Loaches Online Forum

Hi,

I have tried various plants in m 95g loach tank but most plants (with the exception of Java Fern and Anubias) don't last more than a month as the clowns and yoyos tend to uproot them or slowly destroy it.

I am planning to get some more Java Fern and Anubias. For the anubias, I am thinking of getting some that are already grown onto a driftwood (or just buying the Anubias and tying that to the driftwood myself), I wasn't sure which type of Anubias would be the most ideal in a tank of clowns and yoyos, these were the types of Anubias I found:

- Anubias barteri
- Anubias barteri var. angustifolia
- Anubias Emerald Heart
- Anubias Isabelle
- Anubias Lisa
- Anubias Lorraine
- Anubias barteri var. nana
- Anubias paco

Do you have any of these types of Anubias plants in your tanks? Would you recommend it?

Many thanks,
ey

The dwarfs are too small, go with any of the larger ones. If you like rippled leaves Coffeafolia is a nice one, otherwise they seem just about the same.

As far as durability if you can find out that one has thicker, stiffer leaves that might be the best choice.

Diana wrote:The dwarfs are too small, go with any of the larger ones. If you like rippled leaves Coffeafolia is a nice one, otherwise they seem just about the same.

As far as durability if you can find out that one has thicker, stiffer leaves that might be the best choice.

For Anubias species, I would definitely go for durability over looks, so in that regard, which of the Anubias do you think would be the most durable (i.e. one with thickest leaves)? I guess I would have a better idea if I see them in person.

Trouble is that all of them will have tender shoots- and those are what my clowns go for. They don't mess with the new growth of the Javas (I have lace, regular and needle leaf) at all, but when a new shoot comes out on any of my anubias, it's likely to be snipped. Personally I really like coffefolia the best for looks. I am going to get more of these for sure. I have also a couple of nana's, and I think they will take second place. the congensis and similar I don't like as well, but as far as my clowns go, they will take the new shoots of all. I am setting up a q tank for 3 long fin bn's, who at this moment are somewhere in the US Mail system on their way to me and I have decided I'm going to use it also as a "timeout" tank for the anubias. When a new shoot starts up, I'll just pull the piece of wood the plant is on and move it to the q tank. Once the new leaf is fully formed, the clowns aren't interested anymore, and so back it'll go into the main tank. All my plants (I only have java's and anubias) are tied to driftwood. They are easy to move around for tank cleaning and (now) tank "timeout". So, uprooting is not really an issue with these species, as they do better with their roots out of the substrate anyway.

I have Anubias barteri var. nana in both my sidthimunki and hillstream tanks and they are thriving

I have Anubias barteri and coffefolia in one of my tanks and they are doing very well with no help from me. I have 2 other kinds in that tank, but I can't remember what kind they are.

My anubias barteri is about 8"tall and thick, so thriving but maybe not as tall as you want.
One thing I added that the loaches won't eat is a crinum-the onion. I got the crinkled leaf one and it's spidering all over with minimal damage from fish.