersed for a few months. I make sure I take them out of rockwool and give them a more porous media. I would not recommend rock wool in submersed culture ever.

In my emersed culture I have let the water dwindle to the point where the bottom of the tray is only wet and I have seen great growth that way. Normally I like to keep water an inch or two below the pots surface. I WOULD NOT recommend keeping Anubias in an open top aquarium. Although they grow well emersed, high humidity is a must or your leaves will dry up . The humidity in my humidomes stays in excess of 90%.

I also recommend that you read Schotts rediscription of Anubias which is available onlline as a pdf . Just google Anubias schott. The redescription was done in 1976.

In Zuricks article I mentioned above he has some links to his site. They are well worth looking at. Plenty of photos which show how he pots up his Anubias. Learning to grow Aroids emersed quickly becomes addictive especially once you try such things as Cryptocorynes, Bucephalandra, Piptostapha, Schismatoglottis, and Lagenandra. Good luck and keep posting your experiences.

From time to time, it is beneficial to completely submerge the pots for several hours to prevent harmful fungus that grows in wet oxygen rich environments. Apparently complete immersion keeps it in check.

Klaus


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## Klaus07

hehehe, I didnt notice the dates on the original post.


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