Anubias Nana

Scientific name: Anubias barteri var. nana

Origin: Cameroon, West Africa

Growth: slow, 5–15 cm tall

Light and CO2: low; no CO2 needed

Placement: attach to wood or rock, rhizome exposed

Propagation: cut the rhizome into pieces

Anubias Nana (Anubias barteri var. nana) is about as close to indestructible as an aquarium plant gets. It comes from streams in Cameroon, grows slowly to 5–15 cm and asks for little light and no added CO2. Its thick, dark green leaves are tough enough that most plant-eating fish leave them alone, and each leaf lives for years. That long life has one side effect: slow-growing algae can settle on old leaves, so it does best in a shaded spot rather than under strong light. One rule matters more than any other. The rhizome, the thick horizontal stem the leaves and roots grow from, must sit above the substrate. Buried, it rots and the plant dies. Tie or glue it to wood or rock instead, and the roots will find their own way down. The broad leaves collect biofilm, the microbial film shrimp graze, and give a settled surface for them to work over. It even flowers underwater from time to time.

Water: tolerates a wide range of hardness and pH and ordinary tropical temperatures. It is not fussy and copes with tanks where other plants struggle.

Planting: attach the rhizome to wood or rock with cotton thread or aquarium-safe cyanoacrylate gel glue, or wedge it into a crevice. If you set it on the substrate, leave the rhizome fully exposed so it cannot rot. Rhizomes reach 10–15 cm and can be cut into sections with a few leaves each to make new plants.

Light and feeding: low light, no CO2 injection (carbon dioxide gas added to boost growth). Too much light invites algae on the long-lived leaves. A light liquid fertiliser dose is plenty.