# Crypt holes



## cornbreadbob (Jan 28, 2010)

Hey i recently noticed some holes starting on the leaves of the crypts in my mom's tank. and they are growing rapidly every day. here are a couple pictures..




























i'm not sure if this is a problem with lack of fert. but is almost seems like it's something eating away the leaves.

her tank is a 20 gallon with soil under a layer of gravel for substrate. for lighting she has 40watts from 2 incandescent bulbs. she doesn't use co2 or ferts at all. i'm pretty new to the hobby so i have no clue what the problem is. any help with identifying whats wrong and how it can be fixed would be awesome

thanks


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

If the plants have been recently moved, odds are it's crypt melt. They do this under moving stress, but will recover. I've had all of my leaves die on a crypt, but then have the plant rebound from its roots.

At the same time though, I wouldn't be surprised if not fertilizing is an issue. Low light and a fertile substrate means it shouldn't be too bad; a little bit of flourish K+ and comprehensive dosed as per instructions would take care of this. If you want to get into something more complete, you could order ferts and dry dose some KNO3 and CSM+B.


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## rjfurbank (Jan 21, 2008)

How long have those plants been in the tank? I've seen similar upon adding emersed grown crypts in my aquarium when they convert to submersed growth.


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## cornbreadbob (Jan 28, 2010)

not too long.. maybe in the tank 3 or so weeks. but we got them from the LFS which had them submersed, although i have no idea how long.


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## rjfurbank (Jan 21, 2008)

most likely just changing from emersed then. My LFS gets them grown emersed but keeps them submersed but it takes a while for the leaves to change. I observed the same thing--all the green leaves turned mushy and got holes and the fish liked to eat them. The new leaves came up and were very different.

Good luck.


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

They don't have to be emersed to melt. A change in conditions can trigger crypt melt; physical or chemical disturbances seem to set the plant off at times. Usually after a week my moved crypts melt horribly, and take a couple months to get back into half decent shape.


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## cornbreadbob (Jan 28, 2010)

thanks for all the info, i guess ill just play the waiting game and see if they come back strong. i can see little leaves beginning to sprout from the bottom so i think they'll be fine


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