Lots of crypts, no bodies

[gimme30]

Yeah that title has nothing to do with anything.

I have a hole in my little aquascape that needs a plant with some height. But not too much height! I have very hard water and very low light so a cryptocoryne of some flavor appears to be the obvious choice. I'm looking for something that will grow in a rosette or dense and bushy pattern to a height of no more than 6-10 inches.

The trouble is, in looking at retailer sites, their pictures are of the baby plant 'approximating the plant you will receive.' Or they might have a pic of the plant in an aquarium, but so far the ones I've seen look kinda flattened out or the leaves will be at the end of longish stems.

Can anyone with experience with these things suggest a variety that might work?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Wendtii is a nice variety, it's comes in green and brown/red. The leaves can grow to around 10 inches tall but like all crypts is slow growing so may take some time to bush but I don't think it will be thick without c02

 

[gimme30]

Thank you @CaptainBarnicles! I didn't realize they wouldn't get bushy without cO2, maybe I should look at a different type of plant. I see Bolbitis Heudelotii getting recommended frequently for my type of water parameters, but apparently it needs lots of flow and the area it would go into has none.
I'll keep looking at crypts but there's gotta be a million of them. This is going to take a while!

 

[GaryE]

I have a Crypt wendtii brown form that came in a tissue culture - 4 plants ending up at around 4 dollars cad each. They have become very large very quickly, and seem bushy enough to me. Root tabs, but no CO2.

I am a bad plant person, but these have grown slowly but very steadily, and are centrepiece plants now. I see their becoming centrepieces in a year as excellent, and it probably took six to eight months from very small tissue culture crypts - 4 to a small cup.

 

[anewbie]

I have a Crypt wendtii brown form that came in a tissue culture - 4 plants ending up at around 4 dollars cad each. They have become very large very quickly, and seem bushy enough to me. Root tabs, but no CO2.

I am a bad plant person, but these have grown slowly but very steadily, and are centrepiece plants now. I see their becoming centrepieces in a year as excellent, and it probably took six to eight months from very small tissue culture crypts - 4 to a small cup.

Water hardness has a big impact on wenditti - it seems to actually grow better in harder than softer water though there are limits in both direciton.

If you want some colour nurri rosen is pretty nice - there are all sort of different varites with different colour tones. They can be a little picky on water definitely do not like blackwater. They will never get as large as the wenditti but if you can wait a few years they will get larger.

 

[Back in the fold]

Can anyone with experience with these things suggest a variety that might work?

May I recommend Plasticus artificialis ? Hardy , long lived and available nearly everywhere .

 

[gimme30]

@Back in the fold You may be on to something....Silkdilio Phonycus could be another contender.

If you want some colour nurri rosen is pretty nice

That is gorgeous! Can several be planted close to each other to get that bushy effect right away or will they choke each other out? (I'm trying to hide an ugly prefilter and outlet pipe)

@GaryE My favorite plant place happens to have brown wendtii tissue cultures on sale right now! Thing is, my only experience with in vitro cultured plants didn't go so well, and crypts are known for melting....seems like I may be in for a double whammy going that route. Unless the tissue cultured plants avoid that issue? (I'm really clueless here, the only crypt I have experience with is parva and those didn't melt) They have the regular version too, and at a very good price.

I've read that the green wendtiis grow faster than the brown/colored varieties...any truth to that?

 

[anewbie]

I've read that the green wendtiis grow faster than the brown/colored varieties...any truth to that?

My personal experience has been the brown version grows a *lot* faster and a lot larger but my tap water is relatively soft at tds 140 (gh 6 kh 3); your water is a bit harder and this will play a role though i cannot tell you if it will help or hurt. I will say in the black water environment brown version will grow but the green will struggle or even die out.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Just be prepared and accept right now that any crypt you plant will most likely melt. That's not to say that it died though. Unfortunately cryptocoryne is a bit of a diva and will have a temper tantrum pretty much any time it's moved but it soon gets over itself and grows new leaves.

Remember too that many aquarium plants are grown emersed before they're sold, so it would be normal for them to convert to growing submerged by dropping leaves used to being above water

 

[gimme30]

Yeah I've mentioned this before but they really shouldn't advertise them as aquarium plants. They're terrestrial plants that might grow in an aquarium if they survive the conversion.
But I digress.

If all the leaves melt away, how do you know it's not dead?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Just leave it alone for a week or 2...you'll start to see new leaves sprouting. They are true aquatic plants that also grow in marsh conditions, so don't freak out! Trust the process

 

[gimme30]

I guess 2 weeks isn't bad. Most of the plants I've tried are dead after a couple days, but I leave them in the tank anyway to get my money's worth. I'm used to looking at a tank full of dead vegetation.
I may have missed my ordering window though. It has been too hot for shipping lately so I'll probably have to settle for whatever I can find locally.

 

[Boundava]

Most crypts come from karst river systems so prefer harder waters. I have lake Michigan water which is harder, so I don't usually have issues with crypts, or crypt melt.