Phosphate questions

[Fishfinder1973]

My tap water contains 0.6 phosphate and I’m sure this is what’s affecting the anubias and ferns as they have always had brown stains on them that I can rub off.
Obviously I can’t solve the problem with water changes because there will always be 0.6 phosphate.
Can a uv light help eliminate this problem?
I purchased jbl phosex,but I don’t really want to use it,and besides it would only take a water change to boost phosphate back up.
Has anyone any ideas,because at this rate I will never have nice fully green plants.

 

[Colin_T]

if you have brown stuff on the plant leaves and it wipes off, it is algae.

anubias are slow growing plants that do best in the garden, not the fish tank.

a UV light won't make any difference to algae on plants, ornaments, glass or anything else except free floating algae in the water.

you can get phosphate removing substances from pet shops and filter the water through this before using it in the tank. or add a heap of floating plants and let them use the nutrients.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah I would go the more plants route. Add in some floating plants and a gew gast growers and it will take care of the phosphate.

Also how long has the tank been running. Brown stains that rub off sounds like diatoms. If it is a fairly new tank this is pretty common and will sort itself out anyway.

 

[Byron]

Agree with Colin.

Low-tech or natural method planted tanks will have sufficient phosphate for the plants solely from feeding the fish (assuming prepared dried foods). Having said that, I would not worry about a level of 0.6 in the tap water. Actually, there is evidence that phosphates limit algae growth (Walstad, 2003) though one does not want to be increasing phosphates in an attempt to somehow stop algae, there are other factors at work. Walstad says her planted tanks have phosphate in the range of 1 to 5 mg/l.

Data on the light and any plant additives, and the total plant load, will likely allow us to find the cure here.

 

[GaryE]

I'm curious about the dismissal of Anubias spp in Colin's post. It have 3 species of Anubias that are among my favourite underwater plants - they grow well, reproduce very well and look very good. So why the booting them out to the garden (which is under snow and ice here!)?

 

[Byron]

I'm curious about the dismissal of Anubias spp in Colin's post. It have 3 species of Anubias that are among my favourite underwater plants - they grow well, reproduce very well and look very good. So why the booting them out to the garden (which is under snow and ice here!)?

I turned a blind eye to that point, lol.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm curious about the dismissal of Anubias spp in Colin's post. It have 3 species of Anubias that are among my favourite underwater plants - they grow well, reproduce very well and look very good. So why the booting them out to the garden (which is under snow and ice here!)?

Anubias are not true aquatic plants, and are considered low light plants in aquariums because they are slow growing. They grow slowly underwater because it is not their natural habitat. If you want them in a tank, that is fine but they do a lot better in a garden pot where they can grow and flower.

You can put the pot on the window sill if it's cold outdoors.

 

[Fishfinder1973]

Agree with Colin.

Low-tech or natural method planted tanks will have sufficient phosphate for the plants solely from feeding the fish (assuming prepared dried foods). Having said that, I would not worry about a level of 0.6 in the tap water. Actually, there is evidence that phosphates limit algae growth (Walstad, 2003) though one does not want to be increasing phosphates in an attempt to somehow stop algae, there are other factors at work. Walstad says her planted tanks have phosphate in the range of 1 to 5 mg/l.

Data on the light and any plant additives, and the total plant load, will likely allow us to find the cure here.

I have roughly 8 anubias in there,along with three 1 2 grow Java moss pots and two bunches of heudelotii bolbitis.
I don’t add anything in regards to fertz,or any other chemicals for that matter.The filter is rated 1550l per hour flow rate and there’s a power head 5000 l per hour.That’s everything in the tank apart from the driftwood and sand.
I have around 80 fish,but I do 70% water changes every three days.

 

[itiwhetu]

I'm curious about the dismissal of Anubias spp in Colin's post. It have 3 species of Anubias that are among my favourite underwater plants - they grow well, reproduce very well and look very good. So why the booting them out to the garden (which is under snow and ice here!)?

They are not aquatic plants, that simple.

 

[itiwhetu]

Just as a thought, just because it grows doesn't mean it belongs.

