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I have an anubias nana in my 10g. I attached it to a rock when I got it and put it in my aquarium. It has lived in my 10g for a little over a week now and is still alive. The end of it has no root at all. I have another one that I put in my 55g and it has a root sticking out. My question is..even if there is no root..will it grow..it seems to be doing ok. I did not bury the root of the other nana. Why are they different? I have 2 wpg in my 10g and under 1 wpg in my 55. They both seem to be doing fine now. Is there anything else I need to do to them besides attaching to rocks and putting in the aquarium? I am new to plants and have researched alot but still didnt know about this.

*Kristin*

I found out that they grow better when attached to drift wood, they seem to cling to it better. Have a look at the photos here and you will see why tank is often refered to as an Anubias Jungle.

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

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they are low light plants maybe this has something to do with it. but a week is really a short time frame to guage the growth of these plants

OH TOLEEDY!

keith are you following me ?

OH TOLEEDY!

GirlieGirl8519,

The Anubias Nana will grow in various light conditions, mine are doing just fine in a 3wpg tank. A week is really a short time for a plant that is a slow grower. Give it more time.

The one thing I could think off is maybe (just maybe) a lack of nutrients in the water column in your 10G. What else is in there (plants and fish)? Do you use any kind of fertilizer? How often do you change the water and how much? How about the same parameters for the 55? Are they different?

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

In the 10g I have 5 neon tetras, a male Betta, and 2 ottos. Plantwise I have 2 bunches of wisteria, a cryptocoryne wendtii and an ozelot sword (I know I shouldn't have this in there but I will move it to the 55 when I upgrade the lighting ). I also have a small bunch of rotala magenta but its not doing too good. I try to change the water at least every 2 weeks..about 25-30%. Since I have had the plants..now its almost 2 weeks..I have changed it once. I do try to vacuum every 2-3 days because of the plant leaves in my gravel.
The only fertilizer I use now is Plant Gro Iron Enriched Fert. I've only been using it once a week. I am going to order some Flourish and Excel soon.
The 55 has only been set up for 2 weeks. I have 9 head and tailight tetras in it. I have 1 crypt wendtii, 3 anubias coffeefolia (on a piece of driftwood), and 2 bunches of wisteria which were left over from what I ordered for the 10. I haven't changed the water yet. I just checked for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate and all zero. I have some gravel from an established aquarium and sponges from my established aquaclear in the 55 filter.
I think that is it..if you need more info just ask.

*Kristin*

GirlieGirl8519,

Hm, that sounds interesting. If I read your entry right then you say that the 55 has all parameters zero, correct? But it is the 10 were the Anubias doesn’t develop any roots. I would have assumed it otherwise as plants need nutrients (and one of them is Nitrate in any form – could be ammonia as well) to thrive.

I don’t know Plant Gro Iron Enriched, what is in that stuff and how much do you use? I assume further that 25% water change every other week is not enough. This is probably how your plants get their nutrients, from the tab. You vacuum every 3 days because of falling leaves? Why are they falling – light or nutrients?

Your plants need macro and micro ferts and if you go with the Excel line then you should get: Flourish or Flourish Trace, Potassium, Nitrate, Excel itself, and depending on your tab water maybe Phosphorus as well. This group of products should be a sufficient base for nutrients and carbon (latter via the Excel).

The rotala magenta is probably not doing to well because you don’t have enough light for it.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 22-Oct-2005 15:05

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

You are right..in the 55g everything is zero because it has only been set up for 2 weeks..and only had the 9 tetras in it for 1 week. The nana I put in the 55 had a root to begin with and still looks good now.
As for the 10g...the nana I put in it did not have a root to begin with..and has not grown one in the almost 2 weeks I have had it.

About nitrates..when I had different fish in the 10 (1 danio, 2 black widow tetras) I did not change the water like I should. I also did not have the plants. The nitrate was always around 40. Now with new fish, live plants, and better care with water changes, the nitrate is always 10ppm. So maybe there is not enough for all the plants?

In the fertilizer...it has trace elements including Iron.
Nitrogen-0.15%, Boron-0.0005%, Copper-0.0005%, Iron-0.26%, Manganese-0.05%, Molybdenum-0.0007%, and Zinc-0.003%. I use 5ml once a week.

I'll try changing 25% every week and see if that helps. The reason I have leaves in the gravel is mostly because of the rotala magenta. When I got it, it was pretty much dead. It only had a few good leaves at the top. I trimmed most of the bad ones off but left some and that's why I have so many dead leaves floating around. Alot of it settled in my gravel and though I have vacuumed a good bit, there is still some there. Also, I had some bottom leaves of the wisteria falling off but I took care of that by trimming most of the bottom ones off so it could grow new leaves.
When I bought the rotala I thought it was med. light so no wonder it isn't doing good. I will know not to get that next time.
I will get all the fertilizers on your list. How often should I dose each one?
Thanks for all you info. It has helped me so much. I thought I researched plants enough before I got them but it seems I did not. This will definitely help when I plant my 55g. If I spend all the money I want my plants to flourish. Thanks again..if you need anymore info..ask away.

*Kristin*