# How/where do you keep your Cryptocoryne cordata 'Rosanervig'



## bsmith

I have this crypt in my 37g high tech tank and it is nasty looking. Other then the BBA on the older leaves there is no pink veining or anything. It grows absurdly fast but its not pretty. I know its because of the high light but its just such a big plant I really cant put it anywhere else other than a really low tech tank that I am keeping my Scleromystax Barbatus in. 

Do you think that would be adequate housing for it? The substrate is inert gravel mixed with AS and I could put some Rootmedic tabs near it. Its a 25-30g long with a 2x18w coralife t5no light.


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## Crispino Ramos

I bought a Cryptocoryne rosanervig plant from Inspire91 about 2 years ago. I have it planted in a 28 gallon tank with two 55 watt PC Aqualight, substrate is a mixture of home-made substrate and AquaSoil, pressurized CO2, RO water and EI fert dosing. I planted it right side downstage. It has about ten plantlets all over the tank. The color (red, cream and green) stripes is true to its form like when I bought it from Inspire91.

I have them in this tank - the mother plant can't be seen because I cropped this picture. Most of the runners are growing in the background and there are some smaller ones up front and middle competing with the taller stem plants. A month ago, I transplanted a rhizome to a 72 gallon tank with four TEK bulbs, the new leaves are still showing the veination.


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## bsmith

When I did a google search of the full name (like in the thread title) I found a thread over at TPT where Tom (barr) was discussing this plant with another member. He was saying it displays the veineation and best coloration in low-mid light settings. I just dont want to put it in my cat tank and it die.


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## mats808

Bsmith, in my opinion your S. barbatus setup is just fine for your 'Rosanervig'. You didn't mention the size of your inert gravel but as long as it's a good size for rooting plants I think your setup will be more then adequate, assuming that you are using the same water for both tanks. 

My submersed plant that showed the most white and pink was grown outside (Hawaii) in tap (75-85ppm TDS) with no heater under the eaves of my house on a side that only got about 0-10 min. of direct sunlight depending on the time of the year. It was grown in a gray rubbermaid tub so mostly indirect light which could only enter from the top and it was covered with 70% shade cloth. There was 1 otocinclus in there. I used pure aquasoil though. I don't think that will matter that much, especially if your gravel aquasoil mix has been up and running for some time with fish in the tank, plus the root tabs you mentioned.

In the conditions above, my plant had far more white then green and as much pink as you normally see in the photos of nicely grown (color wise) photos on the web. I broke down that tub when I moved and the exact same plant turned almost completely green with faint white markings and no pink. I now have it growing emersed and the white is slowly coming back more and more with each new leaf. I also got that piece from Chase (Inspire91) but when he gave it to me it had almost no white. It was basically green with a different shade of green venation.

Hope this helps in some way.


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## manini

I know it is an old thread, but I hope this helps.

This is a photo of my C.rosanervig grown in a 75 gallon tank that is currently running a 48"x4 tek light with giessemann aquaflora(2x) and midday(2x), 9hr photo period, pH7.6, ASI, and occasionally pfertz root tabs every 3 months. Original plant showed the veins and had no issues with it. Still growing strong and is actually a short plant to my suprise. Hight of the plant is roughly about 4" with a with of the leaves at around 1 3/4 wide at the widest point. Plantlets looks exactly like the parent plant.


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## ddavila06

man i have a different issue with this plant....
minne doesnt grow more than two leaves lol! i have had this plant for like two years and it always has two leaves!!! a new comes and old one melts...
no daughters that im aware, but i used to have two plants side by side, one grew long leaves and lost the veins....so strange! =O\\

the picture was ment for the pleco, but alas! i got the plant


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## bsmith

manini said:


> I know it is an old thread, but I hope this helps.
> 
> This is a photo of my C.rosanervig grown in a 75 gallon tank that is currently running a 48"x4 tek light with giessemann aquaflora(2x) and midday(2x), 9hr photo period, pH7.6, ASI, and occasionally pfertz root tabs every 3 months. Original plant showed the veins and had no issues with it. Still growing strong and is actually a short plant to my suprise. Hight of the plant is roughly about 4" with a with of the leaves at around 1 3/4 wide at the widest point. Plantlets looks exactly like the parent plant.


I would bet that with the size of your tank and the amount of plants yo have in there the crypt isn't getting as much light as what you have lighting the tank would suggest by itself. Or maybe your light bulbs are old and have lost some of their intensity? Your plant looks great. When I had mine in my high tech 37g it was the ugliest BBA infested plant EVER!


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## bsmith

ddavila06 said:


> man i have a different issue with this plant....
> minne doesnt grow more than two leaves lol! i have had this plant for like two years and it always has two leaves!!! a new comes and old one melts...
> no daughters that im aware, but i used to have two plants side by side, one grew long leaves and lost the veins....so strange! =O\\
> 
> the picture was ment for the pleco, but alas! i got the plant


What type of substrate/sub fertilization are you doing?


