# Anubias Problems



## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

Anubia newbie here!

I've had Anubias 'nana', 'coffeeola', and 'minima' tied onto rocks for one month. Especially the 'nana', but the others too are losing leaves at the base of the stems where the stems come out of the rhizome. For some reason, only that area starts getting transparent and then the leaf /stem break off at that point. The leaf itself continues to look healthy.

120 gal, 24" tall tank
1x 96W CF, 9 hours
50% WC every week
Good circulation with undergravel jets 24/7
GH 18
KH 11 (goes to 15 before WC)
CO2 injection, pH starting at 8.1 going to 7.2, then back to 8.1 after CO2 is off
NO2 20-30 ppm
PO4 1-2 ppm
K 20-30 ppm
Ca > 50 ppm
Mg > 25 ppm
Dose traces with DIY TNP
Temp 77-80
Heavy fish stocking

Does anyone have any ideas. Anubias are supposed to be the plastic plants that grow. Mine are the plastic plants that die. Thanks in advance for your help.


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

insufficient light might be the culprit? Less than 1 wpg


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## anubias6439 (Sep 7, 2010)

when you say 20-30ppm of NO2, i hope you mean NO3. NO2 is nitrite and that level is highly toxic. The lighting is low, but i dont know. We had a 10 gallon quarantine tank set up for a long time that almost never had the the 15watt flourescent turned on. It recieved 2 hours of direct sunlight each day, and that was it. The Cryptoryne wendtii and anubias barteri both did very well.


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## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

anubias6439 said:


> when you say 20-30ppm of NO2, i hope you mean NO3. NO2 is nitrite and that level is highly toxic. The lighting is low, but i dont know. We had a 10 gallon quarantine tank set up for a long time that almost never had the the 15watt flourescent turned on. It recieved 2 hours of direct sunlight each day, and that was it. The Cryptoryne wendtii and anubias barteri both did very well.


Oops! NO3, of course.

Light has been suggested to me before, but I thought Anubias can almost be grown in the dark! Would there be any downside to doubling the light? I can do this very easily, but, of course, I risk algae.

I have alot of circulation in the tank, but not so much current that the leaves move very much.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Whatever it is, I doubt that it is a deficiency of nutrients or light. It is likely physical damage or some kind of chemical toxicity.


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## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

OK. Thanks.

Another quirk is that I have an aragonite substrate that is being slowly dissolved by my CO2. After WC, KH starts at 11, but at the end of the week is at 15. Could this be a KH or GH issue?

Also, I've been avoiding this, but here goes. I have tropheus. But there is no damage to the leaves other than right at the base of the stem next to the rhyzome. Also some rhyzomes are starting to look fuzzy, soft, and transparent rather than hard and green.

I started using Super Glue to put the first batch of 'nana' in, but I switched to tieing the rhyzomes on rocks with 5 lb test monofilament. Many of the tied rhyzomes are showing this same phenomenon.

Needless to say I have stopped buying plants until this is resolved.

Java ferns are doing fine. Lots of new leaves from the rhyzomes and even plantlets developing at the tips of the leaves.

Thanks in advance for your continued help. I really appreciate it. This is very frustrating....


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## Izzy (Jun 4, 2006)

What is the K rating of the bulb? Is the house on a water softener?


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## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

Thanks for responding Izzy.

6700K, no water softener.


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## anubias6439 (Sep 7, 2010)

i wouldnt recomend using superglue. Is it non-toxic and safe for aquarium use?


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## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

Hi,

It's widely recommended even though it would seem nasty. There are some "reef safe" cyanoacrylates sold here.

I used what they sell at Home Depot. I'm sure it's the same thing.

Anyway, the Anubias I only tied down are showing the same symptoms.

I increased lighting to 96W for 11 hours and another 96W for 4 hours mid day. With that, maybe light won't be an issue. Lots of little leaves starting up: it's the mature leaves that are coming off.

Any other ideas? I'm game for anything....


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## anubias6439 (Sep 7, 2010)

I am well aware of the reef style epoxys but i didnt know they could be used on such sensitive tissue such as plants. In reef tanks, they use them for attatching rock to rock, or the calcerous base of the coral to rock.

I say, if there are lots of new leaves coming up.....and arent falling off like the old ones, dont worry about it. Some kind of damage is likely or maybe the old sections of the rhizome were exposed to too much heat or cold in transport?


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## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

Truely, thank you for replying.

Yes, there are many tiny leaves coming out of some of the rhyzomes. And yes, I don't doubt at all there was some freeze damage in transport.

I hope that everything will straighten itself out.....

Search "super glue" in this forum to find all kinds of people who swear by using it. OTOH, I sure can't claim any resounding success. Oh, but I thought those reef adhesives were cyanoacrylates, not epoxies....


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## Izzy (Jun 4, 2006)

We're the plants grown emmersed and they are now transitioning to being submerged?


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## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

Well maybe. They came from Arizona Aquatic Gardens. Of course, that's a problem in and of itself.

Anyway, what happens when an Anubias adapts to submerged from emersed growth? Do the leaves fall off as I have described?


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## anubias6439 (Sep 7, 2010)

Anubias leaves that have been grown emmersed, usually do not fall off underwater. I have experienced this occasionly with the odd leaf shape types, but not those with round ones such as barteri or nana. At least this is in my experience. Also, anubias regularly flower submerged for me, so im not even sure they know they are underwater!

As for the epoxy vs. reef glue vs. cyanoacrylates..........i have no clue. I have just seen some products out labeled as epoxy or reef glue. Wether they are cyanoacrylates or not, i dont know and have not researched it.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

Why glue when you could just tie them with threads?  The anubias will eventually latch on to wood/rock with their roots after a period of time, then you could remove the disintegrated threads. Everything's all good after that..


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## anubias6439 (Sep 7, 2010)

NeonFlux said:


> Why glue when you could just tie them with threads?  The anubias will eventually latch on to wood/rock with their roots after a period of time, then you could remove the disintegrated threads. Everything's all good after that..


not to mention, when they attatch over time, they are glued!


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## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

OK, am admonished about the glue. Won't do it again.

My anubias coffeeola (?) new leaf unfolded, but is yellow. Is that a sign of some deficiency? Only that one leaf is yellow, the rest of the plant is green. The new leaf is not "tiny", but is the same size as the others. Is this normal?


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

For coffeefolia, this is normal. The new leaves open up with a very light color and gradually darken over several days/weeks. If they are a true yellow, however, you might have a nutrient deficiency (nitrate perhaps). If, when the leaf matures, the tissue stays light while only the vein-areas darken, then look at magnesium deficiency.


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## Cyclesafe (Jan 13, 2011)

At the moment, NO3 >40 ppm (API test kit). Nitrate shouldn't be the problem. I have a high fish load.

Added 2 grams of CSM+B (120 gal tank) at WC 6 days ago (.29 ppm), plus 8 mls per day of Excel plus .01 ppm equivalent of 10% iron with DTPA chelator. Also, my tap has ~.1 ppm of iron, according to the water company. Could the EDTA chelator in CSM+B with my relatively high pH (~8.0) make the iron unavailable in the water column? If I had an iron deficiency, how long would it take to see a difference if I added more iron with DTPA? Would these leaves recover?


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