Anubias Issues

[pablothebetta]

I bought some anubias for my tank almost 3 weeks ago. It came pre-attatched to some driftwood. For the first week or so, it seemed to be doing great - not much new growth but it seemed healthy. However, since then it's gone a little downhill. There are brown patches and many of the leaves appear "bitten" and torn, with brown parts on the edges where the damage is. Why might this be? There has been quite a bit of new growth (perhaps 10 new leaves in the past few weeks, though they aren't as big as the other leaves yet), though even those new leaves seem to start to look a little "bitten". I've got some Cherry shrimp in there who often hang out around the anubias, could it be they who are eating at it? I've never heard of it before.

As for lighting, I think this is what I have: http/www.aquarium-parts.co.uk/acatalog/info_18_AL_T11WTB.html I think its 11W and it's usually on for around 4-6 hours a day.

I don't currently use any fertilizer, as I didn't think anubias needed it. If it would improve the condition, is there a particular brand or product you'd recommend?


Here is a picture of the anubias. It doesn't show the damage too well, but I hope it gives an idea. http/tinypic.com/view.php?pic=snz6ee&s=5

Thanks

 

[mike455555]

the brown looks like algae to me as for the tearing. i dont think its the shrimps.

 

[pablothebetta]

the brown looks like algae to me as for the tearing. i dont think its the shrimps.

Thanks for replying. I agree that the brown on the top of the leaves looks like algae, but there's also some red-brown colouring where the leaves have been torn around the edges + the tears in the middle, any idea why this might be? It doesn't look like algae, it's more of a maroon colour. Is it just the plant?

 

[mike455555]

no idea sorry. sounds unusual to me

 

[pablothebetta]

It is quite strange, I mean I can't imagine it being the shrimp, but I'm really not sure what's causing it or why...

 

[fishprotector]

I have had anubis in all of my Shrimp tanks and it has never been eaten by either neocaridinia or caridinia species. It is hard to make out the damage in the picture, but do you have you seen any snails in there?

 

[tribalbrit]

the maroon colouring could be dead or dieing algae... some go red when dead.

 

[pablothebetta]

the maroon colouring could be dead or dieing algae... some go red when dead.

Thing is though, is that there is living algae on the top of the leaves. The maroon is only on the edges where the leaf has been "cut"...

I have had anubis in all of my Shrimp tanks and it has never been eaten by either neocaridinia or caridinia species. It is hard to make out the damage in the picture, but do you have you seen any snails in there?

No, I've never had snails nor have I seen any in my tank. I've had the anubias in there for several weeks now, and I haven't seen any snails that might have come in it, and it was fine for the first week or so, which I suppose is the thing that makes it most strange. It does literally look like lots of bite marks in the leaves, as if something has indeed been eating away at it. There's also a couple of "cuts" down the centre of the leaves. All "cut" edges have a maroon colour to them...