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## ddavila06

i do add iron, excel on occasion. substrate is base laterite (clay) and flora max mixed with eco. i added some root tabs about three months ago, is time to add more now. 
some compressed co2. lots of fish. MTS. light is 3x T5HO from catalina, 2 10K and one plant grow (85k?) one bulb just went out last week, i think i need to change the ballast....


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## bsmith

ddavila06 said:


> i do add iron, excel on occasion. substrate is base laterite (clay) and flora max mixed with eco. i added some root tabs about three months ago, is time to add more now.
> some compressed co2. lots of fish. MTS. light is 3x T5HO from catalina, 2 10K and one plant grow (85k?) one bulb just went out last week, i think i need to change the ballast....


If you get some root tabs let me suggest this offering from RootMedic. They have a great product and if you add 2 of these across from each other at the base of the plant around the roots in the substrate you will get more then two leaves I guarantee it! 

This root tab has Macro and Micro so it is great for plants that are very heavy root feeders like Crypts and Swords.

http://rootmedic.net/products-page/dry-nutrients/iron-plus

This is the base of my Roseranvig


























I have only had it in the tank which is a 20L with one 2x18w coralife t5no and has a mix of natural looking inert gravel and old ADA AS with the Rootmedic tabs for 3 months and I have had 12+ leaves and 3-4 daughter plants. Im telling you their products put any other root tabs I have used to shame!


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## manini

bsmith said:


> I would bet that with the size of your tank and the amount of plants yo have in there the crypt isn't getting as much light as what you have lighting the tank would suggest by itself. Or maybe your light bulbs are old and have lost some of their intensity? Your plant looks great. When I had mine in my high tech 37g it was the ugliest BBA infested plant EVER!


Nope, totally the opposite. The plant is placed right under the light and I make sure that the plant does not get shaded. Bulbs are 6 months old.


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## manini

Here is a picture of the tank showing plants fully exposed to the light. C. rosanervig is on the bottom right next to C.'gecko'










Closer look at the positioning.


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## bsmith

Well your certainly the exception and not the rule here. My experience with it in a high light/tech setting was a very nasty looking plant. That is what I have found with everyone else who has this plant too. 

Whatever your doing, keep it up because yours looks pretty good. Its very small for some reason and im sure that it being in a high light setting is why. Since the plant does not have to look hard at all for energy and so it stays small but it still looks great.


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## bigstick120

In my high light tank I get no, to very little veining. On plantlets that are very shaded, I get some veining.


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## bsmith

bigstick120 said:


> In my high light tank I get no, to very little veining. On plantlets that are very shaded, I get some veining.


Yep, thats what I found after scouring the net searching what I was doing wrong after getting the nasty growth/no coloration at all in my high tech tank.


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## looking4roselines

It depends on the plant. These leaves are inches away from a 4x65 watt coralife fixture.
(leaves without veins on the upper left of the photo are not crypts by the way)









These are the same plants and they look pretty much the same under low light 

And emersed


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## manini

looking4roselines said:


> It depends on the plant. These leaves are inches away from a 4x65 watt coralife fixture.
> (leaves without veins on the upper left of the photo are not crypts by the way)
> 
> These are the same plants and they look pretty much the same under low light
> 
> And emersed


Same here too. Regardless the light situation, I have the same results on my plants. Now I am wondering if it is lineage?


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## looking4roselines

manini said:


> Same here too. Regardless the light situation, I have the same results on my plants. Now I am wondering if it is lineage?


I have the same gut feeling as well. I Have a roasanervig from a different source and the veins are absent regardless of the environmental factors. This Plant threw out a leaf or two with veins once in a blue moon but most leaves are without veins


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## flwrbed

mine grow very flat to the surface, and only blotches of pink. they had veins when i got them, but no more. it also grows very slow. i would put it in the med bright light range, co2 and med fertz. im going to try giving it some root tabs.

would like some more input on this nice plant. would love to see stripes on mine again.


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## illustrator

Theoretically all C. cordata "Rosanervig" should be the same clone, originating from a single plant. It doesn't matter where you get it: it is always the same plant. 

Some lineages might have lost the virus which is responsible for the pink veins, in that case you have just "cordata", but you should not expect the veins to return, ever. 

Another story is if the veins are not very visible because of growing conditions, then you can expect them to return if you change growing conditions.


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## bsmith

I think that the people getting pink veins in higher light situations are dealing with strange circumstances. Maybe the bulbs in the fixtures are older or are not giving optimal output, maybe the reflectors are dirty. There has to be something because this plant, given proper parameters shouldn't show the pink veins in high light situations.


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## manini

bsmith said:


> I think that the people getting pink veins in higher light situations are dealing with strange circumstances. Maybe the bulbs in the fixtures are older or are not giving optimal output, maybe the reflectors are dirty. There has to be something because this plant, given *proper parameters* shouldn't show the pink veins in high light situations.


