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hey guys,ive got a large anubias plant on drift wood,over the last 3 months,something in my tank has just chopped into it!im pretty sure its ether my large fetherfin or my large pleco.the plant is very big and has over 30 leaves on it,witch ALL have bite/tear marks on them,so ive started to give my bottom feeders more greens,and they seem to have layed of the plant for now.ive also been adding florish excel,this did NOTHING for the leaves,but the root system has exploded!its shooting new roots everwhere,thers hundreds of them.but its leaves are in a bad way and i dont no how much longer its going to put up with this treatment.normally i have other tanks that i could move it to,so it can repair itself,but at the moment its in the 89gall,and the only other tank i have up and running is a 55 gal,with cichlids and a goldspot pleco,who will rip into the plant anyway(they have destroyed plants b4 when ive tryed to put them in there..so is there somewhere else i can put this plant,like a large container full of water or something.does it have to go into a fishtank?id really like to save it if i could,it was a bit shabby when i got it,but i really came good when i got it home,nice big green leaves there was no yellow edges(there is now),then when i put the bottom feeders in there,boom its just gone down hill sever since.i can see the plant trying to shoot new leaves but there are eaten even before they get to unfold.i was thinking ill ether see if i can whip up a small container/fishtank out the back in the pergola,or see if my lfs store will chuck it in 1 of there tanks with some small gentall plattys or tetras.i really dont know much about plants,having mostly kept ca/sa american badboys,they just kill em,thrash em,so i just never really bothered with the plants.

Hokese

Anubias is a plant that can be grown emersed (ie out of water) as long as its in a high humidity area or it could quite happily live in a bucket or tub outside for a while until it recovers.

I haven't grown anubias emersed so I'm not sure if you will get much die-off as the previously submersed plant adjusts to its new surrounds. I assume that you would get a little die off initially, but whether this would be the final straw for your battered plant or not I don't know.

If you do opt to put the plant in water outside make sure you put in a couple of small fish or something to eat any mozzie larvae that may appear. And beware - tubbing is as addictive as the tanks inside (I've gone from one little tub on the verandah to 5 of them and plans for more permanent water features/ ponds lol)

Good Luck

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

thanx for the speedy reply gt,well i think ill give it a go,do you use any type of filter in your tubs?any type of fish you recomend to chuck in there,while it recoversany water changes or anything like that,or just leave it alone,never had any tubs b4.

heres the deal with tubs...

you don't need filtration
you don't need to feed the fish
and you don't need to worry about the fish/plants!

Tubbing is fairly easy. you get a large tub or container and place it outside. use some aged water and aged gravel to kick start some sort of cycle. use preferably local small species of fish or shrimp to ensure natural habitats are not harmed by invading foreign species. you will need to place the tub so it get about 8-10 hours of indirect sunlight. one a week or every other week do a water change and you should be good to go. you will need to have some sort of algae eater (small shrimp?) and a fast growing plant species or two to absorb all the nutrients as the anubias is a slow grower and doesn't use as many nutrients at any given time.

for a fast grower try most stem plants or a floating plant... anubias don't use much light so 3-5 hours of indirect should suffice but monitor the temp for a day or two to make sure the Ozzie heat and sun wont heat up the tub and cook the fish and plants...

you should be good to go, work out your own system and there should be no problems...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

thanx a bunch guys,im guna get that going rite away.i used to get heaps of comments on my large anubais,and the best part was,i just put it in the tank,and done nothing and it thrived,but now nobody comments on it,cause its so battered up,its my fault for leaving it this long.so ill steal some gravel and some tankwater out the same tank as the anubias,this should help with the transfer a,and get a cycle going,i was thinking of placing the tub,outside under the pergola,that way it will be outside in the heat,but not in direct sunlight,the pergola is open,like in mean it just has the roof,but no shadecloth around the sides.so does this location sound ok?also not far from where i live,thers a water way that has local fish in there,just little fellas,im not even sure what they are,but i rekon i mite net some of them and chuck them in there.i think they mite be some sort of lowgrade guppy.also the other fast growing plant you mentioned,is this a must have?and should i completely submerge the plant in the water,or is it ok if it sticks out of the water.hey gt if its not to much trouble can you post some pics of your 5 tubs,just so i can have a peek at what you have going.

ok ive already been out the back sniffing around,and ive found a tub,that we used to keep firewood in,but as we got rid of the fireplace the tub was just laying around.so ive measured it,and its 59cm long 37cm wide 26cm high,its like a white colour,so i was guna clean this out and press it into service,but i just wanted to here back from you guys b4 i actully move the plant,im thinking that this tub isnt high enuff,being only 26cm high,the anubais on the d-wood is 39cm high,so that means even some of the roots will be out of the water,is this still ok,or should i go for something with some more hight?

