Attaching in-vitro anubias

[Ajm200]

Hi everyone,

Finally got a new tank to scape after a lomg break. Just a quick question that I know someone will be able to help with please.

What’s the best way to attach in-vitro anubias plantlets to wood? With potted anubias I’ve used a fishing line or a tiny dab of superglue being careful not to overload the roots.

What do you use given how tiny and delicate the cup plants are?

Thanks in advance

 

[Mike Singh]

I am going to use glue.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

What’s the best way to attach in-vitro anubias plantlets to wood?

It is not very useful, but "very gently" would be the answer. I might be tempted to let them grow a bit before you tried to attach them? And then tie them on, but with cotton, rather than nylon.

What do you use given how tiny and delicate the cup plants are?

I am going to use glue.

I'd be wary of <"cyanoacrylate super glue"> (while they were still very young and soft). I think it is likely to burn any thing it touches, so you would definitely need to keep it away from the rhizome and use a very small dab of gel formulation to fix the roots.

None of the Anubias (or any of the other epiphytes) in my tanks have been attached for a long time, but if they were mine? A wrap of moss around the rhizome, and then that moss stapled to the wood, so that it gently holds the Anubias and wood in contact.

cheers Darre

 

[SamTheMan]

I would keep them in tank with little to no flow and grow them there until they toughen up, then attach them to something. a bit of overkill, but for some of the rarer varieties id say its a must

 

[Tim Harrison]

Whenever I can, I shove epiphytes into hollows in the hardscape, and tend to design my scapes with that in mind.
Although I sometimes use gel type super glue when that's not possible, I definitely wouldn't use it on fragile in-vitro plants.
I lost a whole load of reasonably mature epiphytes using Gorilla super glue once and have been very wary of the glue method since.

 

[Conort2]

Same as @Tim Harrison i shove them in where I can. Cable ties loosely holding them down works well too, it’s unsightly but they can be cut off once the plant attaches itself.

 

[Ajm200]

Thanks guys 🤗

 

[bazz]

If you haven't bought them already I'd also hang fire for a month or two until your tank is a little more mature and any risk of a high ammonia level has been removed.

 

[Mike Singh]

I saw a video today from GreenAqua where they put the glue on the hard scape then pressed the Anubias onto the glue.

 

[Ajm200]

I already have the anubias.

I have two corbo roots that fit together to look like a large hollow tree root. I have it planted with large java ferns and anubias that I grew on in another tank. The mature anubias are years old, about a foot long and flower regularly. They came from someone here as small cuttings when I started out many years ago.

I found some tiny gaps in the wood that I was able to push the plantlets into where they are protected from the strongest flow

Growing them on in the old tank isn’t an option as tank isn’t right. The front looks like it is bowing and the silicone is definitely wider at the top on one side. It was a second hand tank and I guess something happened to it before they gave it away

The good news is I have a fully matured fx4 filter that has been running for years that has been on the old smaller tank. I had to dial it down a bit on the small tank but didn’t want to stop using it as I knew I would be getting a big tank again. The FX4 is more than sufficient for the bio load that I’m moving across. All the fish and mature plants have been in the old tank and have moved across. The substrate has been mixed into the new gravel so the only parts of the old tank that aren’t being reused are the glass and lights. Hopefully a large part of the biofiltration from the old tank will still be available. The new tank is 3x the size. It’s brand new and 4ft long. Although I loved my old 520l tank it was too big and almost needed scuba gear to plant it as it was so deep and I’m tiny

The tank is heavily planted with epiphytes and a few stems but has a large fern and pothos growing out of the top so hopefully no big ammonia spike