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Favorite Type of Anubius


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Anubius is defentley my favorite type of plant, with its all of its variations its SUPER simple to keep alive and thriving. You can propergate it anywhere, it could be on a peice of hardscape or in the substrate.

I was wondering whats your favorite type of anubius?

My favorites probably the nana petite, or the anubius barteri.

 

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There really is no one favorite Anubias as I generally plant three types in succession of size in my tanks which are Anubias nana petite, Anubias nana, and Anubias afzelli. However in regards to which do I believe has the nicest looking leaves I prefer Anubias afzelli hands down. It also blends in well with Microsorum pteropus Java fern. It helps make stumps appear more naturally overgrown with epiphytes and yet not look chaotic.

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Golden, gold coin, and coffeefolia are all so unique and have a striking, fleshy, solid texture, especially in front of fine-leaf stem plants like hornwort or mayaca. About 30% of times, I've had one melt away within weeks, but I've kept the rhizomes and held out hope they'll grow back.

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@AquaAggie just like @ColuI employ a varied crew of algae grazers of Otocinclus, Nerite snails, military helmet snails, the occasional hitchhiker bladder snail, Amano shrimp, and Blue Velvet shrimp. I do 50% water changes every week. Every two weeks I rinse the canister filter sponges in used tank water before adding them back into the canister. My tank has substrate that acts as a huge organic filter with a porous under layer and light top that invites bacteria to colonize, and it is chock full of plants to uptake nutrients and out-compete algae. I add CO2, root tabs, and liquid ferts.

All that aside my tank is far from being algae free, especially so since the water district I reside in switches back and forth between five different wells, two of which have known phosphate problems. I don't believe there is such a thing as an algae free tank. I keep a close watch on my water parameters, but life happens, and as disciplined as I'd like to be sometimes I do the water change without testing to see what changes the district has made. I try to at least check every two to four weeks so I don't get surprised. Some of my Anubias also have GSA, especially some closer to the surface and the light. Anubias and Bucephalandra, and Java fern are low light plants and have a tendency to attract GSA when they get too much light, the key is not to let the algae get to be overwhelming.

Even If you have the most perfect water parameters in the world you will likely get to see GSA at some point, I don't stress over a bit of algae as long as the general appearance is not affected. That said I don't give algae a chance to get out of hand, and I am also not shy about pruning leaves back aggressively, or getting rid of damaged leaves to encourage new growth. In previous tanks I have sometimes cut Anubias back until only one, or two leaves were left. New leaves always grew back, not very fast mind you but over time I got a stronger, healthier, better looking plant.

In my years I have seen all kinds of different methods and explanations for getting rid of algae but out of all my main takeaway has been weekly water changes, water quality test kits, as many plants as possible, sufficient lighting, don't get tanks that are so deep that light loses too much intensity by the time it reaches the bottom, a good assistant cleaner crew, supply sufficient fertilizer, and most of all keep an eye on things and don't let up in maintenance.

Never forget algae is a natural thing it is just using what's available. Algae is part of nature's original filtration system and it is good at what it does, we tend to prefer plants for our optics so we need to see to it that our plants get all they need to get to the nutrients before algae can, and don't let a bit of algae stress you if it is still under control, the hobby is more rewarding, and relaxing to you if you don't.  I hope this helps.

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