Just curious what is 'proper parameters'. If I am getting the red veins in my highlight tank that has 'clean reflectors' and 6 month old lights light bulbs, does it mean it is not within the 'proper parameters' even though I get the same result? Or are you saying I am falsifying my parameters? Just because others can grow them in different parameters and others can't does not mean that my 'proper parameter' is wrong. Proper or not, they are still 'red'.


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## wabisabi

illustrator said:


> Theoretically all C. cordata "Rosanervig" should be the same clone, originating from a single plant. It doesn't matter where you get it: it is always the same plant.
> 
> Some lineages might have lost the virus which is responsible for the pink veins, in that case you have just "cordata", but you should not expect the veins to return, ever.
> 
> Another story is if the veins are not very visible because of growing conditions, then you can expect them to return if you change growing conditions.


Just wondering....has it been confirmed that it is a virus that causes the pink veining?

So theoretically, if it is caused by a virus, is there a possibility that you could 'reinfect' a 'Rosanervig' plant that has lost it's veining, with a 'Rosanervig' that still possesses the pink veining? Just some food for thought.

I also believe that this is caused by genetics/viral influence more than 'proper conditions'. I think that Manini's and Roseline's pics prove that the 'low light theory' has lost its cred.


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## bsmith

manini said:


> Just curious what is 'proper parameters'. If I am getting the red veins in my highlight tank that has 'clean reflectors' and 6 month old lights light bulbs, does it mean it is not within the 'proper parameters' even though I get the same result? Or are you saying I am falsifying my parameters? Just because others can grow them in different parameters and others can't does not mean that my 'proper parameter' is wrong. Proper or not, they are still 'red'.


To me "proper parameters" means that you have a nutritious substrate and water conditions that are to the plants liking. You are reading too much into it, dont take it the wrong way. It's just that this plant "shouldn't" look the way it does in your tank with how your set up is put together. 99 times out of 100 there is usually something that is causing this abnormality, it just needs to be dug out.


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## manini

bsmith said:


> To me "proper parameters" means that you have a nutritious substrate and water conditions that are to the plants liking. You are reading too much into it, dont take it the wrong way. It's just that this plant "shouldn't" look the way it does in your tank with how your set up is put together. 99 times out of 100 there is usually something that is causing this abnormality, it just needs to be dug out.


So if "proper parameters' means having nutritious substrate and water conditions that are to the plants liking, then I do have "proper parameters". Nothing abnormal about that.


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## bsmith

manini said:


> So if "proper parameters' means having nutritious substrate and water conditions that are to the plants liking, then I do have "proper parameters". Nothing abnormal about that.


Not necessarily. I am still under the impression that something is causing your crypt to not get as much light as the numbers alone would suggest.

It just doesn't make sense. 99/100 people that grow this plant in a setting such as yours will have a plant that looked like mine did in my high tech tank. Olive green, no veins at all, poor growth and BBA all over the leaves. And I dont think you have some special plant either so this only leaves that something is not as it seems with the equipment/parameters/something.

Again, im not accusing you of anything. I just hate it when I find something that doesn't make sense and that I cannot make sense of after looking over all of the facts. :spy:


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## chad320

I dont think lighting would have anything to do with it. For situations like this its usually one or the other. Either peat or clay. Try one for a month and if you dont get a response, remove the crypt and plant it in the other.


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## ddavila06

chad320 said:


> I dont think lighting would have anything to do with it. For situations like this its usually one or the other. Either peat or clay. Try one for a month and if you dont get a response, remove the crypt and plant it in the other.


interesting that you mention, in my new-er setup (4 months old) i added pottery clay at the bottom and i see a new leaf coming on mine. now lets hope one wont die as it comes out lol, it usually goes like that (never more than two leaves at the time)


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## bsmith

chad320 said:


> I dont think lighting would have anything to do with it. For situations like this its usually one or the other. Either peat or clay. Try one for a month and if you dont get a response, remove the crypt and plant it in the other.


It seems that from what I found when I first had issues with my high lighted tank destroying the aesthetic beauty, higher lighting was the exact cause of this problem.

I had it in a 37g with pressurized co2, ADA AS with Rootmedic fert caps, EI dosing and 4x24w t5ho lighting. The plant looked like old canned spinach with BBA on the leaves.

So after finding that it really does prefer lower light and shows the coloration in this setting I just yanked it from the high tech tank and threw it in my 20L that I am trying to breed S.Barbatus and black schultzei cories. This tank only has maybe 25%-30% old ADA AS with more natural looking inert gravel and also Rootmedic fert caps, no co2 and only a Coralife t5no 2x18w light. Within two weeks I had three new leaves and they all looked like the stunning pics of this plant that you find on the internet.


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## bigstick120

Im my high light tanks it grows great, now algae at all, I just dont get pink veins on the large full grown leaves. On small plantlet that are shaded under the canopy I get some pink showing.


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## bsmith

bigstick120 said:


> Im my high light tanks it grows great, now algae at all, I just dont get pink veins on the large full grown leaves. On small plantlet that are shaded under the canopy I get some pink showing.


That completely supports my train of thought. Thanks for posting your experience with this plant.


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