# New Cryptocoryne varieties available in USA



## HeyPK

I just looked at Fish-Vet. com, and now Shawn Prescott has 35 varieties of Cryptocoryne listed, including C. cordata, var. rosanervis, C. gasseri, C. hudoroi, C. longicauda, C. purpurea, c. scurrilis, C. striolta, and C. Thwaitesii. The above species are in limited supply and are not cheap, but are not nearly as expensive as many of the rare ones pictured on the Rayon Vert Aqua site. Gentlemen, grab your wallets!


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## Phil Edwards

Thanks Paul, that's just what I needed....more plants to get. I was >< this close to paying my card off too.....


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## HeyPK

I am in a similar situration, or worse. Still, at least one of these new crypts, C. hudoroi, is not difficult to grow submersed. I think I am going to go for C. hudoroi and maybe one other.


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## Cavan Allen

I went to look and it said it was under construction.


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## gnatster

Try www.fishvet.com as www.fish-vet.com is a Koi site.

FishVet just worked for me from work behind a nasty firewall that blocks about anything that may be even have the hint of being offensive.


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## Daemonfly

Also directly accesable at http://www.aquariumlandscapes.net/


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## aquaverde

C. striolata would be my first choice, followed by hudoroi. But...I don't qualify experientially.


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## HeyPK

C. striolata is said to be very difficult to maintain in an aquarium, but it certainly is a pretty plant. Emersed cultivation is easier (Kasselmann). They used to say that about C. lingua, but I think it is quite easy to maintain submersed. We will just have to try it out and see. First, we have to establish a primary source in this country for us experimenters. That is what is happening at FishVet. Second, some of us experimenters will have some success and can become secondary sources.


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## aquaverde

That it is difficult is not too much of a surprise. That's why these plants are initially reserved for hobbyists with your level of experience, I suppose. Better all the way round to have the knowledgeable giving it a go with the few samples there must be at this point. Of course I and others with less experience but a similar love of crypts will be hoping you meet with good success. Hopefully, you'll be keeping us up on what's happening with this. I'm really interested to hear how it goes.

Edit- I will be retiring my 30g once I get my 65 set up. It now looks like I might have a spot by the window for emersed growth. I'm pretty excited about that. I've been wanting to try some emersed crypts (for example, C. parva) and this will actually have enough room to do it.
Fingers crossed...


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## fishfry

how did they have the ability to suddenly acquire all these rare crypts? Some of those plants are rare and expensive even outside the U.S. like var. rosanervig


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## Phil Edwards

Shawn's been trying to get them in for some time apparantly. I guess he just got lucky and hit upon a supplier that worked out.


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## Slaigar

Hello all,
I have been lurking around for a few months. But I finally decided to register, hehe.

Those are very good prices for Cryptocorynes! For the record, C. hudoroi usually goes for around $25-30USD while the other plants usually go for +$100(atleast from what I have seen) at Japanese webshops(RVA, Dream theatre, etc). I would definitely order some C. thwaitesii if I lived in the US. I hope that Dr. Prescott can get these to grow regularly through tissue culture, it would be a breakthrough in the Crypt market(no more need to wild collect!).

C. hudoroi and C. xpurpurea are good aquariums plants. Even if you are not too experienced, you could have good luck with these plants. The other species will probably need low ph.

The picture of C. striolata is surprising, I never thought it could get a red/brown colour like that. Is that just the lighting in the picture? I have only seen it as dark green.


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## Raul-7

So they only sell these Crypts to experienced people?! :?


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## Phil Edwards

Some of them, yes. If you're interested in them your best bet is to call Dr. Prescott directly and talk with him. That's what I did and I was able to get my pick of his entire selection at the time.


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## gregwatson

Phil Edwards said:


> Some of them, yes. If you're interested in them your best bet is to call Dr. Prescott directly and talk with him. That's what I did and I was able to get my pick of his entire selection at the time.


I think I'm one of three people he gave Cryptocoryne gasseri too ...

I consider it a 10 year preservation project ... with the goal of cultiavting the plant and getting it into the hands of other preservation minded hobbyists ...

I'm going to be launching a new section on my website soon called the Cryptocoryne Preservation Project ...

Greg Watson
www.gregwatson.com


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## Robert Hudson

Are you guy really willing to pay over $20 per plant? One of them he is selling for $40! I told him he was crazy if he thought anyone was going to pay that. Am I wrong?

A couple years ago I bought gasseri from him and sold them for ten bucks each as I remember. Robert here was the only one to go for it. He even got it to flower! None of the rest of you guys were willing to pay that much. Now Shawn is selling them for $20 each retail. I remember when Art was trying to broker an import from the Philippines and you guys thought 3 or 4$ per plant was too high! What am I missing here? Maybe I should go back into the Cryp business with Shawn.


