Anubias Nana Petite - Potted

Anubias Nana Petite (Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite') is the smallest Anubias in the hobby, a compact cultivar whose leaves top out around three quarters of an inch. It carries every bit of the toughness the genus is known for, low light, no CO2, no special substrate, but packs it into a plant small enough to sit in the foreground of a nano tank without swallowing the scape. Slow, dense, and effectively indestructible once attached. Browse the rest of our live freshwater plants to build out the tank.

Care Guide

• The one rule: never bury the rhizome. The thick horizontal stem the leaves grow from has to stay exposed above the substrate or it rots. Glue it to a stone or a branch with Seachem Flourish Glue, tie it with thread, or wedge it into a gap in the hardscape. Burying the thin roots alone is fine.
• Light: Low to moderate. Petite is a shade plant and stays put for months at a time, so bright light mostly grows algae on leaves that never get replaced.
• CO2 and fertilizer: Neither is required. It feeds from the water column, so an occasional dose of Seachem Flourish is plenty. Root tabs do nothing for it.
• Water: 72 to 82F, pH 6.0 to 8.0, soft or hard. It adapts to almost anything as long as conditions stay stable.
• Growth: Very slow, even by Anubias standards. Expect a new leaf every few weeks. That is the trade for a plant that never needs trimming and never melts.
• Propagation: Once the rhizome has spread, cut it into sections with three or four leaves each. Every piece becomes a new plant.

Specifications

Placement and Companions

Petite is the Anubias to reach for when a full size Nana would look oversized. It suits nano tanks, betta tanks, and shrimp tanks, and it works as a low green cushion along the front of a larger scape. Glued to a scattering of small stones it reads almost like a carpet, without any of the light or CO2 a real carpeting plant demands. It is completely shrimp safe, and the dense little leaves give shrimplets somewhere to hide.

For the same plant at normal size, see Anubias Nana or Anubias Barteri. If you want the variegated versions, look at Anubias Pinto and Anubias White Rose. Java Moss on the same hardscape gives you a second texture at the same light level.

Recommended Supplies

• Seachem Flourish Glue to attach the rhizome to stone or wood.
• Seachem Flourish, the water-column fertilizer this plant actually uses.
• Batman Nerite Snail to keep algae off the slow-growing leaves.
• CaribSea PyroFlora Substrate for the rest of your planted layout.

FAQ

Can I plant it in gravel or sand?
Only if the rhizome sits on top with just the thin roots buried. Bury the rhizome itself and the plant slowly rots from the middle out. Attaching it to stone or wood is safer and looks better.

How is Petite different from regular Anubias Nana?
Size, and nothing else. Petite leaves run about a third the size of standard Nana and the whole plant stays under four inches. Care is identical.

Why is it growing so slowly?
That is normal, and Petite is the slowest Anubias of the group. A leaf every few weeks is healthy. In exchange you get a plant that never needs trimming, never melts, and tolerates almost any water.

Is it safe with fish and shrimp?
Yes, completely. The leaves make excellent grazing surface for shrimp and the dense growth gives shrimplets cover.

It arrives in a pot. Do I keep it that way?
You can, but most people do not. Slide the plant out, peel the rock wool off the roots, and glue or tie the rhizome to hardscape. It will look better and the rhizome will be safer than it is buried in a pot.