# Need help on a plant list.



## Afyounie (Aug 10, 2007)

I am trying to turn my 55 gal into an all crypt tank. The only problem is that I can't make my mind up on what crypts to go with. I know I will use Wendti, but thats all I can make my mind up on. I want to get a few background types, a few midground types, and something for the foreground(only needs to be shorter than the other plants). What plants would you choose?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

C wendtii is a great crypt because of all the color varieties. The only real foreground that I can think of is C parva and that grows so incredibly slowly. It melted on me after I put it in and I thought I lost it but after about 2 months it reappeared and is still growing. You'd really have to get a lot to start or just accept that you'll have a very small foreground area. 

A good plant for the mid-back area is C pontederifolia. Its broad, bright green leaves are a great contrast to the various C wendtii colors. Good backgrounds are C spiralis which I find very easy to grow and C balansae with its cool textured leaves even though it likes to melt on me at the slightest provocation. I'd also use C blassi for contrast in the mid-ground area as the leaves are shorter and wider and held on long stems as compared to C wendtii. It also has a bit of texture to it and some great color as well with green on the top and a reddish hue on the bottom of the leaf. 

As you can see I'd go for the more common and easy crypts, but I think it would still look good with them planted around some driftwood.


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## Afyounie (Aug 10, 2007)

Yea I have a beautiful piece of driftwood that I'm goind to use and a nice large rock. Those will be the only hardscape items in the tank. Also, I don't plan on using parva. I've read how its slow and dies easily. Thanks for the suggestions. Do you know a good place to find these? I looked at aquabotanic.com and they have good selection, but not everything I want.


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## Khamul1of9 (Oct 25, 2005)

I find C. cordata grows well in low light with big leaves. I would use it for mid to back ground.


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## DanD5303 (Oct 12, 2004)

crypts commonly sold as C lucens and C willisi stay small and have grown better for me than parva. They are good foreground plants if you want to stay with crypts. C lucens is often available at Petsmart. Dan


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I've picked up crypts form AquaBotanic (he used to carry the blassi a couple years ago, but not anymore) and the for/sale trade forum here when they show up. Sorry I'm not more help.


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## andrew__ (May 18, 2007)

DanD5303 said:


> crypts commonly sold as C lucens and C willisi stay small and have grown better for me than parva. They are good foreground plants if you want to stay with crypts. C lucens is often available at Petsmart. Dan


I've got both of these and submersed they would pass very well as carpet style plants - very slow growing for me.


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## owenj (Jan 8, 2008)

What about the Wendtii "Green Gecko" variant? I think I read on here that it stays compact, not sure if it's smaller than willisii though.
I'm trying to do a 5.5 gal crypt tank so this is an informative thread 
~Jaime


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## Afyounie (Aug 10, 2007)

I'm thinking about incorporating multiple wendtii types into this tank since there are so many beautiful color variants. I don't know if it stays small though. I know that all my wendtii brown get to be about 12-14in tall.

I am going to use one bag of flourite mixed with 2 bags of shultz aquatic soil. Does anyone see any problems using these soils? I have great growth with schultz.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

owenj said:


> What about the Wendtii "Green Gecko" variant? I think I read on here that it stays compact, not sure if it's smaller than willisii though.
> I'm trying to do a 5.5 gal crypt tank so this is an informative thread
> ~Jaime


I tugged my green gecko up a bit (it had slowly been buried by my ram moving gravel) and within a month it has probably doubled in height. If I pulled and measured from the gravel to the leaf tip it is probably 4-5" now.


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