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## MiamiAG

Hopefully, things are changing.


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## Phil Edwards

Robert,

I think because he's the only person who's currently selling some of those really exotic species that people here are even considering spending that kind of money. For most of us, myself included, we'd only drop that much for a single plant on an impulse buy. The more I think about it the less I feel like paying that much. Unfortunately, someone has to fork it over to get these species into hobby propegation. If he dropped his prices on some of them a good bit no doubt he'd get more business.


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## HeyPK

He is attempting to get the new varieties into tissue culture so that they can be propagated rapidly. If he can do this, he says the price will come down. I imagine that this attempt requires a considerable investment. Just obtaining the less common varieites can be very expensive because European and Asian wholesalers only sell large shipments, and therefore you have to pay for a lot of plants you don't particularly want to get the few you do. I would say that the best of the new varieties for us Crypt nuts to get would be C. hudoroi. It is said to be one of the easy ones to grow. 

By the way, I am looking for C. aponogetifolia. Does anybody know where I can get a plant or two?


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## Cavan Allen

One of the pet stores we visited on the 2002 AGA (in Houston) field trip had a bunch of them in a display tank. I believe the store was called Villiage Tropical. 

I don't know if that really helps at all, but I suppose it might be worth mentioning. I hope you have a big tank!


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## HeyPK

A 75 gallon is my biggest tank, and that is a good size for the species (C. aponogetifolia). They stay a little smaller in a smaller tank, but the tank looks rather crammed with the petioles all the way up to the surface. Still, it is a plant that I really like. It always did well for me until I started using plastic trays. When you don't have plastic in the tank it is really hard to kill.


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## Robert Hudson

I understand what Shawn is trying to do, he explained it to me in detail. I know he has managed to get a hold of a few species never before available, and he wants you experienced guys to help him figure out which are most suitable for the aquarium long term so he can mass produce them by tissue culture and have a corner on the market, be the only one selling them. That makes a lot of sense from a business standpoint if he can pull it off, and it gives you guys the opportunity to get these plants. I am just surprised you are willing to pay that much. I am in no way suggesting he is jacking up the price. As I understand it, he was only able to get a few, but still had to pay a huge amount of money to import them. It is a complicated, expensive process to import any live plants and when it is only just a few it becomes incredibly expensive.

I hope he can mass produce them because then I will be able to offer them as well. But I worked with you guys for two years and I know what a small group you are, (you guys from the cryp mailing list) All the imported Cryps I sold you guys came from him or another importer I was working with at the time. I hope after you get what you want and after trading amoungst yourselves that there will still be a demand for these plants. Thats the biggest problem even in importing from Oriental Aquarium. You end up sitting on a lot of plants that go unsold. Ask Lowcoaster how many plants he is losing or throwing out each month.

I still face this problem even with some plants that are somewhat more common. I have pontederiifolia that I have had for several months now and have only sold a very few. I have other Cryps I have been sitting on for a long time as well. Any that are not suitable for the aquarium I can't keep long term, so if they don't sell they end up being thrown away. You guys should encourage more people to become interested in Cryps!


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## MiamiAG

Tissue culture is the best thing for these types of Crypts because it allows you to tailor supply to demand better. However, it is VERY hard to find the right protocol (nutrient combination) for each plant.

I commend Shawn for giving this a good shot and I, for one, would be willing to take a few of the hard to find plants. I would agree with Paul, C. hudoroi is the one I would like to see more available.

This forum is one way we are trying to expand the Crypts to more people. I think we've come a long way. Ten years ago, this forum would be filled with people asking why their Crypt melted and how they can keep them alive.


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## HeyPK

There are several other crypts that are could be good aquarium plants. One is C. keei, which has been grown successfully submersed and is more difficult to grow emersed, and the other is C. yujii, recently discovered by Yuji Sasaki from Rayon Vert Aqua, and, of which, Bastmeijer says that it is easy to cultivate. I assume he means emersed, but I have not seen anything favorable or unfavorable about submersed growth. Shawn has said that he has been trying without success, so far, to get C. keei. 

As Cryptocoryne collecting continues, I am sure that more varieties suitable for submerse culture will be found. For example, Kasselmann says about C. spialis, that most varieties are not suitable for submersed culture, but one variety has been found that is. (p. 215, English edition)


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## Slaigar

As I have been told, getting Cryptocorynes from Borneo are quite difficult. It is illegal to ship out Crypts there unless they are from a nursery. So getting C. keei and C. yujii will be difficult as they are in the hands of a few collectors who have spent either hundreds of dollars on purchasing it from shops or from collecting them from the site themselves.


