FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hi,
Anubias nana in my tank is growing lots of new leaves, but they are all small..infact, tiny(0.5~1 cm). When the same plant was in a very low lit tank, the new leaves were of proper size though the new growth was not frequent at all. Currently I have 3wpg. Is higher light causing the small new growth?
Thanks.

It sounds to me like it's due to the intensity of the light. Could also be that it's got more energy to put out new leaves faster, and the leaves just haven't been able to grow to proper size yet. It could also be a nutrient deficiency, maybe one of the macros. It's hard for me to say, that's never happened to me before.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi,
It is the intensity of the light. In lower intensity
the plant will have the tendency to put out fewer but
larger leaves to make the most of the light it is living
under. With the higher intensity, it no longer has to
expend large amounts of energy and stored nutrients to
grow huge leaves, now it produces many small ones.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks both for the help.
I also thought that would be happening due to the light intensity. A plant needs to have more surface area on its leaves to absorb maximum light energy in poorly lit areas. Im observing the same phenomenon with wysteria. The new leaves on the bottom of the stem are more full with less "cuts" on the edges, while those on top are more lacy...same reason, less surface area required for the leaves on top.

Should i try providing some cover or let it go like that?

No way is this stunted growth related to ligting. I have Anubias in all my tanks and that means medium to high light conditions and none of my leaves grow tiny.

I am way more into the fertilizer defficiency theory. That sounds about right, something is missing and causes the stunted growth. You didn't have these issues with low light as the plants required much less stuff to grow because the light was a limiting factor.

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo,
Then why is the anubias the only plant showing these signs? To my very limited knowledge, the fast growers should be the first ones to show deficiency. The other plants are growing well. Vals sending runners like crazy and literally growing centimetres/day. Wysteria and hygro are also growing good and even the newly introduced lotus has put two new leaves in two days? Im not arguing, just want to get an insight by the much more experienced ppl.
Forgot to mention, the anubias has also grown a stalk that I hope will be a flower. Should a plant flower while being stunted?
Thanks for the guidence.

mughal113,

Im not arguing

Why not, I for sure would argue my point if I would feel strongly about it

Ok, so the simple stunted growth theoruy might not work here either, with all other plants growing like mad. But maybe they get some of their ferts from the substrate while the Anubias depends completely on the water column (what substrate? Also, I hope you didn't bury the rhizome).

Furthermore, describe how the new higher light came to be. Like, did you just add the light to the tank or was it part of a major overhaul? Maybe the anubias don't have enough resources stored in the rhizome from being in a low light tank and as such never had the need to store more than what was required there. Do the plants grow leaves rather often, more often then before, less often?

Also, what Anubias is it? I would assume it is Anubias barteri var. Nana, aka Anubias Nana.

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I have no idea how many Anubias or the exact variety I have in both of my tanks. What I do know is that for some reason every now and then they seem to have a different growth pattern. The ones in the Betta tank a very small leafed variety10mm+ and one slightly larger 25mm+ are certainly growing far better in the Betta tank.
One very big difference is the ferts used, the 5ft tank get a locally made fert 15ml at water change only where as the Betta tank gets three Seachem ferts Flourish 1ml each day, Potassium 2ml three times a week and nitrogen1ml twice weekly. Also the CLs love anubias wspecially the new young shoots.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I for sure would argue my point if I would feel strongly about it

exactly as u mentioned, I dont feel strongly at all about my points. Im just a novice. All I say is based on what i read and you know, we often read contradicting statements on different resources.
Yes, its an Anubias Nana. Actually I moved it from my 50g (less than 1wpg) to the small planted tank (around 3wpg). Its attached to a piece of driftwood and the rhizome is elevated by, say, three inches from the surface. Since the height of the water column just around 6 inches above it, i think the effective wpg is larger than 3wpg. It took around two weeks to settle down after the move and then all of a sudden, decided to grow many new leaves.

keithgh, I have other stem plants that are growing fine. So the nutrient levels in the water column seem to be ok.

Is the anubias suffering from some dicease????

I'll post some pics soon.
Thanks

It is possible the nutrient levels for the stem plants might be ok for them but not for the anubias Do a full water peramiters test and try to find out what is best for the anubias. At one stage my water got a bit hard and a similar thing happened to my smaller/younger anubias plants

The only info I have (Encylopedia of water plants) is it requires above 77F and soft water that has a great humic acid content.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Thank you very much guys for all your time.
I'll sure try to follow the recommendations and update you with the results.

Mughal

I just want to mention, when I moved
my anubias from a low light (.8wpg),
to a higher light tank (1.5wpg),
the new leaves were all small and many.
When in low light it grew a few big leaves.
I concur with the light intensity theory,
as none of my tanks have nutrient deficiency.


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

Gotta 2nd that. When I increased the light over the anubias nana it got much smaller leaves at least for awhile. I've never seen my anubias produce small leaves from a deficiency. Holes, brown leaves, yellow, etc...(I have trouble sticking to my fertilizer schedule) but no small leaves except when I play with the lights.

Im gonna go with the experiment. I have two rhizomes of nana moved at the same time. Both have grown small new leaves. Ive removed one from the driftwood, attached that to a piece of rock and placed it under wysteria cover where light is significantly lower. Lets see how the new leaves grow on it!