 

[GaryE]

This is interesting. Because they grow slowly and live for many years underwater, I've always considered them ideal for beginners. I am a fish first planted tank person, and most of my most successful plants also grow above water - stream banks are my thing. But in preparation for my move, I must have given away 30 or 40 Anubias nana, congoensis as an unidentified species. I started with 2 or 3 of each, and kept a large stock I'll haul along with me. I also grow a lot of Java fern and Bolbitis heudelotti, both submerged and in the space between the surface and the glass (I prefer a plant leaf zone to a tank filled to the top).

I've seen a lot of purely terrestrial plants sold for aquariums, and they don't live long underwater. True bog plants interest me greatly. I'm a killie and western African fish guy, and for those fish, I tend to stay with regional plants. The java ferns don't get the job in those tanks. I don't like mixing plants and fish from different geographic regions.

I'll try my Anubias in paludarium type set ups, though they'll also keep living the bog life, like my 31 year old Bolbitis. I have enough to experiment with. I've never seen Anubias used as a house plant, or obviously as a garden plant - that's my own geo-region.

Another aquarium related project. Thanks.

 

[Fishfinder1973]

I’ve never seen anubias as a house plant either,but it’s good to know.
The problem I have will probably be with the light,as I seen an anubias leaf that was half brown,like a line drawn across it.The brown half was in the light,but the other half which was perfectly green was shaded by a leaf growing above it.
I can’t find a light that will fit the tank,since oases aquariums seem to need set up with oase equipment,it’s all integrated.
I had a fluval tank with the fluval aquasky,and the plants were great,nice and green and grew like mad,but I could dim that light,run a cycle and change colour.The oase light is either on or off,No in between.I just don’t have it on too long.

 

[StandbySetting]

They are not aquatic plants, that simple.

Neither are most plants available readily to fish keepers, a lot grow in marshes and or spend their time underwater seasonally. Anubias can be kept permanently underwater but growth will be slow. It will not rot like a terrestrial plant would.

 

[Byron]

There seems to be some confusion earlier in this thread concerning Anubias plants. I researched this genus of plants when I wrote some plant profiles a decade or so ago, for another site.

Anubias barteri​

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Family: Araceae, Subfamily Aroideae​

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Common Name: Anubias​

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Origin and Habitat: Tropical central and west Africa. Found in rivers, streams and in marshes. Species in the genus are aquatic or semi-aquatic; Kasselmann (2003) mentions that some species grow better as marsh/bog plants as opposed to fully submersed.​

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Ideal position in aquarium: May be attached to rock or wood and used throughout the aquarium but not in direct bright light [see comments under Lighting requirements].​

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Lighting requirements: Low to moderate. It often develops yellowing spots on the leaves in bright light (unless nutrients including CO2 are high), and in most natural aquaria should preferably be grown in shade or under diffused light such as under floating plants. Algae will not be so likely to grow on the leaves in subdued or low light.​

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Discussion​

... [excerpted]​

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The Araceae is a family of flowering plants in which the flower is borne on an inflorescence known as a spadix which is usually partially enveloped by a leaf-like bract called a spathe. Also known as the Arum family, there are more than 3700 species in 107 genera. The genus Anubias was named by the Austrian botanist Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (1794-1865); the name is that of the Egyptian god Anubias. Schott described the species A. barteri in 1860. A. barteri var. nana was originally described by Adolf Engler in 1899 as a distinct species, Anubias nana; it was reduced to varietal status by Crusio in 1979.​

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References:​

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Crusio, W. (1979), "A revision of Anubias Schott (Araceae)," Primitiae Africanae XII, Mededelingen Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 79 (14), pp. 1-48.​

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Kasselmann, Christel (2003), Aquarium Plants, Krieger Publishing Company.​

The photo attached is the Anubias plant in my 33g tank in 2008. All of these plants are from the same plant, with the rhizome broken apart to provide individual plants. The "parent" was in my 90g for a few years, and I decided to use it in individual sections to plant the 33g. It certainly grew well submersed all those years.