Anubias is one of the toughest aquarium plants you can own, but even tough plants send distress signals. If yours is melting, yellowing, or growing algae, the good news is that almost every cause is simple to fix.

Melting or a rotting rhizome

The leaves go translucent and mushy and the thick horizontal stem, the rhizome, turns soft or dark. The usual cause is a buried or damaged rhizome, because Anubias breathes through its rhizome and burying it causes rot. The fix: lift the plant, trim away every soft or blackened section until only firm green rhizome remains, and re-attach it on top of wood or rock, never under the substrate.

Yellowing leaves

Leaves fade from green to yellow. The usual causes are a nutrient gap (Anubias feeds from the water column and slowly runs short without fertiliser), natural aging of an old leaf, or too much light bleaching the slow-growing leaves. The fix: dose a weekly liquid fertiliser, trim spent leaves at the base, and reduce light if it is strong.

Algae on the leaves

Green spot, fuzz, or black-brush algae coats the leaf surface. Because Anubias grows so slowly, each leaf sits in the tank for months, giving algae a long window, especially under bright light. The fix: lower lighting duration and intensity, improve flow, and add grazers like Amano shrimp, nerite snails, or otocinclus.

What is normal versus what is not

Normal: the occasional old leaf yellowing, very slow growth, and a short settling-in period after planting. Worth acting on: a softening rhizome, several leaves melting at once, or spreading algae.

Prevention checklist

Never bury the rhizome. Keep lighting low to moderate. Dose a liquid fertiliser weekly. Maintain gentle flow and regular water changes. Be patient, because Anubias is a slow, steady grower.

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