Anubias is one of the most popular aquatic plants in the home aquarium hobby. With their broad dark green leaves and undemanding growth habits they make a beautiful addition to almost any tank. However, one question that often comes up is just how tall can anubias plants grow? The maximum height depends on a variety of factors. In this article, we’ll explore what affects the growth potential of these lovely plants.
Lighting Conditions Have a Major Impact
The amount and intensity of light an anubias plant receives is one of the main limiting factors for its growth. Anubias prefer lower light conditions, in the moderate to low range. Too little light will result in stunted, slow growth. But too much light can cause algae outbreaks and damage the leaves.
Most experts recommend 0.5 to 1 watt of lighting per gallon of water for optimal anubias growth. LED lights should provide a full spectrum and be positioned an appropriate distance from the plants. Proper lighting encourages lush, vibrant growth within the natural height range of each variety.
Nutrient Levels Must Be Balanced
While anubias are relatively undemanding plants, they still require an adequate balance of essential nutrients to reach their full size potential. Nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and micronutrients like iron are needed for robust growth.
Use a quality aquatic plant fertilizer to provide nutrition without risk of toxicity. Overfertilizing can easily burn plant roots and leaves. With just the right amount of nutrients available, anubias will flourish.
The Right Water Parameters Prevent Limitations
Specific water chemistry parameters like pH, hardness, and temperature impact how well anubias can grow. These plants prefer soft, slightly acidic conditions for best development. Recommended pH is between 6.5-7.5, with temperatures from 72°F to 82°F.
Perform regular partial water changes and use products to remove chlorine and adjust hardness and pH as needed. Keeping water parameters in the ideal range eliminates environmental limitations on growth.
Make Sure the Aquarium Itself is Large Enough
The size of the tank itself becomes a limiting factor if too small for the natural height of the particular anubias variety. For example, giant anubias can reach lengths of 12 inches or more with proper conditions. But they may become stunted at just a fraction of their full height in a 5 or 10 gallon tank.
Choose your anubias species according to your tank dimensions. Allow enough vertical room for the plant to reach maturity without becoming crammed against the hood and equipment. For full growth potential, a minimum 10 gallon tank is recommended.
Give It Enough Horizontal Space Too
In addition to vertical tank height, make sure to allow ample room horizontally for the anubias plant to spread out. Place taller varieties toward the background, with shorter plants up front. The anubias rhizome and roots will creep and expand over time.
Leave enough open substrate surrounding each plant to accommodate lateral growth. If planted too closely together or crowded up against hardscape, anubias will become limited in their overall size.
Consider the Natural Genetics of Each Variety
While all the factors above impact growth potential, the natural genetic height limitation of that particular anubias variety is also a key consideration. Larger types like A. barteri ‘Gigantea’ or A. hastifolia can reach 12 inches tall quite readily. More compact species such as A. nana ‘Petite’ stay under 6 inches even in ideal conditions.
When selecting your anubias, research the natural parameters of that variety to choose one suitable for your tank dimensions. This helps prevent frustrations down the road.
By starting with a suitable species for your aquarium size, tailoring the lighting, nutrition, water parameters and plant spacing to the needs of anubias, you can enjoy these aquatic gems at their full lush potential. Paying attention to the factors that affect growth allows your green thumb to shine.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast do anubias plants grow?
Anubias are relatively slow growing plants. They may take several months or longer to reach their maximum height potential. Growth rate depends on variety and growing conditions.
Will anubias grow emersed out of water?
Some anubias species can grow emersed given very high humidity or regular misting. Most aquatic varieties do not transition well to emerge growth. Their leaves can dry out without sufficient moisture.
Is trimming or pruning anubias recommended?
To maintain size or encourage bushier growth, you can trim off tall leaves or top stems back. Use sterilized scissors and make cuts near the base of the plant. Anubias readily recovers from pruning.
Should I fertilize my anubias plants?
Using an aquarium-safe liquid fertilizer can provide helpful nutrients, but avoid overdoing it. Anubias are sensitive to buildups of certain minerals that can burn roots and leaves.
How often should I change aquarium water?
For optimal growth, perform partial water changes of 10-15% weekly or every other week. This helps replenish minerals and prevent toxicity from waste buildup.
Growing a healthy, thriving anubias display takes attention to the factors that encourage or limit growth. Follow these tips and with a little time and care you’ll have envy-inducing anubias towering with vibrant green leaves in your aquarium. Let us know your best growing tips in the comments!
How to grow Anubias species
Anubias have been a long staple in the aquarium hobby. This shade loving genus is named after the Egyptian god Anubis, lord of the underworld/shadowlands. Anubias originate from Africa – and there are many different species and varietals in cultivation.
