Mass Anubias Petite Deaths

[clippergear]

Hey All, I purchased several plants from a seller in London (I'm in the US) whom I've purchased from before. I purchase from this seller because I can't find the plants and mosses I want in the US. When I purchased before, the plants took approximately 5-8 days to get to me and I had no problems with them at all. This time it took a little over 3 weeks to receive the plants. I ordered several Anubias Petite, Java Fern Petite and six kinds of various mosses. I was concerned that the plants took so long to reach me but when they arrived they all looked good except for one bag of Anubias that had rotted and turned to mush. The rest of the Anubias were firm, green and looked healthy. I got all the plants and mosses tied to driftwood and got them into my tank. Less than a week later, several of the Anubias Petites started to turn to mush. The leaves became kinda translucent and the rizome was absolute mush. Within two days every Anubias (12 of them) was dead. Even the two Anubias Bonsai the seller sent me for free were mush. The Java Fern looks fine and the mosses look like they have some new growth on them. Does anyone know why all the Anubias rotted but all the other plants and mosses are doing fine? Could it have been because they were in the dark for three weeks? How do I stop any new Anubias from doing the same thing. I spent a nice penny on the Anubias and don't want to have the same thing happen. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Some tank parameters. 20 gallon long. The tank was at the end of a fishless cycling process. The ammonia was .25. Nitrites at .5. Nitrates at 40-60. PH = 7.3. GH = 7. KH = 2. TDS = 230. I use remineralized RODI water. Have a light that mimics day and night. Used some Thrive-S fertilizer and liquid carbon. I used cotton thread to tie the Anubias to the driftwood. I didn't tie the Anubias too tight because the thread would break if I tried to go too tight.

Thanks.....clippergear.

[sdlTBfanUK]

I'm amazed that they were even sending plants from the UK at the moment as most places aren't even sending Uk to UK even. The postal system here is definitely in a mess at the moment so I wouldn't recommend getting from here again. I expect the post is affected in US as well. Some plants are tougher thaan others as this experience has shown? I'm amazed actually that anything surviveved that long in the post and dobt it was anything wrong with your tank or you. I have mainly Java Fern and mosses and suspect they would survive nuclear war, I can't kill them anyway however badly I mistreat them and am always giving some away to friends as it spreads?

You could try again but I wouldn't bother with gettig them abroad definitely, any time soon? I am awaiting the postal service to get back to doing next day delivery here so I can get some shrimps but I fear that may not even hapen this year, d'oh!

Just as an aside, I used to attach plants with fishing line, now I use glue, OMG would never go back to tieing when 1 dab of glue and your done, soooo much easier - needs to be non toxic/aquarium safe of course and is more expensive!  

Simon

[jayc]

1 hour ago, clippergear said:

Does anyone know why all the Anubias rotted but all the other plants and mosses are doing fine?

How were they packed?

Anubias turning to mush means that it was exposed to extreme temperatures, either way too cold or way too hot for a lengthy time.

I guess it depends whether they were stuck in postage in the UK or the US.

What are your temps like in the UK and US?

Next time insist they put them in a styrofoam box.

 

[clippergear]

The plants actually came out of London pretty quickly. I think it was 3-4 days to reach the US. The plants were sent around May 8-9 and arrived to me around the first week of June. I'm not sure what the weather is like in London now. Maybe one of the UK folk could let us know? Once in the US, they got stuck in Chicago for two weeks for some reason. I wouldn't think Chicago's weather is too extreme at this time of year. I live in Florida and we're just now getting into out hottest, summer weather. But the plants were only in Florida for a day before being delivered to me. They were brought right into the house after being delivered. They didn't sit outside in a hot mailbox for hours.

The plants were placed in small plastic, zip lock bags. Two Anubias per bag and the plants were pretty big. Nice sized rizome with several leaves (8-12) on each. The plastic bags were then wrapped in a lot of bubble wrap and placed in the box. Like I said, I've ordered Anubias Petite from this same seller before and had no problem with plants dying. But, I received them in 5-8 days.

Edited June 13, 2020 by clippergear

[clippergear]

@sdlTBfanUK - I know about attaching plants with super glue but have just never done it. I guess I was just set in the ways "I used to do it". But you're absolutely correct it is really tedious tying the plants, especially the leafy ones. The moss is much easier to tie. When I try again with the Anubias, I'll definitely try the super glue. I'm assuming I just put a small drop of glue on the rizome and stick it on?

[sdlTBfanUK]

UK weather is notorious as unpredictable, we had 24C one day, next day 13C last week, drives me batty............... it could have been anything on those dates the parcel was this end??

I am a novice with plants but I doubt I would like being wrapped in plastic, no air/oxygen, sweaty/damp for 3 weeks, they were probably too far gone by the time they reached you. I am assuming you already knew that the rhiozone mustn't be below the soil but above it! I would put it down to simply too long in the post!

Super glue is as simple as, put a drop on the rock/wood (even damp wood) etc, press the plant (rhiozone, root, stem) on it, hold in place for a few seconds and its ready to go into the tank - it literally is that easy and quick, and as long as you don't overdo the glue it won't even notice (it used to annoy me seeing the fishing line holding stuff in place, but that is probably just me and OCD). You wont go back to tieing after trying glue!

Simon

Edited June 13, 2020 by sdlTBfanUK

[Dalton07]

That serious fish-keepers are always meticulous with regards to the item they will put inside the aquarium. Among plants, Anubias Nana is the favorite by most fish-keepers. It can grow inside your fish tank, and unattractive as a food for most fishes, making it a suitable and ideal plant for aquariums.