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Anubias Dark Angel

Anubias barteri 'Dark Angel'

One of 25 forms of Anubias barteri · See all forms →

Also known as Anubias barteri Dark Angel, Dark Angel Anubias

FreshwaterRhizomeRhizome division

Forms · Anubias barteri

See all 25 →

Care at a glance

Light
Low light
CO2
No CO₂ needed
Growth rate
Slow
Placement
Epiphyte
Type
Rhizome
Temperature
72–82°F (22–28°C)
pH
6.0–8.0
Hardness
2–18 dGH
Max height
5.1 in (13 cm)
Spread
5.9 in (15 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Easy
Origin
Cultivated selection (parent species native to West Africa)
Family
Araceae

Overview

Care is standard Anubias, which is to say almost none. Glue or tie the rhizome to wood or rock and never bury it, since a buried rhizome rots. Low light and no CO2 suit it fine; the dark leaves hold their colour anywhere, and strong light mostly buys algae on the slow-growing leaves, so keep it shaded. Feed the water column lightly, trim leaves that pick up algae, and split the rhizome to propagate. New leaves come a handful a year, so buy the size you want.

In the wild

Dark Angel is a cultivated selection of Anubias barteri and does not occur in the wild. The parent species grows along West African streams and river margins as a rheophyte, anchored to rock and wood at the waterline, submersed in the wet season and emersed the rest of the year. Like nearly all Anubias in trade it is farm-raised emersed.

Good to know

An aroid in the family Araceae. The cultivar name refers to the foliage: leaves noticeably darker green than typical barteri, with ruffled, undulating margins. It is a recent trade selection with no documented breeder, one of a wave of named Anubias forms out of Asian nurseries, and botanically it remains Anubias barteri.

Did you know

Anubias is one of the few aquarium genera that flowers readily underwater, and Dark Angel is no exception: an established rhizome will push out a small white spathe fully submersed, like a tiny dark-leaved peace lily.

Appears in

Low-light plants · No-CO2 plants · Epiphytes · Beginner plants

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