Crypts growing like weeds

[Auratus]

Well... my crypts are growing really rapidly. I have the red and green variety. They are even breaking off baby plants. I'm starting to run out of room in my tank! I noticed on my red that there is a ton (maybe 50) new leaves coming up from the side of the plant. When I bought them I bought them as "plugs". Is that any different then a normal crypt plant? Because... the ryzome or roots or whatever on these things is huge... I can't even bury it totally.

Problem is... I think these plants are taking all the nutrients and not leaving anything for the other plants because they are all dying or dead. My bacopa was very healthy when I bought it a few weeks ago and now it's almost totally dead. Just a stalk with some pathetic looking leaves at the very tip. And I have one established piece of val that looks good... everything else is soso.

Is there a way I can split my crypts in half and transfer to another tank? And how do I seperate the smaller, baby plants it's making? They are obviously a new plant... but still connected to the "mother" plant. Thanks for any help

 

[majiktouch]

I have a crypt wendtii that has amazing growth. the babies I just cut the "cord" when the new plant has 3 or 4 leaves of its own.
The bacoba is a more delicate plant I have found, and the two need different water perams. (Ph, Kh, Gh...)

 

[Nospherith]

need some info, Auratus. What's your lighting at (watts), photoperiod and size of the tank. Do you dose? if so then what? Low, Med, or High bioload? Any algae problems?

These factors can and do affect plant growth. I've never grown Bacopa, but it's said to require alot of light to flourish, whereas crypts barely need any light. Not enough light may be your problem.

50 new leaves!? Wow, I wish my crypts grew that well.

 

[Auratus]

Well I had some bacopa that reached the top of the tank! This new bacopa plant just kind of died...

It's an 18 gallon tall. It has two 10W compact flourescent bulbs. The hood is a incandescent hood since the tank is shaped like a ten gallon. They are on from 7:30am to anywhere from 8-12pm... sometimes I forget to turn the lights off. I used to use Florapride but that didn't seem to do much and since I read that a few of my plants didn't like a high iron I stopped using it. No algae problems in the tank. Tank has 3 danios, 5 glowlight tetras, 4 female bettas.

I'm thinking of getting rid of the bacopa totally, or maybe keep a few of the stalks that still look decent and letting the crypts fill out the area it was in. What is an easy to grow foreground plant? I was looking for microsword but I'm having a hard time finding it. I do have two anubias nana and they are growing very well. Also the back of the tank is very bare. I have one tall val and the rest of it doesn't seem to grow or dissapears. How can I not grow Val?

 

[Nospherith]

I'm not an expert at this stuff but maybe it's a nutrient deficiency but if the crypts are growing well that's probably not the case. So then maybe it's lighting...

I just looked up on www.tropica.dk that Bacopa is easy with low to very-high light tolerance so it's probably not the lighting. Puzzling. Maybe it just hasn't rooted right or something I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes certain plants just don't work in an aquarium. Anyway if it's not growing then you should probably find a plant that does. And it wouldn't hurt to find a fertilizer that has nitrates and potassium included if the fish aren't supplying enough.

Microsword is an easy carpet plant. It's slow growing but it still carpets well. Glosso, and dwarf saggitaria are other good carpet plants. hth.

 

[guppygirl]

You ought to add some flourish once a week. And I think your lighting is a little low, once you upgrade it, your crypts might 'melt', but don't be alarmed, they'll grow back.
What are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[Silly me]

The crypts might be more tolerant of the very wide (more like scary) range of light hours, I think all your other plant might start to grow better and healthier if you managing the hour of light.

The spectrum of light also makes a huge difference. Some crypts cope very well under normal cool white or warm white/incandescent light, other plant doesn’t?

Adding fertilizer only when your plants show a sight of nutrient deficiency. Since you might cause an algae bloom.