# Anubias Nana not growing



## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

I bought 2 beautiful Anubias from liveaquaria.com mid December 2009 and they shed their leaves within 2 weeks of planting them. I read that Drs. Foster & Smith grow some plants like these emersed...so I have a feeling mine lost their leaves because they were grown above water, not under water like I planted them.

I've been dosing 2mm of Flourish and Flourish NPK in my 1.8 WPG tank (using T8 lighting) every week with absolutely no growth on the anubias but maybe a few new roots. I know that they grow slowly, but I really didn't expect no signs of new leaves developing in 2 months! In the mean time, I'm starting to have a bit of brown diatom algae on spots of gravel that are directly in light, so I will stop ferts for a week or so to reduce excess nutrients in the water column.

Anyone familiar with growth of Anubias Nana? Should I just remain patient???


----------



## The old man (Apr 12, 2008)

Check the rhizome and see if it is still green and not brown or mushy. Do not plant the rhizome in the substate or it will rot. Attach to a stone or driftwood. If it is ok then just be patient.


----------



## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

Both rhizomes are above the gravel, one is a bright green and the other (which was in direct light, now moved to a dimmer area) is green with areas of brown.

Thanks!


----------



## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

So for those of you that have a low light/low tech setup, how often do your Anubias grow new leaves?


----------



## freshyleif (Jan 9, 2008)

Not exactly sure how often I get new leaves but one thing someone else told me when I wanted to get more leaves was to use a sharp knife and make small cuts in the rhizome. This stimulates the rhizome and in my case every cut I made new leaves grew in about 2 weeks. I have had my Anubias in my high light tank and it wasn't to much light so I wouldn't think that light is the problem.I also seem to remember that Anubias likes higher water flow. My Anubias that is under the output of my HOB filter always grows faster than the Anubias in other parts of my tank. For reference my Anubias is in a 55g with 35w light no fertz.


----------



## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

Wow, great info freshyleif! Thanks so much. I will try and make small cuts into the rhizome. It couldn't hurt to try something different! I cannot wait till they start producing leaves...it'll add a nice texture to my aquascape. Glad to hear my lighting isn't the culprit. It's funny how one of the "Easiest plants" to take care of in planted aquariums isn't quite that for me, the green thumb!!!


----------



## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

i take off any old, broken or damaged leaves and usually a newer rizome starts growing from that point, and for some reazon in my tank, the more plants cover them the greener and faster they seem to grow...i guess it depends on my tank conditions but it works


----------



## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

Thanks Damian! Hopefully these little guys will get going soon! I look forward to their growth in the tank. In the meantime I think I'm going to buy some Christmas moss to drape in between my slate pieces.


----------

