Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- Cameroon
- Congo
- Gabon
- Guinea
- Gulf of Guinea Is.
- Ivory Coast
- Liberia
- Nigeria
rhizome on stone and wood cichlid-proof midground background foreground nano tank Conservation status: LC
A slow, tough plant from West African streams, sold in a dozen forms from tiny to knee-high. Like the Java fern it lives on wood and stones rather than in the substrate, and it survives conditions that finish off most other plants.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- very easy
- Height
- 3 – 40 cm
- Temperature
- 12 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typerhizome
Growth rateslow
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightlow – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness0 – 21 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementon stone and wood +5
Propagationrhizome division, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Thick, almost plastic-looking leaves of a deep green on short stalks. Height depends on the form: the dwarf kinds stay 3–10 cm, the large ones reach 40 cm. The leaves are hard enough that fish which chew softer plants usually leave them alone.
Keeping
Easy and forgiving: dim light is enough, carbon dioxide is not needed, and the water may be soft or hard. Growth is very slow — a new leaf a month is normal — so bright light does it no favours: algae settle on leaves that live for years. Shade from taller plants or from wood is exactly right.
Placement
Tie or glue it to wood or stone; the thick horizontal stem must stay above the substrate or it rots. Small forms sit in the front, large ones stand alone as a centrepiece. It is one of the few plants that survive with cichlids, which usually dig up or eat everything else.
Propagation
Cut the horizontal stem into pieces with three or four leaves each and tie every piece down separately. Cut with a clean blade and do not shorten the roots — the plant recovers slowly, and a wound plus lost roots means months of standing still.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1034 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasFeatherfin SynodontisRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus Brokopondo
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaSpined LoachMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight GouramiMelanotaenia parva
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Anubias barteri var. nana, Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite' ('Bonsai'), Anubias barteri var. nana 'Round Leaf', Anubias lanceolata, Anubias minima, Anubias barteri 'Coin Leaf', Anubias barteri caladiifolia, Anubias barteri 'Mini Coin', Anubias barteri 'Mini Coin' on stone, Anubias barteri nana, Anubias barteri 'Petite', Anubias barteri sp., Anubias barteri var. nana 'Kirin', Anubias barteri var. nana 'Pinto', Anubias barteri var. nana 'Large', Anubias barteri var nana Petite, Anubias barteri var nana Round Leaf Coin, Anubias barteri var nana Mini, Anubias barteri Compact, Anubias barteri var glabra Minima…