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How do you plant anubias in substrate?

74K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  AUvet14  
#1 · (Edited)
I'm getting 2 anubias barteri var. nana in this week that I am planning on planting rooted in the substrate for use as a midground in front of some stem plants. I have read that you're not supposed to plant it so that the rhizome is buried in the substrate because it will rot and the plant will die. This might be a stupid question, but do you just bury the smaller roots and leave the rhizome above the substrate?
 
#3 ·
Planting Anubias



Hello A...

I have Anubias planted a couple of different ways. You just need to make sure the rhisome isn't covered. That's just the thick area that holds the stems of the leaves.

You can plant it attached loosely to driftwood with thin sewing thread. The driftwood can be floating or sitting on the bottom of the tank or use a piece of lava rock and use thread. I have some planted in pots too. I just use a small plastic pot and put in a little aquarium pea gravel at the bottom, then some organic potting mixture, put in the plant and cover only the roots with more pea gravel.

The potting mixture nourishes the plant for several months and gets the plant past the period it needs to get used to your water conditions. Anubias can be a relatively fast grower in the right water conditions.

Above everything else, have fun!

B
 
#12 ·
Hello A...

I have Anubias planted a couple of different ways. You just need to make sure the rhisome isn't covered. That's just the thick area that holds the stems of the leaves.

You can plant it attached loosely to driftwood with thin sewing thread. The driftwood can be floating or sitting on the bottom of the tank or use a piece of lava rock and use thread. I have some planted in pots too. I just use a small plastic pot and put in a little aquarium pea gravel at the bottom, then some organic potting mixture, put in the plant and cover only the roots with more pea gravel.

The potting mixture nourishes the plant for several months and gets the plant past the period it needs to get used to your water conditions. Anubias can be a relatively fast grower in the right water conditions.

Above everything else, have fun!

B
I have good experience with these plants with Rubber Bands and rocks
 
#4 ·
Weight it and drop it on the substrate. The roots will grow into it on their own.
I prefer to attach them to small rocks. Makes it easy to move the plant anywhere in the tank without causing a mess when uprooting it. Plus I like to see the roots wrap around the rocks.

Anubias is one of the few plants that can be attached to anything....high or low in the tank. A nana mid-ground may get lost in the overgrowth eventually and its going to be hard to move once rooted.
 
#9 ·
Hey I've had similar questions before with anubias! This plant is pretty awesome. I just wedged some in a piece of driftwood and the roots grew out like crazy.
I wanted to mention, don't be afraid to cut these babies. I was so worried to trim them for some reason, but after watching some trimming videos on youtube, i went ahead and cut almost all of the big leaves on my anubias and have been so pleased at the growth that came afterwords. Double the leaves, more compact, etc. Obviously go for the look you want, but don't be afraid to snip those big leaves to let new growth come in!
Cheers!
 
#14 ·
Wow. I forgot I even made this post. Lol. I would recommend taking it out of the pot. It should do better taking it out of the rock wool, plus I don’t think the pots are particularly attractive. You can superglue it to a small rock or piece of driftwood. That’s what I have done with all the anubias in my new tanks. It looks better and the superglue is completely inert once it dries.

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All of those are glued to either rocks or the driftwood. I think your CAN leave it in the rock wool in the pot but the plant would look and I’m sure feel better it you glued it to something. Just a small dab of the gel superglue is fine. No need to douse it. You can also tie it on something with some thread and the thread will eventually dissolve but I’ve found at least in my tank the shrimp and cleanup crew plus the water flow end up loosening up the thread and they all came loose and I had to redo it. Hope this helps!


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