# Cannot grow C. Wendtii to save my life.



## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

I have been having trouble with two C. Wendtii plants for a couple of months now.

I changed my water source to reconstituted RO, and they promptly melted. Fine, I thought. I know they will melt if their environment changes like that, so no big deal. They'll grow back.

Well, they didn't grow back. Eventually I cut off all the growth at the soil surface to let them start from scratch.

Slowly a few leaves appeared, then they stunted and started melting again.

_ALL of my other plants look fantastic and grow like weeds._ I have no algae to speak of other than a little green spot from time to time.

The only thing I can think of is that the crypts don't like the short period of 20 to 30 minutes each week when I do water changes.

The water level drops in half (as does the GH and KH) and is filled back up with pure RO. Then I dose the tank with Barr GH Booster and baking soda to get my GH back to 5 and my KH back to 3.

Is it possible that this brief change in hardness and alkalinity is what the crypts are having trouble with?

I am about ready to throw out these two plants and get a couple new ones from the LFS.

Any advice to help me grow these great plants would be appreciated.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

This may sound like a stupid question, but are you sure it's C. wendtii? They do like stability, but I have a forest of them in two tanks which get their weekly 50-60% water changes. They have melted on me twice, first when I ran out of iron (they like iron), and the second time, I had upped my micro dosing. But they bounced right back. I even gave some to a friend who has a lousy little 20W light on a 29 gal, and they are still alive, though growth is extremely slow. My suggestion is to keep a stable routine, they should do ok.

PM me if you want some. I can send you some for postage, my only concern is it's really hot here.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Hi Bert, it's not a stupid question! I am not sure they are C. Wendtii. I bought them unlabelled from the LFS and they look a lot like the C. Wendtii pictures I have seen, plus C. Wendtii seems to be the most popular crypt., so I figured I probably have C. Wendtii. Does my trouble sound like another crypt?

I dose Flourish Iron at 3 ml per day, and micros TMG at 6 ml per day, so I think they have plenty of that stuff.

Thanks for your offer, by the way. Maybe I'll take you up on it. I'll let you know. Going to the LFS today so I may just grab some there; unfortunately they are notorious for not labeling their crypts.


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## NE (Dec 10, 2004)

Do you dose any N, P or K, otherwise i would guess thats where your problem might be.

I guess you know this, but anyway:

Ro water is "clean" from nutritions and with Flourish Iron and TMG you only add micro nutrition and no macro nutritions at all.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Hi NE, yeah I dose KNO3, KH2PO4, the iron and TMG, as well as GH Booster and baking soda after each water change.

I'd be pretty stunned to learn that I'm deficient in anything, especially given that all of my other plants look so good.


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## NE (Dec 10, 2004)

I almost guessed that, but i thought i better ask.

Did you do any remodeling in the tank also or was it just the change from tap to RO water? I'm aiming at the stability thing and trying to rule out things.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Nope, no changes other than going from tap to RO. Things have been very, very consistent for well over a month now.. it's curious isn't it?


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## Aquaspot (Jan 19, 2006)

There are so many variants of Crypt wendtii alone, not to mention the whole Crypt family. A picture would certainly aid better in identifying what you have. 
Although Crypts love a stable environment, they are not that tough, especially if you are talking about the wendtii group. They are the easiest around and will have no issues with water changes and such.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Aquaspot said:


> There are so many variants of Crypt wendtii alone, not to mention the whole Crypt family. A picture would certainly aid better in identifying what you have.
> Although Crypts love a stable environment, they are not that tough, especially if you are talking about the wendtii group. They are the easiest around and will have no issues with water changes and such.


The irony is that what I have is a gnarled mess of disfigured, stunted leaves that scarcely resemble the beauty the plant once was.


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## ppyeoh (May 15, 2006)

Hi all

I have some C. Minima, C. Affinis, C. and C. Cordata in my 2 planted tanks for quite some time... All of them collected from wild. They live in acidic water condition. Some of them I collected from peat swamp.

So far they are in good condition and do not melt at all after I introduced them in my tank. I do change 50% of the water fortnightly and add in NPK and Trace element with Fe. Seems ok for these plants. Root fert is required to keep them growing in good shape. Strong lighting is not a must as in the natural habitat, they grow under shade. But truth is they do grow very very slow.

In one wierd incident my friend encountered was he introduced new Crypts into the crypts tank, the new crypts melted away fast. All other stable crypts follow to melt and all die in a week time. I mean whole tank gone. Can some one advice what is the actual reason that cause this. Thanks.

Below is C. Minima (submerged) I collected few months ago.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Hi ppyeoh! You'll probably have better luck if you start a new thread instead of posting to mine.


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## Kai Witte (Jan 30, 2006)

Hi PP,

I thought your post might warrant a new thread:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/crypt-nuts/27553-minima-cordata-affinis.html


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

banderbe,

At first, I never had any luck with crypts either. I keep mine in flourite and do regular EI water column dosing. I had P. stellatus, Blyxa, HC, and most anything else growing like crazy, but the crypts never took off. I then tried some root tabs and watched as the plants showed almost explosive growth over the next month or so. The difference can't be overstated. They are heavy root feeders after all..... Give it a try.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

guaiac_boy said:


> banderbe,
> 
> At first, I never had any luck with crypts either. I keep mine in flourite and do regular EI water column dosing. I had P. stellatus, Blyxa, HC, and most anything else growing like crazy, but the crypts never took off. I then tried some root tabs and watched as the plants showed almost explosive growth over the next month or so. The difference can't be overstated. They are heavy root feeders after all..... Give it a try.


That is a good idea.. I think I will try that..

As an aside, what I am pretty sure is C. Spiralis has always done great for me too.. just those wendtii-like crypts that wouldn't grow.

I threw them away this weekend. I'll pick up some new ones and give them some root tabs.


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