Anubias nana petite – a smaller varietal of Anubias, attached to driftwood here in the center. Even though this tank does not run on CO2 injection it grows well. It is an immensely popular plant in the aquarium hobby due to its relative ease of growing.
Larger species include Anubias gigantea, Anubias afzelii, Anubias heterophylla, Anubias gracilis. These have leafs that are as long as the palm of the hand. Often larger species may be sold as smaller, baby specimens, so take note if your intention is to get a smaller plant.
Medium sized Anubias include Anubias barteria nana and its many variants and Anubias coffeefolia. Their leaves reach around 8 – 10cm in length when fully grown.
Smaller Anubias species include Anubias nana petite & its variants, Anubias Stardust; these have leaves around 1.5 – 2 cm long, around the size of a smaller thumbnail.
The smallest Anubias species include Anubias nana Pangolino”, Anubias Chilli; these have leaf sizes around 1cm to 2cm but are more narrow compared to Anubias petite.
Varigated varietals exist for most sizes. Popular ones on the market are Anubias white, Anubias Pinto and Anubias petite white.
Anubias nana petite maintains a small, neat form. These bunch are grown in a non CO2 injected tank and are a tad smaller than the ones grown with CO2 injection.
Anubias white petite is a variegated white Anubias that stays very small. Its rarity means that it can be difficult to find and expensive to purchase. At 2hr Aquarist we often grown Anubias planted directly on the aquasoil substrate. It is a popular myth amongst beginners that Anubias, Java fern and Bucephalandra do not grow well planted in the substrate – the opposite is true – they actually grow better planted in soil than not. However, the rhizome should not be buried deep. In aquasoils, where the top layers are loose, burying the rhizome slightly to keep it in place is fine.
Anubias species are all generally very hardy plants that are easy to grow in the aquarium – they can acclimatize to a large range of water parameters and are not demanding in terms of light as they can be grown in shade. However, to grow them well long term in good form, algae free, still requires us to fulfil their basic needs.
Smaller Anubias species tend to be more delicate, and variegated ones even more so.
As with most aquatic plants, they prefer clean, filtered water with low organic waste levels – this keeps them algae free. They grow well attached to hardscape and do not have to be planted on the substrate. If planted on the substrate, their rhizomes should not be buried, as this causes it to rot. They root deeply into the substrate over time which can make moving them troublesome. Keeping them attached to hardscape allows easy re-positioning.
Anubias barteri nana growing emersed in soil. They grow very well in soil/aquasoil as long as the rhizome is not buried. They take in nutrients through their roots well just like most other plants.
Though they can grow in tanks without CO2 injection, CO2 injection gives more robust, algae-resistant plants and increase growth rates significantly. Their nutrient requirements are low as their growth rates is slow, however, to grow them well long term, they need a comprehensive nutrient regiment – premature deterioration of old leaves and yellowing/off colored leaves can be a sign of a lack of nutrients.
They are vulnerable to BBA if hit by too strong direct flow, so keep them away from the direct vicinity of the filter output. Contrary to popular belief, they can be grown in very bright light – this however, will accelerate their growth rates and expose any weakness in their nutrient access. Though they can be attached to hardscape, they grow very well with their roots in substrate/soil as they can take in nutrients through that route as well. When planting them in soil, keep the rhizome above the substrate line – burying the rhizome can lead to rot.
Anubias are popular among the aquascaping crowd as they grow well on wood and blends well with mosses and other epiphytes.
- Clean water and long term stable parameters.
- Higher light levels give faster growth but can lead to increased algae presence. Growing the plants in lower light tends to be a more stable approach.
- Anubias will grow in as little light as 10 umols of PAR. Use them in shade areas of the tank where other plants do not grow well.
- Comprehensive water column nutrient availability necessary for long term health and robust plants/optimal form. It takes months for Anubias species to show deficiencies in slow growing tanks.
Anubias are great for low-tech (non-CO2 injected) setups such as this. They can be attached to hardscape flexibly and are also shade tolerant.
Often the rhizome will naturally sprout separate growth heads after some time and these can be cut from the main rhizome once they reach suitable size.
The rhizome can also be divided using a sharp blade once it reaches a suitable length. Healthy specimens can be divided more finely while unhealthy plants can disintegrate. You can use a blade or scissors to cut a longer rhizome into smaller pieces. Each piece will grow into a new plant. For a healthy rhizome of Anubias barteri nana, a longer rhizome can be divided into 4-5cm segments; each segment should have a couple of leaves. For a healthy sample of Anubias nana petite, a longer rhizome can be divided into 2-3cm segments; each segment should have at least a couple of leaves.