# Need help saving crypt!



## Patriot100% (Nov 12, 2011)

I added a new crypt to the tank and it started it's melt phase as normal. So I cut back all the melting stems as close as I could to the rhizome as possible. Now white fuzzy stuff is covering where the cuts were made and it's starting to smell foul. I cut back a little further and removed what's left of the plant from the tank until I get help on how to save it. I know these plants can grow back from just a small piece but how do I make sure it grows now?


----------



## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Sorry that I can't offer any help but I have been wondering about the same question..."how do I make sure it grows". Based on my experience there is no 100% guarantee that it will grow back. 

Once, someone passed me a big bag of roots from a type of crypts (I forgot which type...minima I think). He claimed that they would grow. I had the same belief. Initially I saw a leaf coming out but it disappeared and nothing happened after that for years until I decided to tear down the tank without any crypts. 

Recently, I took some emersed crypts (again I forgot which type) from a friend. I tried to cultivate them emersed as well. Unfortunately, everything melted. Until now I still have a container full of mud. I still water the mud daily. If my neighbours catch me doing that, they may think that I have gone cuckoo. Well, actually I have seen one tiny leaf after several months but I am not sure how to ensure that it will survive. I am concern that I may be repeating what I did above - another failure.


----------



## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

It is not nessesary at all to have a "melt phase". If the change in water chemistry is not too big, crypts can just as well keep growing. Please tell more about the tank and the plants: species, water chemistry, filtration, light, any fish? 

Many crypts are grown above water and when planted under water, the older leaves will die. However, my experience is that with most common crypts from trade this is a more gradual proces and at the same time the plants form underwater leaves. So no complete die back.


----------



## Patriot100% (Nov 12, 2011)

The tank doesn't have any fish. Three banana plants, melon sword, and many other crypts with no no names because I got them from other members. The tank is dirted with clay, peat, root tabs, and worm castings in the dirt. I have a aqua clear 30 and a t-8 light fixture that's getting replaced, no Co2 until my set-up arrives in mail. The only thing that I don't know is the water chemistry, the area however did fail it's water quality test but passed on a second test. 

I expected the crypt melt, but the rhizome started to turn to rot away. I cut back into fresh areas and replanted. So far the white fuzzy fungus hasn't returned yet. I hoping the plant can make a come back for whats left of the rhizome.


----------

