Help with Requirements for a ALL ANUBIAS TANK

[BSR]

Hello Co-op Family, I am very interested in setting up a 15 Gallon Cube Betta Tank with Maylasian Driftwood and nothing but different types of Anubias, everything from Nana Petite to a Anubuias Mother pot's. What would be the ideal fertilizers for the anubias thrive. I have read where i believe more Potassium in the water would be beneficial w/ medium to low lights. Any extra info would help. Thank you in advance,

Brian (charlotte NC)

[yannachka]

it’s hard to say exactly, we would need to know what minerals are already present in your water since that will indicate what fertilizers need to be added for “best” growth. id honestly just dose easy green 1x every 1-2 weeks since they’re pretty slow growers. are you going to be dosing any co2? that would change the answer as well imo. 

[Ryan W]

Most anubias can get pretty huge. Bigger than what a 15 gallon should hold. Unless, however, you planned on going all small Anubias. Personally, I’d stick with the smaller Barteri variant such as Nana and Nana’s sub-cultivars like Petite, Bonzai, and Micros.

Next, you’re going to have to decide if you’re going to use them as epiphyte plants (attached to hardscape), plant them in a substrate, or both. If you’re going to attach them to hardscape, I’d go with yannachka’s advise of dosing easy green 1x every 1-2 weeks (starting with the latter). You could even start with monthly dosing if you really wanted to or no dosing at all. If you’re actually planting them (don’t bury the rhizome or it will rot) I would go with a high-quality nutrient rich substrate like ADA aquasoil. Fantastic substrate for plants like this. If going this route, you more than likely wouldn’t have to dose any nutrients for months (depending on water-change frequency) unless you actually need supplemental dosing like iron (or calcium/magnesium depending on your water source and hardscape choices).

 

Dosing nutrients also depends on how much light you’re going to use. How much light you’re going to use depends on your plant choices and how fast you want them to grow. For an Anubias only tank, I’d use just as much light as you can get away with without the tank being completely dark. Meaning, DO NOT over do it. It’s really easy to do. If using a name-brand modern LED fixture, its lowest setting will probably be more than enough light down to at least 18”. A window sill or countertop across from an open window would even be enough to keep it slowly thriving for years. Anubias does not grow quick enough to utilize a large amount of light (or nutrients for that matter). Your light intensity dictates your plants (and algae) nutrient uptake (along with plant choices). More light means more nutrients and more Co2 to keep the “balance” assuming that your plants can utilize it all before growing algae. Anubias, doesn’t do that in our tanks. It’s a very slow grower with few demands. If you throw a bunch of lights and nutrients in the water, you are going to grow algae and become frustrated and Anubias isn’t really a cheap plant. However, that’s actually good for us because that means we don’t need to spend a whole lot of money on intense lights, nutrients, and pressurized Co2.

Ahhh, Co2....... Do you need it for Anubias? Short answer......No. Long answer...........No, however!........ If my goal was to produce an awesome Anubias only tank that showed off my passion for the hobby, you bet I’d inject pressurized Co2. Only at a very reduced level. Perhaps even down to .25-.5 bubbles per second (going from your 15 gallon example). Why? Because the plants aren’t demanding a lot of nutrients or light to thrive. Add just enough Co2 to create that “balance”. If you want to provide an optimal growing environment AND have control over than environment, you need to be playing with all of the necessary pieces and Co2 is very much one of those pieces. Of course, some may say that for such a low energy tank, one could get enough Co2 from implementing an air stone and utilizing whatever Co2 comes through from the atmospheric air that we breathe. And I would believe them to be correct. Personally, I don’t care for the aesthetics of an air stone and in smaller tanks I find them cumbersome and kind of messy. Your results may vary, but pressurized Co2 is so much easier to control. Having said that (and although I honestly advise against it EXCEPT for the sole purpose of learning about Co2 before investing in a pressurized system), a DIY Co2 setup would be more than enough for a low energy Anubias tank. If you want to go the DIY route there’s 2 ways to do it: 1). Yeast and sugar. 2). Baking soda and citric acid. #1 is easier for the average hobbyist to setup but the stability of the yeast/sugar mixture can be a little tricky to reliably dial in every time and should be remixed every week. The best way to do it is to use a two-bottle setup and rotate out 1 bottle every week so there’s always a fresh bottle going while the other is depleting. It really helps with stability. #2 has a much higher stability tendency but is more difficult to setup. However, the mixture can last much much longer than your average yeast/sugar setup. I went pressurized before getting into the citric acid method but I use to use yeast/sugar for a few years. It’s a hassle but a great way to learn. Adding any Co2 (diy or pressurized) may present the case with Anubias where you may actually need to dose iron especially if you’re using a high-quality light. You would do that by either using root tabs or dosing the water column (depending on of you have them attached to hardscape or planted in substrate). Keep in mind that high-quality lighting doesn’t have to translate into high-intensity lighting. ALSO, plants do require oxygen. They intake Co2 and expel oxygen during the day. Then, intake oxygen and expel Co2 at night). That’s why we don’t inject Co2 24/7. This is where an air stone can really shine. At night! 

I’d also keep my water temps cooler. Between 70-72 Fahrenheit. Although algae can grow in colder water than we’d ever keep in a tank (it can even grow on and in ice, I’ve personally seen this while ice fishing), cooler water can help deter algae. Keep in mind that water temperature has a big impact on the plants metabolism so a slow growing plant will perhaps grow just a tad bit slower in cooler water. But, cooler water also has its advantages. It holds Co2 and oxygen better than warmer water. 

TL;DR..... Keep your lighting low, perhaps even almost “too” low. Keep your nutrient dosing also low and at an almost intermittent but consistent routine (1-4x a month). If you add Co2, DIY or pressurized, keep your bubble rate low (<1bps) to not offset the “balance” and also keep your lighting right where it’s at (don’t make it brighter!). That will offset the balance and the goal here isn’t to create a high-energy tank BECAUSE we don’t have any high-energy plants but we still need the 3 essential parts all serious planted tanks need; Light, nutrients, and respiration (Co2/oxygen).  Anubias isn’t a demanding plant so don’t try to make it one.

Last but not least..........Have fun and learn something!