The best shot of my anubias (middle, background) that I could find. Unfortunately it had died by the time I realized I would want a picture of it for this web site.

Anubias are a favorite of many people in the aquarium hobby, especially cichlid keepers, but I have never had a lot of luck with them. In my tanks they always wither away; that is they hang around for a while, maybe grow one or two new leaves, but overall they become overgrown with algae and more leaves die off or are broken off by the fish then new ones grow in their place. Eventually my anubias will disappear.

I have to admit that I never tried attaching them to a piece of wood or rock, because these places are usually already taken up by Java fern in my tanks. However, I have been careful not to plant the rhizome in the substrate (just the roots), but to no avail. After reading on several sites just now that they should really be planted like Java fern, I guess I might give this a try when the opportunity arises.

I have no idea which variety the Anubias was that I had in my 240G - possibly barteri - but like most other plants in this tank it came from Pete Mang's store (The Fish Place, 141 Robinson Street, N. Tonawanda NY), and looked like a top quality plant. It actually lasted more than one year in my tank, which might well be my record for keeping an anubias alive, but by now I had the tank for almost two years, and sadly it has long gone the way of all my anubias - and of all things mortal.

Addendum January 2008:

At the OCA Extravaganza 2007 I had the chance to pick up several Anubias plants, and this time I simply wedged the roots between the rocks used to built some of my caves. They are somewhat overgrown by algae, but I still have them, and I think they have actually grown a bit! I'll keep you all updated on how they are doing.

Addendum May 2018:

Since learning that Anubias roots must not be buried in substrate, I have been much more successful with them, especially in my 125G tank where Tropheus keep the leafs free from algae. I even wrote an article about Anubias in cichlid tanks for Cichlid-Forum.com.