About the species

Anubias barteri var. nana is the hobby's most widely used Anubias and one of the toughest aquarium plants there is. It comes from Cameroon, reaches five to ten centimetres in height and has a creeping rhizome that grows ten to fifteen centimetres long. Growth is slow, the leaves live for several years and it flowers frequently under water.

Facts

• Latin name: Anubias barteri var. nana
• Plant type: Rhizome plant
• Origin: Africa
• Height: 5–15 cm
• Growth rate: Slow
• Position: Wood and stone

Light requirement

Low light requirement. It manages with the lighting that comes with most aquariums and is happy in partial shade behind or beneath taller plants. Strong lighting does not harm it, but raises the risk of algae on the leaves because the plant cannot use all the available light.

CO₂ & nutrition

Manages entirely without added CO₂, which makes it as suitable for a simple aquarium as for an aquascape. Liquid carbon or injected CO₂ speeds up growth but is never a requirement. Dose an all-round fertiliser with iron and micronutrients every week.

Planting

The rhizome must never go into the substrate — it will rot. Instead tie or glue the plant onto a piece of wood or a stone using fishing line, thread or plant glue, and leave it until the roots have taken hold on their own. It can also simply be wedged into a crevice in the hardscape.

Rinse all the gel off in lukewarm water before planting, otherwise it can cause bacterial cloudiness. The cup holds many small plants — divide them up and plant them in several portions.

Care & propagation

It needs almost no maintenance at all. Propagation is simple: divide the rhizome with sharp scissors or a knife so each piece keeps at least three or four leaves. Make sure there is a gentle current past the plant so no debris collects between the leaves.

Position in the aquarium

It grows on hardscape rather than in the substrate, so it can be placed anywhere in the aquarium — on a piece of wood, a stone or a back wall. That makes it as useful in the foreground as high up in the layout.

Difficulty level

🟢 Easy — grows in most aquariums without CO₂ and under ordinary lighting.

Delivery format

Delivered as 1-2-Grow! — a laboratory-grown cup holding many small plants in nutrient gel. Because the plant is cultivated in vitro it is completely free of snails, algae, planaria and pesticides, which makes it the safest choice for a shrimp aquarium.

Recommendation

The plant we recommend first to both new aquarists and shrimp aquariums: it copes with shade where nothing else thrives, is not eaten by herbivorous fish and needs neither CO₂ nor a nutrient-rich substrate.