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## Piscesgirl

I'm curious as to what is the specific appeal of Crypts for most of you? I'll admit I like my Crypt Wendtii Bronze pretty well, but I've yet to develop any particular liking for crypts in general. I don't care for my Crypt Retrospiralis which is taking over the top of one of my tanks and blocking light. Would I spend $20 for a plant? In general no, but for a "special" plant that I feel fits in my tank well, yes (actually have done that). 

So, what makes the Crypts have their own "fan club"?


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## HeyPK

I would say that it is not that we are looking for new crypts because they might fill an aquascaping need. It is more a kind of collector's lust. We are familiar with the commonly available ones and want to try to cultivate the more demanding and rare ones. We are like the specialty fish breeders---the killifish people, the rift lake cichlid people or the Anabantid specialists . We have kept and bred the more commonly available fish, and we want to try our hand with the rare and challenging ones. It is true that crypts can be very beautiful, and we also appreciate that.


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## Piscesgirl

Yes, I can understand that, but why Crypts as opposed to other "rare" plants? Why not rare stem plants for example?


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## Slaigar

It is not only Cryptocorynes that have their own fanclub. There are also those who like _Eriocaulon_, _Tonina_ and_ Echinodorus _. But it is more popular in other countries. Strangely though, I have not seen a community for _Aponogetons_ (Am I going to be the only collector?!?!?).

HeyPK has it summed up pretty well. Some of us have collected random plants at the start, and over time we a genera that we liked. I like Cryptocorynes because of their slow growth. Usually they are easy to control and no hassles of pruning. Personally though, I have little interest for inflorescence. And being a collector, trying to get those plants that not many have tried yet is quite a thrill.


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## Piscesgirl

Ok, so you like the slow growth then. I do like the Toninas myself (well, less so Tonina Fluviatilis because it is growing too tall), and the Eriocaulon, and my favorite, Downoi. I'm just wondering what the hoopla is all about with Crypts. Would it then be that you like the slow growth because you don't have to trim as much?


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## Slaigar

The ease of not trimming is small part of it. Some of us have two goals: propagate the plant and have it flower(again, not my interest). The slow growth makes any of these a huge accomplishment. And to those who have tried difficult plants (_C. nurii_!!!!), the first goal is to keep it alive  . We have seen too many variations of _C. wendtii_ and it is time to get some new species in the market! If it anyone is like me(completely compulsive!), new species are very hard to resist even with high prices.

I like to have my _Cryptocorynes_ in my aquarium instead of growing emersed. It just feels that I am wasting a plant if it is not in some kind of aquascape, hehe. I am well aware that propagation is usually faster on an emersed set up. There are different tastes in this community.

If you think that the Cryptocorynes that Sean Prescott is listing is expensive, you have not seen the prices for _Echinodorus portoalegrensis _or _Echinodorus opacus_! I still do not think I have ever seen such an expensive plant in my life (except for some _Eriocaulons_).

Sidenote: I would love to get some Downoi but never got around to ordering some. Next season though, I will have to check if someone from Killies is propagating it  .


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## Piscesgirl

Ahh, I see, it is the challenge of the rare crypts that is the lure. 8)


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## Phil Edwards

Eggzachary, picesgirl. BTW, welcome to APC! Well, that and maintenance is a lot easier on emersed tanks...


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## Piscesgirl

Thanks Phil  

Lurking around your crypt...hehe.


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## tanVincent

Hey,

Being an Asian myself, i feel ashame that I only managed to get 75% of the common crypts available in the aquarium trade. The route to collecting more exotic crypts proves to be a tough and expensive journey......but so, as the chinese proverbs says "If I don't go to hell, who will?"

Cheers
Vincent


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## HeyPK

I thought that crypts would be much easier to get in Asia because you are much closer to the places where they live. Rayon Vert Aqua has every kind of crypt in the world, but the rare ones are much too expensive for me!! Besides, they don't have any arrangements to ship to America.


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## Slaigar

RVA ships internationally. And Payments are done by bank to bank transfer. So you better be prepared with $100-150USD extra upon the price of the fish and plants!

RVA really does not have all the Cryptocorynes at once. Rare ones are taken in with small quantities(<10!) and are purchased almost right away by people with reservations! Language barriers do not help either. By the time you get a reply, the species you want will probably be sold out.

You also got to remember that some countries do not allow the taking of wild plants. So species tends to stay in their region. I was told that in Borneo, Cryptocorynes cannot be taken out unless they are from a nursery.


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