What is the brown stuff on my anubias

I noticed this brown stuff growing on my anubias plant about a week ago. It appeared within 2 days and it has gotten progressively worse. One of the leaves actually closed for about a day and it is now reopened and doesn’t have the problem that the other leaves do. What is it and how do I cure it. I have attached photos.

 

Looks like diatoms. Is it a newly set up tank?

 

Yes it is. It is a little over 3 weeks old

 

I have something like that on my main tank, which is artificial, I will make a natural one soon.

 

Yes it is. It is a little over 3 weeks old

That will be it. Pretty common in new tanks due to imbalances in the parameters of your water, excess nutrients etc. Should go on its own in time as the tank matures.

failing that, it is fairly easy to wipe off or there are various fish/inverts that will eat it. Nerite snails love diatoms.

 

One thing I want to add is that anubia's do not want to be planted. That might be your problem.

I have them in 6 of my tanks because I just plain love them not only because they are beautiful, but also for their over all ease of care, plus they seem to be able to survive even the worst of my plant assassins, aka, silver dollars.

But as far as your plant goes, this is an easy fix.

Find yourself an interesting rock and super glue the plant onto it and then place it where you want in the tank. And it doesn't have to be a big rock, only enough to hold the plant down, I have them attached to 2 inch pebbles. I also have some glued to wood. I've even had them bloom for me. Or if you are into decorations that I'm not, like castles or such, glue it onto that. The main point is to not plant it, let it's rizone, which might not be the right word in this case, and roots be above the substrate.

And while I might chose super glue, you can also use thread or a fine floral wire to achieve the same results. I have done that when attaching them to trickier places. I even have some of the smaller ones just tucked into a crevice of a piece of wood. The main thing is to not put the rizone into the substrate. And I love the look of the 'roots' hanging over an interesting rock or piece of wood, kind of a natural kind of look.

This is a pic of one of my anubia's actually blooming. It's glued to a piece of driftwood and is in my blue shrimp tank. Also in this pic you can see how the rizone is spreading.

 

One thing I want to add is that anubia's do not want to be planted. That might be your problem.

I have them in 6 of my tanks because I just plain love them not only because they are beautiful, but also for their over all ease of care, plus they seem to be able to survive even the worst of my plant assassins, aka, silver dollars.

But as far as your plant goes, this is an easy fix.

Find yourself an interesting rock and super glue the plant onto it and then place it where you want in the tank. And it doesn't have to be a big rock, only enough to hold the plant down, I have them attached to 2 inch pebbles. I also have some glued to wood. I've even had them bloom for me. Or if you are into decorations that I'm not, like castles or such, glue it onto that. The main point is to not plant it, let it's rizone, which might not be the right word in this case, and roots be above the substrate.

And while I might chose super glue, you can also use thread or a fine floral wire to achieve the same results. I have done that when attaching them to trickier places. I even have some of the smaller ones just tucked into a crevice of a piece of wood. The main thing is to not put the rizone into the substrate. And I love the look of the 'roots' hanging over an interesting rock or piece of wood, kind of a natural kind of look.

This is a pic of one of my anubia's actually blooming. It's glued to a piece of driftwood and is in my blue shrimp tank. Also in this pic you can see how the rizone is spreading.

Do you mind if I ask whether you have glued plants to wood that has been wet? I don't have any live plants yet but I want to get some. My one piece of wood is already in the tank, waterlogged. If I take it out for a few hours, will the glue stick or will I have to tie the plants on?

 

I have glued onto wet wood.

When I start a new tank, during the cycling, I like to add the decorations early so I can start to get an idea of where I want the tank to go, so the wood is one of the first things to be placed since I like using it as a focal point. Also to get it water logged.

When I start to add the plants, I have both removed the wood, dabbed it and the part of the plant I want to glue, with a paper towel and then attached the plant and I have also used florist wire to tie plants on wood in established tanks because it was easier than taking the wood out. Both have worked for me.

I kind of like the removing the wood or rock to glue the plant on better because you can better find the exact right spot for the plant, that little nook where it fits in perfectly. Sometimes you can even find a nook where you don't have to attach in any way, just kind of shove it in.

One warning, if you don't want glue coated fingers, wear gloves. With me I have never been able to glue without getting it on my fingers, but that might be because I have old lady clumsy finger, lol . The main reason being that you will have to hold the plant in place until the glue sets which is about 5 to 10 minutes. I then let the wood/rock sit for another 1/2 hour before I put it back in the tank.

I just took this pic to show you because in it there is an anubias that is glued to a small rock and another that is wired to the wood. You can't tell any difference between the two plants, both are doing just fine.

Btw, all those white dots are nerite snail eggs, which can not hatch in fresh water. You can even see two of them adding even more white dots to the wood. I love my nerites, they are fantastic algae eaters and beautiful to boot, but I sure hate all the eggs they leave around which is why I only have them in the 55 gallon community. I also have ramshorn snails in the tank. While they do not leave white dots they do reproduce like crazy. 6 of one 1/2 dozen of another when it comes to snails, lol.