Anubias Chili

Care at a glance

Overview

Glue or tie the rhizome to driftwood or lava rock and never bury it, since a buried rhizome rots and the plant melts. It is a very slow grower that does fine under low light and needs no CO2, though gentle liquid dosing helps. Its tiny footprint makes it a nano foreground or hardscape detail plant, and it is undemanding once attached.

In the wild

Anubias Chili is an aquarium cultivar rather than a wild plant, selected from the Anubias barteri var. nana line whose parent species grow along shaded rivers and streams in western Africa. Like all Anubias it is an epiphyte that clings to submerged wood and rock in the wild, and it keeps that slow creeping rhizome habit in the tank.

Good to know

This is one of the smallest Anubias forms in the hobby, with leaves often only 1 to 2 cm long and narrower than Nana Petite, resembling little chili peppers, which gives it the trade name. It belongs to the Araceae family and, being a dwarf sport of Anubias barteri var. nana, carries the same leathery leaf structure and thick creeping rhizome as its larger relatives.

Did you know

Because Anubias grow so slowly, a single new leaf can take three weeks or more to appear, so a Chili specimen you buy today may look almost identical a couple of months later, which is exactly why patient nano aquascapers prize it.

Related plants

• 

  Anubias petite

  Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite'

  Low lightEpiphyte2 in (5 cm)
• Anubias Micro

  Anubias barteri var. nana 'Micro'

  Low lightEpiphyte1.2 in (3 cm)
• Anubias Snow White

  Anubias barteri var. nana 'Snow White'

  Medium lightEpiphyte3.9 in (10 cm)

• 

  Anubias nana

  Anubias barteri var. nana

  Low lightEpiphyte4.7 in (12 cm)
• Anubias Pangolino

  Anubias 'Pangolino'

  Low lightEpiphyte0.8 in (2 cm)

• 

  Anubias Butterfly

  Anubias 'Butterfly'

  Low lightEpiphyte5.9 in (15 cm)