# New to crypts



## Khamul1of9 (Oct 25, 2005)

Hi everyone, I've got two small 4" cryptocoryne wendetii "green" in my 2" deep gravel substrate water feature. The water feature is part of my 29 gallon viv. My question is, how do I know if the crypts are healthy? They dont seem to be dieing, but they arent growing like crazy. Could the presence of snails be detrimental? 
When I first put the plants in last March, they grew like crazy and so did the algae. The snails soon took over, and then when I cleaned the algae, the snails did a number on the crypto. I thought it was a gonner for sure. But it survived. Its looking nice now, and has off shoots(but the shoots are in dark places???).

What can I do for the crypt, I've got three small toads in the tank (much smaller than the plant itself) so I'm unwilling to put any chemicals in the water. Will it ever flower? I love aroid inflorecens'!! 
Anyway, I've got one confession to make, I've got floating plants that sorta block the light out. I try to get them confined to a part of the water feature that has no submersed plants, but they move ever so slowly to where they want to go. Here are some pics:

This is the tank so you can see the water feature im talking about









Here are the pics of the crypts themselves:



























Thanks all!


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

The crypts look OK; just give them plenty of time to grow. Also, don't let the Salvinia and Duckweed cut out their light.


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## Khamul1of9 (Oct 25, 2005)

Do these flower, or is this like a syngonium that never flowers???
Thanks


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

They don't flower readily, but sometimes they do when they get well established and large. They flower most readily when emersed. Some of mine, kept emersed in jars on a windowsill, flower regularly in April.


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## Khamul1of9 (Oct 25, 2005)

I didnt know I could keep this above water!!! Cool.


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## Khamul1of9 (Oct 25, 2005)

Hi all,
I would like to update this, and reintroduce myself. Im Caesar and Im an Aroid nut. Cryptocorynes are just another one of those aroids that won't flower for me. I think its the challenge that drives me nuts. 
Ok: First, my tank is different now. Not so much water anymore.








And now for the Crypts:
Here are some pics of those Cryptocorynes I got a few months ago. I gpt them from an Ebay vendor from Thailand or Malaysia or someplace like that.
Not all of the ones I got survived. Many of them have dissappeared, but I had so many of each that some survived. C. affinis however has gone extinct in my tank. C. undulata is an endangered species followed by C. lingua and then C. pontederiifolia in order of most to least concern. C. becketii is a species of least concern. C. spiralis and C. wendetii are the most vigorous in my tank, and not endangered. Haha, this is too funny calling them endangered and of least concern. Haha.
Now for the pictures. They are all in my Melanophryniscus stelzneri 29 gallon tank, growing emersed in what was once the pond, and now is more like a swamp/bog. 
C. lingua








C. pontederiifolia and C. lingua in the water








Ok, here is C. spiralis and the little nub below it is another C. lingua








Here is another C. spiralis








Zooming out you see C. spiralis, the the broad leaved one is C. pontederiifolia and further south you see C. becketti on the lower right corner is C. wendtii, the yellowish fuzzy blur is my toady 








Here is a closer look at that C. pontederiifolia








Here is C. undulata, its the only one I got and isnt growing much.








Zooming out we see more, Mostly C. wendtii, the bright little green one at the far right end is C. becketii, and you see a bit of the spiralis north of it, and to the left you see a little C. becketii again.








Another view of the C. wendtii. Its a little forest!









OK, these names are from a chart I made according to the sellers names. Some may have been confused by me, others may simply be wrong. If you think you have a better idea, let me know. Thanks.


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## philoserenus (Feb 12, 2007)

i hafta say that this tank is really interesting, especially with all the hidden fauna and housing "endangered species", haha. i really like the crypts. they must love it growing in an environments like that


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## Khamul1of9 (Oct 25, 2005)

Thanks


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## wintor56 (Feb 2, 2007)

Hi,

What substrate are you growing the crypts in?.

Regards,
Des


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## Khamul1of9 (Oct 25, 2005)

Nothing special. I didn't know what I was doing when I put them in there. They are growing in gravel, and two years worth detritus from dead fruit flies, dead plant matter, frog feces, and some dirt.


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