Who Gives A Fish Forums

This morning brought a pleasant surprise - one of my anubias plants has bloomed with a beautiful white flower. I'm fairly certain it's the anubias wavy variety I introduced to the tank over a year ago.

Congrats Lexat, lovely flower. Is that a nana plant? Got a pic of the whole plant? What are your water parameters like? Do you fertilize, add CO2? Really jealous, my anubias just won't bloom like that.

StripeSly wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2024 8:33 pm Congrats Lexat, lovely flower. Is that a nana plant? Got a pic of the whole plant? What are your water parameters like? Do you fertilize, add CO2? Really jealous, my anubias just won't bloom like that.

Anubias can produce flowers if they're grown emersed, out of water.

coltin wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2024 9:50 pm

StripeSly wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2024 8:33 pm Congrats Lexat, lovely flower. Is that a nana plant? Got a pic of the whole plant? What are your water parameters like? Do you fertilize, add CO2? Really jealous, my anubias just won't bloom like that.

Anubias can produce flowers if they're grown emersed, out of water.

I'm curious, how do I get my anubias to grow out of the water? Do I need to create some sort of elevated platform for the plants to poke out? I'm not sure I understand the concept. And by the way, do nana plants typically produce flowers like this, or is it just certain varieties?

StripeSly wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2024 8:33 pm Congrats Lexat, lovely flower. Is that a nana plant? Got a pic of the whole plant? What are your water parameters like? Do you fertilize, add CO2? Really jealous, my anubias just won't bloom like that.

Anubias seem to thrive on the nutrients from fish waste and leftover food, which suits their slow growth pace. What they lack in speed, they make up for in resilience - they're pretty "hardy" plants. To maintain this strength, they need a decent amount of potassium, which also plays a part in flowering. I personally don't use CO2, but I do supplement with potassium and iron.

StripeSly wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2024 8:33 pm Congrats Lexat, lovely flower. Is that a nana plant? Got a pic of the whole plant? What are your water parameters like? Do you fertilize, add CO2? Really jealous, my anubias just won't bloom like that.

I use a liquid fertilizer specifically designed for aquatic plants, adding it to the water as directed.

StripeSly wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2024 8:33 pm Congrats Lexat, lovely flower. Is that a nana plant? Got a pic of the whole plant? What are your water parameters like? Do you fertilize, add CO2? Really jealous, my anubias just won't bloom like that.

For potassium, just follow the dosage on the Flourish bottle. Before adding iron, test your water source for iron levels first, no sense in adding what's already there.

StripeSly wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2024 8:33 pm Congrats Lexat, lovely flower. Is that a nana plant? Got a pic of the whole plant? What are your water parameters like? Do you fertilize, add CO2? Really jealous, my anubias just won't bloom like that.

Thanks for the info. I'd like to know, how much potassium do you usually add?

The dosage is on the bottle, it's pretty straightforward. For a standard 10 gallon tank, it's 1 capful of Flourish potassium per 10 gallons.

Anubias aren't strictly aquatic plants, they're terrestrial ones that just happen to survive in a tank. Flowers are for pollination, which doesn't happen underwater, that's why they're not supposed to flower in water.