Parts Of Crypt Turning To Mush

[Tish]

I have 2 different types of crypt planted into sand substrate in my new tank, cryptocoryne becketti and cryptocoryne wendtii tropica. The whole set-up has been up and running for just over 2 weeks, it has a light.
My current readings are:
ammonia 0.25ppm (but very light green, probs more like 0.1ppm)
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 5ppm (all with API liquid test kit).
When I bought the crypts I separated them into plantlets, trimmed their roots and planted them in different parts of the tank. Several times now a whole stem and leaf has turned into mush. This has happened in all different plantlets in all different areas of the tank. They're really hard to remove too as they just disintegrate in my hand and I end up chasing bits of mushy stem or leaf all over the tank trying to get it out. My pre-filter sponge has lots of little gungy bits of leaf mush on too.
Is this normal for plants that have recently been planted, like a 'settling in' period, or am I doing something wrong? This has been happening since I got them and shows no sign of stopping, is there anything I can do to stop it? I've only ever kept Java fern before which just sat on a piece of rock and never caused me any trouble!

 

[Sask Aquarist]

Cryptocoryne actually goes through a phase where it decays naturally. The main thing you wanna look for and wait for is new growth. If you see new growth eventually then it's just a part of it's life cycle.

 

[TrainRek77]

Some plants can go through what they call melting, when they are first planted. I would research both the life cycle of them and melting. When I first planted my tank all the plants melted and I was freaking out only to find out it was natural.