What's wrong with my Anubias? (pics)

[RightTurnClyde]

The rhizome of my Anubias plant is getting more and more brown and seems to be beginning to spread towards the stems of the leaves. Is it rotting? One of the stems is starting to sway a lot and I think it dying. Is there anything I can do to save it? It seems strange since the roots look nice and green (mostly).

See the pics below.

29 Gallon
Low light LED.
No CO2, occasionally I add Seachem Flourish or Excel, but not on any kind of strict schedule.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Bump. Anyone?

 

[mapexmac007]

I've got an Anubias in my 29gal — however, I'm woefully ignorant of specifics on plants. Yours looks far better than mine. My goldies (one of them anyway) LOVES to nibble at the rhizome — at which I get miffed — but what can I do, give her a time out? LOL

In your photos, it looks as though the plant is rooted on to a large lava rock formation, is this correct? If so, they may be a major part of the problem — but again, I am certainly no expert. Why not plant it in the gravel/bed?

My LFS recommended I use "Seachem Flourish" — but no sooner than I treated my tank once with it, my nitrates went through the roof, and have been elevated since. My newest plant (not an Anubias) is thriving!

Just my two cents of experiences, I really cannot offer a diagnosis. Sorry 'bout that.

 

[Britty]

Similar to you I have a low light tank and don't add any CO2.

Are you able to check if you have high pH? I had lots of gradual browning (looked what you have there) cross all my plants after I had fishless cycled my tank. My pH was over 8 and the plants were struggling.

When I got my pH under 7.6 most of the plants sprang back after a few weeks and the browning receded. Some shoots were too far gone by then and I had to cut them out. Always cut out non recoverable growth as the plant is expending energy trying to keep it growing. That energy is better reserved for the healthy shoots.

Now they are all green and healthy. But the high pH did knock them around a bit.

Also check your nitrates. If they are very low or even zero your Anubias may be lacking nitrogen which can result in yellowing and browning. Not normally an issue if you have a reasonable fish load but something to check also.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

My Nitrates have always been < 10 as I'm still building up my stock. Plus I have some real nitrate suckers in there like Anacharis and Java Moss. My PH is always right around 7.8, so it's definitely on the high side.

Why would having it tied to a rock be bad? Everything I read says either that or a piece of driftwood is how they like to be.

I'm going to feel the rhizome during my water change tonight and see if it's spongy or still firm. I'd feel bad chucking it since it's the first plant I ever got, but I've got a Java Fern baby ready to take its place so it wouldn't be too much of a loss.

 

[Britty]

I doubt tying it to a rock is bad. Lots of people successfully tie them to rocks. Driftwood is often preferred as the roots can follow the grain and burrow into it. Rocks are often impervious. But none of that matters here. That's not the primary cause of why yours would be browning.

Sounds like you may have a deficiency in nitrate / nitrogen due to low fish stock. Maybe look at getting macro fert which has a nitrogen / nitrate base in the meantime while you populate your tank. Once you get the full fish population you can back off the macro as the fish will be doing the work for you.

A little bit of peat moss to slowly bring your pH down a few decimal points will help a little bit also. Although try the above before hand. If it helps don't worry about the pH. Just leave it.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Thanks Britty, I'll look into a macro nitrogen fert. Although I need to let the tank clear for a while. I tried to put my first API root tab down into my sand last night and the ****ed thing disintegrated so fast that it mostly when into the water column and clouded it up. I was under the impression that it was a slow release kind of a thing. So... hopefully that gave everyone in the tank a good dose of everything.

I'd rather not play around with the PH if I don't have to. If that means I can't keep Anubias plants, then so be it. To tell you the truth, I don't really like it that much.

 

[mapexmac007]

My pH is hovering around 7.8, and now I'm wondering if that's why my anubias isn't "thriving" but merely hanging in there...

As for tiring it to rocks or driftwood, pardon my ignorance, I had absolutely no idea they liked that. Mine has been rooted into the gravel. Perhaps I have a lot of learning to do with respect to anubias and plants in general.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Anubias (and java fern) don't like to have their rhizome buried at all. These plants do just fine tied to porous rocks or driftwood.

The yellowing is possibly due to a deficiency in macro ferts, as what was suggested with the nitrogen (probably potassium as well). Flourish comp does have some N, but it's miniscule -- it's mainly micros. Keep dosing it, but maybe you can dose N, P, K too. Also keep the Excel up for safe measure.

You can try this enhancer kit:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12787