Sick Anubias?

[AggieMel]

So, I got home today after a school project and when I took a look at my cycling 20 gallon, I noticed my Anubias nana is having an issue. It has these little circular brown spots (not diatoms), and some browning stem areas. To me, it looks like a disease - possibly fungal. It looks very similar to some sort of rust on terrestrial plants, but it doesn't brush off easily like rust does... I don't even know if there's such thing as an aquatic rust. At the same time, it also reminds me of aerial root nodes... but I don't think this is a normal part of the plant physiology, as it does not appear on the Anubias in my 10gal which is happy and pearling. You'll see in the pictures.

Here's some info about my tank:

I'm doing fish-food cycling, and my current water parameters are:
-Ammonia: ~1ppm (Finally showing some! It's been nearly 4 days).
-No nitrates/nitrites yet.
-pH: 8.2
-Temp: 80*F

I have a 2x24w T5HO lighting fixture (10-12 hr photoperiod)

I dose Flourish according to the label twice a week

Other plants in the tank include Moneywort, Amazon Swords, Java Ferns, Aponogeton, and Marimo "Moss". They are all doing well as far as I can see.

No fish or inverts in the tank yet.

Any idea what this is???

 

[daileene]

That is a weird one...I am sorry I cannot help you with this but I am interested to as what that thing is, so I am going to follow this thread.

I am sorry you have to deal with this.

 

[fort384]

Not sure Mel. Is it just on the anubias? Have you examined the other plants? It really looks like disease vs. Any kind of deficiency, but I have never had an aquatic plant disease. Has it expanded or receded any since you posted?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Did you get this plant out of a tube? I swear I remember seeing the same thing on mine that I got from a tube at petsmart

 

[AggieMel]

Yes, I did get it out of the dreaded tubes.... that's the only local supply of plants I have. Sigh.

My degree is in Agronomy, so I do a lot of work with plants, and this really looks like a fungal disease to me (could be bacterial; most likely not a virus). I took it out of my tank in case it is in fact a disease, because I have no way to identify it and know if my other plants may be susceptible. I'm trying to keep it immersed in a Tupperware container just to see what happens. I'm probably going to try to remove the "infected" tissues and soak it in a dilute bleach/alcohol solution. That's how we used to treat potatoes in the lab for any surface disease. We'll see if it does any good.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Well, I'm not an agronomy person (whatever that term is... agronomist?)... So here's my FWIW statement. Mine did it, it went away, never caused an issue. Now.. that doesn't help you figure out what it is. But, my experience with it was just that. I didn't know enough about plants to worry about it, so I didn't worry about it, and it went away.

Oh, and another FWIW... anubias is just fine to get from a tube. Usually a little more expensive, and will look pretty bad until it gets used to be submerged, but that's where mine came from and is now 4 plants

 

[AggieMel]

Hmm... well that helps put my mind at ease a little. Maybe I'll put it back in the tank and keep an eye on it. I'll keep you posted. Thanks