Browning Anubias Leaves

[TammyLiz]

I moved my anubias nana to my newish nano tank a little over a week ago. I guess theres a bit less of a bio load in there at the moment and its lacking in something because the leaves are browning! I am freaking out because these are almost impossible to find around here, and I paid a lot for this one. I guess it's from a lack of ferts. What should I add? My first thought was to just go get some flourish or flourish iron, but I really don't have a clue. I have excell already and am planning on using it in there but haven't started yet. So what should I get in addition to that?

EDIT: It's two gallons and right now has 40 watts of incandescent light but I'm planning on upgrading the lighting. Stock is a single betta. Other plants are java fern and a crypt which melted a few days after I added it.

 

[JArtiles305]

Are you sure it's browning and not algae?

This sounds weird because Anubias are hardy plants.

 

[TammyLiz]

Not algae. The leaves are dying. Its such a bummer because six out of eight leaves are browning! They'll never be the same and it'll take ages for the plant to recover. To me, it looks like there is a possibility that the brown areas are going to completely rot off. At first, a couple of days ago, I noticed it but didn't look closely and thought it was something settled on the leaves, since the bogwood is new and you know how that stuff puts a brown dust over everything when its new (at least, all mine has). On closer inspection today, I see that those leaves that have been brown for longer, are beginning to look transparant. Luckily the rhizome still looks green and healthy so far, though.

 

[lljdma06]

Are you sure it's browning and not algae?

This sounds weird because Anubias are hardy plants.

Is your anubia planted in the substrate or on the wood? If the rhizome is covered, the plant will die, it needs water circulation.

The incadescent bulb may also be giving away too much heat. I'd switch if I were you to fluorescent bulbs. If you can, or make the tank an open top and put a fluorescent light above it.

 

[TammyLiz]

It is tied to bogwood with cotton thread. The rhizome looks like it is still in perfect condition. The incandescent bulb is not overheating the water, I have a thermometer in there, and it stays around 78, which is what is ideal for the betta. The bulb does get very very hot, but I don't think anything but the water temperature affects the plant. It could be too bright being that close (the anubias is about 6 inches below the surface of the water), but I don't know if that will brown the leaves or not. I was thinking to have something behind it that would grow and shade it. There is algae all over the place but the plan is to add some stems and excell so that should help get rid of that, hopefully. The wood in this tank is actually one of the pieces that I was talking about in the thread on hardscape. I took a couple of pictures when I did the water change this afternoon since it sounded like you and possibly others might like to see it even less than perfect. I'll probably post them later. I don't have time at the moment. I'm worried about the anubias, though. It is so cute and little and...now brown.

 

[Alex_]

just move it back to the other tank for now.

or try adding trace elements and upgrade your ligthing to flouresint

 

[TammyLiz]

Here is a picture I took tonight. Today was water change so a lot of the algae has been removed, and things have settled now. I hope you like it. I wish you could have seen it before the crypt melted . The roots can barely be seen on the left side towards the back. Hopefully it'll come back for me. I was trying to go for something different with the wood and the shape of the container. It's in my kitchen so I thought a canister would be perfect. . I also didn't want to do the normal thing with the hardscape of plopping a piece of driftwood in there and put plants around it. I wanted the wood to be something I could actually build on, and more a part of things rather than in the middle of them. I think this piece works well for that.

You should also be able to see the browning leaves on the anubias. Pretty sad, isn't it I think I'll be getting some ferts, probably flourish unless someone has a better idea. I'll leave off any further comments about what I do and don't like about it, and what my plan is, until after all interested parties have made their comments.

So there you go!

 

[JBN]

I love that wood! I always thought anubias was the hardiest plant ever since it was labeled as the 'plastic plant that grows'. Just some side questions: Is the lid totally closed or is there some gap for the betta to breath? What type of substrate are you using because it looks really nice. My planted tank has no co2 and no ferts whatsoever and the anubias nana and nana petite are growing well.

 

[lljdma06]

I saw that exact same glass container in Wal-Mart a few weeks back and thought "that would make a good nano!"

Do you see tanks in everything? You need to get out more! I should talk, see below.

That's a cute tank Tammyliz, I love it. I haven't been to Walmart in a while, but when I was there last, they had these HUGE 2g brandy siftners (sp) that I thought would be great for bettas. Bad for brandy, however, unless you fancy drinking half a bottle per sitting. A little bit uncomfortable to hold, I imagine. Picture the cigar that goes with that baby! Enough brandy and cigar talk. See what you people do to me! As I said before in a previous post, and as FKNM emphasized, I think the culprit is the lighting, and now that I see your setup, this can easily be fixed. Many desk lamps can be fitted with compact fluorescents, which will give you the wattage that you need. I'm also a little concerned about gas exchange since it's a closed system.

Don't worry too much about your crypt, if things are stable, he'll come back again. A change in pH or water chemistry of some kind, or even too much moving around often results in cryptocoryne disease. Give it a few weeks.

llj

 

[AndyTaylor]

My money is on the lighting too..... under my 3.6 WPG my Anubias' were suffering from much the same problem. They recovered quickly once moved to a shady spot. They're hardy plants but too much light will kill them way quicker than too little. A liquid fert may help....Tropica Mastergrow is good but may trigger algae outbreaks (i've yet to prove this one!)

 

[TammyLiz]

Just some side questions: Is the lid totally closed or is there some gap for the betta to breath? What type of substrate are you using because it looks really nice.

There is a gap in the back. I might put something else in there to make it bigger but it is sufficient for now. With the light getting so hot, I sometimes completely remove the lid in order to keep the water from overheating. I don't like to do that for fear the betta would jump, but I have no choice sometimes.

The substrate is Soilmaster Select, a clay based material used in baseball fields and such to keep things from getting too muddy! I paid $15 for a 50 pound bag, and since the material is lighter than gravel, one bag ended up being enough for my 55 gallon tank with a lot left over.

Dosing flourish sounds like a good plan to me. However, I think the main "culprit" is the incandescent lighting...the Kelvin rating does matter.

I think the culprit is the lighting, and now that I see your setup, this can easily be fixed. Many desk lamps can be fitted with compact fluorescents, which will give you the wattage that you need. I'm also a little concerned about gas exchange since it's a closed system.

I had considered the compact flourescents but I can't find any bulbs that don't stick out the end of the lamp because with the little ballast, they are pretty long. Plus, I think the lamp is junking up my counter. I am considering rigging something to mount under my cabinet for it, using compact flourescent bulbs.

My money is on the lighting too..... under my 3.6 WPG my Anubias' were suffering from much the same problem. They recovered quickly once moved to a shady spot. They're hardy plants but too much light will kill them way quicker than too little. A liquid fert may help....Tropica Mastergrow is good but may trigger algae outbreaks (i've yet to prove this one!)

So you think it is too much lighting rather than too little? Maybe since it is so close to the light. I really don't know what is best! I could shade it with the hornwort for now, but would that help or hurt? I am not sure.

I haven't seen the tropica around here. Maybe I haven't been observant enough, but I'm not sure they have it.

EDIT: Next time I go to the hardware store I am going to get some different lighting for this thing. How many watts do you think I should go with if I use a screw in flourescent bulb in an incandescent fixture? I know the WPG rule goes out the window with nanos, but by how much should I overdo it?