White spots on Anubias..

[Martin]

I'm trying to figure out what's up with my Anubias.

about 4 leaves are now showing white areas on the leaves..

I can't seem to find anything on the net about it... perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places...

What would usually cause this?

It's not excess calcium or other buildup.. it seems alot more like a deficiency?

Any ideas?

(sry, have no picture, my dear mother-in-law has taken my camera prisoner..)

 

[rufus]

Re: White spots on Anubias..

How big are the spots? Aree they on the leaf, or part of it? It's not uncommon to find variegated/marbled varieties of Anubias. Sometimes they don't even show up until they have decent lighting conditions.... could be it, or maybe not.
Check this out:
http://www.rva.ne.jp/plants/anubias_marble.htm

 

[Martin]

Re: White spots on Anubias..

How big are the spots? Aree they on the leaf, or part of it? It's not uncommon to find variegated/marbled varieties of Anubias. Sometimes they don't even show up until they have decent lighting conditions.... could be it, or maybe not.
Check this out:
http://www.rva.ne.jp/plants/anubias_marble.htm

it might look at bit like that, but it hasn't spread so much. Lights out just now, so cannot examine closer.

I doubt it's a marble variety, but one could hope... =)

it's also happening to old leaves as far as i can tell.

 

[srozell]

Re: White spots on Anubias..

Are you SURE it is not biogenic decalcification?

per http://www.aquabotanic.com/glossary.htm

Biogenic decalcification
When there is a carbon dioxide deficiencey in the water, plants can derive CO2 from the hardening constituents of the carbonate hardness. First they split the hydrogen carbonates into CO2 and carbonates. This causes the pH to rise about one step and the largely insoluable carbonates precipitate and form rough deposits on the leaves and substrate. Some plants such as Vallisneria can even destroy the carbonates and obtain CO2 from them. This raises the pH again by another step. Biogenic decalcification thus causes the water to be 10 to 100 times more alkaline than it was previous. In the dark, the process reverses and the pH drops considerably. Thus these continous large pH swings can pose a significant risk to the well being of fish and animals. The solution is to add enough CO2 to the water and have a significant carbonate level to act as a buffer.