Anubias gilletii

Also known as Anubias gigantea (misapplied in trade), Arrow-leaf Anubias

FreshwaterRhizomeRhizome division

Anubias gilletii (Anubias gilletii) — (c) Daniel Cahen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

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: 5.5–8.0
Hardness: 2–15 dGH
Max height: 11.8 in (30 cm)
Spread: 9.8 in (25 cm)
Nutrient uptake: Root + water column
Growth region: Submersed or emersed
Difficulty: Easy
Origin: Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Family: Araceae

Overview

Attach it to sizable driftwood or rock and keep the rhizome exposed so it does not rot. It reaches around 25 to 30 cm and needs open space, so treat it as a midground or background specimen in larger tanks. Growth is slow and it is undemanding, tolerating low light and no CO2, though it colors up a little better under moderate light, and its thick waxy leaves shrug off nibbling fish.

In the wild

Anubias gilletii grows wild in Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and both Congos, where it lives along shaded rainforest rivers and streams as an epiphyte on rock and wood in the flood zone. It can grow fully emersed with its leaves above the waterline, and often does so along stream banks.

Good to know

Described in 1901 by De Wildeman and Durand, this is a medium to large Anubias whose leaf shape changes with age: young plants have simple lanceolate leaves easily mistaken for narrow-leaf barteri forms, while mature plants develop hastate, arrow-shaped blades that can reach 25 cm or more on long stalks, with basal lobes. It is a true species rather than a cultivar and is one of the parents of the Nangi hybrid.

Did you know

The dramatic arrowhead leaf only shows up on mature plants, so young gilletii is routinely sold or mistaken as a plain narrow-leaf Anubias, and hobbyists are often surprised when their tidy little plant slowly transforms into a large lobed showpiece.