Good move on the tubbing

With your plant being in precarious health I'd probably go for a taller container to keep it in similar conditions to what it was used to ie fully submerged. I was at my local bunnings today and they had a heap of storage containers fairly reasonably priced. (I picked myself up a 220L rectangular tub for $41 )

Personally I make a point of trying to stick with local natives in my outdoor tubs so that if there does happen to be an overflow or flood or something I don't inadvertently cause feral fish problems in local waterways. Have a look at some of the angfa surveys for waterways around your local area to get an idea of the species that are around where you live. Or get out there to some of the local rivers and creeks (after checking local laws etc) and see what you can find. My daughter loves coming with me down to the creek and seeing what she can catch.

To set up a tub - I usually just fill with conditioned water, a bunch or 2 of fast growing plants sometimes in pots, other times just floating and then after a few days before the algae completely take over or the mozzie larvae morph into actual mozzies I add a small number of whatever livestock takes my fancy. Most of my tubs have blue-eyes (pseudomugil species) in them with a few shrimp and/or waterhouse snails. The blue eyes in particular seem to love it when the water goes nice and green. I can almost guarantee that after a green water episode I will have lots of fry.

I only have one tub , my first one, that I was filtering with a tiny little el-cheapo internal filter and that was mostly for water movement rather than actual filtration. The others are all unfiltered. I killed that little filter a few weeks ago and still haven't replaced it - I don't think the tub actually needed it, it was more to pacify my own mindset that a captive body of water must have supplemented filtration - that was really hard to get out of my head.

The only maintenance I do on my tubs is an occasional top up when the water evaporates a bit. I usually overflow the tubs for a minute or two and that's it; no feeding, no fussing.. easy peasy.

Sorry to ramble on.. as you can probably tell I've caught the tubbing bug... for more specifics on what I have in my tubs check out my tubs thread

Good luck with your anubias and enjoy the whole tubbing thing

G_T





Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

yeah i was thinking that it wound not be high enuff,ill cruze up to bunnings and have a peep to see what they have,and thanx for the idea,im guna take my daughter with me when i go to the local waterway,i think she would have a ball netting little fellas,

the fast grower is a must or it will not succeed. if you have fast groweres the algae has less of a chance of overtaking and haveing a serious bloom. the fast growers also act as the chemical filtration soaking up the nitrates/nitrites/ammonia from the water and turning it into edible and useful vegetation and eliminate fish risks. you daughter will love netting little fishes but be careful to abide the laws and research the fish prior to tossing them in. some species could be detrimental to your plants or other fish...

it will be a lot of fun as well as a great learning experience... they also make "POP UP" aquarium/ponds for outdoor use with transparent sides and a round shape for this purpose but might be pricier than a storage tub or a watering bucket/trough.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

ok so ill grab some "fast growers" from bunnings,what fast growers do you guys usealso you know whats a bummer,im just looking at the plant in qeustion,i also have another bit of d-wood near the plant,and ive noticed that 4 roots have attached them self to the other peace of d-wood,but its guna get wrecked when i pull the plant outthe funny thing is,i posted a qeustion about trying to take a cutting from this plant and attaching it to the other peace of d-wood,but when it started getting battered up i didnt bother,now its doing it for me.

if the DW isnt too big you should just leave it attached... the plant has decided that piece to be its home and to rip it off willl be counter productive. Fast growers can be hornwort, ludwiga, hygro, water sprite, duckweed, frogbit, swords, and dwarf lilies (fairly fast). eventually you'll want to move tha nubias back in, because its such a beautiful plant and would be a shame tohide it in a tub. if you truely want to se it all the time that is. While your at bunings get some aquatic soil and some stem plants. if you want to keep your plecos from eating your anubias and othe potential plants feed them shelled cooked pese, sliced cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, etc. there are many options to incorporate veggie diets to herbivores.

but try to keep the anubias on the DW it is attached to... its better for you and the plant.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

yeah it used to look so green and vibrant!most definently want to move it back into the 89gal,as its the centre peace of the tank,its guna look bear when i do move it,also as for the feeding of peas,cucumber,zucchini,lettuce,they get a slew of vegies and greens,a heap of asorted pellets,i have like 3 different types of vegie waffer,i was just buying and trying all sorts of diferent foods,pellets,trying to get the pleco/featherfin to stop eating my anubias plant.finally i THINK they may have layed off it,each day i check it,and its looks as though there no new bite marks!im still guna move it out the pergola.with those roots that have crept over to the other peace of d-wood,i would take it out too,to save those roots,however,this is the d-wood that the pleco calls homeand as he is so big and long,i dont have anything else that i can replace for him to get into,so that bit will have to stay.