Crypt Club

[ikuzo]

great collection guys!

here's mine emersed :


from top, left-right
nevillii, pontederifolia, beckettii
wendtii tropica, albida red, wendtii green gecko
wilisii, albida green

i kept them at a shaded corner of my yard
with a simple plastic cover to keep the humidity

[lbacha]

Originally Posted by chad320

Nice job Len, is that planted in ADA Malaya?

Yep it's loving the Malaya, Some crypts like it others hate it, my C keei is sending runners but stays really small in it, the affinis and nurii along with wendtii and undulata are growign like weeds iny emersed tank I have range from plants melting after a few months to my cordatas and zukali loving it and sending spathes. I think low ph liking crypts do fine in it..

Len

[Qwedfg]

Any have a good shot of undulata? The ones I have found have conflicting leaf shape.

[lbacha]

It's a bad picture but here is some undulata in the corner of my tank, I'll see if I can take a better shot later it is like a skinny wendtii in my opinion.

Len

[lbacha]

Here is a much better picture

Len

[ikuzo]

Originally Posted by Qwedfg

Any have a good shot of undulata? The ones I have found have conflicting leaf shape.

here's mine
in emersed form


submerged exactly like lbaca's

[gordonrichards]

albida farm

becketti farm

[RukoTheWonderDog]

All grown emersed. Always adding more - hit me up if you have anything uncommon.

-Cryptocoryne Affinis
-Cryptocoryne Affinis 'West Pahang-Metallic Red'
-Cryptocoryne Bullosa "Bario"
-Cryptocoryne sp. 'Bukit Ibam' Yellow Ring
-Cryptocoryne Cordata KR01
-Cryptocoryne Cordata 'Rosanervig'
-Cryptocoryne Hudoroi
-Cryptocoryne Ideii
-Cryptocoryne sp. 'Indonesia'
-Cryptocoryne Keei 'Jambusan'
-Cryptocoryne Longicauda 'Seri Aman'
-Cryptocoryne Moehlmannii
-Cryptocoryne Nurii
-Cryptocoryne Pygmaea
-Cryptocoryne Uenoi 'Sg. Sabal Kruin'
-Cryptocoryne Walkeri 'Lutea'
-Cryptocoryne Wendtii 'Green Gecko'
-Cryptocoryne Wendtii 'Mi Oya'
-Cryptocoryne Wendtii 'Tropica' (?)
-Cryptocoryne Zukalii

[klaus07]

here is a photo of my Undulata that I got from 954baby APC member, I forget his name here.

The undulata was grown emersed in MOGC mixed with floramax.

[Qwedfg]

Very nice I ordered some undulata from Gordon on power sellers that should be here today pretty excited

[salmon]

cool thread! awesome crypts everyone!

heres my small list of current crypts i keep (not all same tank) and a pic of a c. becktii 'petchi' in my dsm with an interesting 50/50 leave pattern

-C. becktii 'petchi' (how it was labeled)
-C. balansae
-C. Lucens
-C. lutea
-C. nurii
-c. parva
-C. wendtii 'red'

[crazydaz]

My Crypt Bullosa from Xue has really done well for me over the past few months! I've been told that this has proven to be a bit tricky to grow submersed, and was asked to share what I can with all of you in hopes that there MAY be some useful information that you can use. Please let me know if there are questions.

I will state clearly that I do not consider myself to be an expert in anything, much less crypts. The following is a mere summation of my tank, lighting, and substrate conditions, as well as fertilizer/water change schedule, and some personal notes. These are things that have worked well for me, and for me alone. If you disagree with anything said here, that is fine! You won't be insulting me!

In any event, let's "zoom" in on the place where my Crypt Bullosa is in my tank. In "normal" photos, you would never guess where it was because it is overshadowed by the relative enormity of my tank, and you don't usually see it in my tank pictures on my Journal thread. It would be on the "right" side of my tank towards the back third:

Right Side-Full side view:


Little bit closer......:


....and closer....


...now you should see it....


...and here it is, pretty much dead center in this photo:


I feel it necessary to mention several points. First has to do with the crypt's "placement" in the tank. From the pictures, there are two obvious facts: the Bullosa is in a somewhat shaded location; and, there is a Korelia pump very close by. Specifically, the crypt is located almost directly under a driftwood "branch" surrounded by rotala stems and a MASSIVE lotus plant, and only about four inches away from the side of the tank. In addition, there are various floating plants as well that block out additional lighting. In short, this is not a very bright location. That side of the tank faces a wall, so there is very little in terms of ambient lighting, and as the rotala stems grow, the tend to grow into the Bullosa's location and add additional shading. I don't have a PAR meter, nor have I ever cared about exact measurements of my lighting, but using some common sense, it is a mostly shaded location where perhaps 2 or 3 of the Crypt's leaves are directly exposed to the lighting. This has been an ideal location because as this is a slow-growing crypt, brighter lighting would cause it to become susceptible to algae issues endemic to slow-growing aquatic plant species, such as anubia or java fern species (Such as Green Spot).

The flow from the Korelia a foot "up" and to the "right" of the Bullosa points slightly downward and towards the center of the tank where it mixes with the outflow of the Eheim outflow, the CO2 pump spray bar, and the other Korelia pump on the other side of the tank. Needless to say, there are strong currents in this tank. The Bullosa sits (more or less) "under" two outflows: one for the Eheim filter and one for the Korelia. The current that passes by it directly is the "return" circulation. This current is steady, but not incredibly fast. The leaves from the Bullosa are pretty thick and tough, and the waver slightly in the current. It seems to be much stronger at the top, directly above the Bullosa as there is an almost constant semi-fast rotating whirlpool on the surface of the tank near the back-right corner. Having this type of current is beneficial as it prevents too much mulm or detritus from settling on the leaves of the crypt and will provide access to any nutrients in the water column, though this is predominantly a heavy root feeder. There are "rumors" that adequate flow helps to keep BBA to a minimum as well on slower growing crypts or anubia; however, this has not proven to be the case in my system. In fact, the opposite seems to hold more truth.

Moving along....:


Substrate, as we all know, is imperative to the health and well being of any crypt. Mine is a layered substrate: the base is plain kitty litter, topped by laterite, topped by a nutrient rich substrate (it's like a lighter-colored Eco Complete), and capped by pool sand. When I first planted the Bullosa, there seemed to be compaction issues as this crypt (and a few others in my tank) seemed to be trying to grow out of the substrate. By slightly mixing the substrate to "pull up" some of the bigger grains of sand and pebbles, the Bullosa (and the other problematic crypt species) settled back into a planted position without further incident. The substrate was further supplemented by adding six organic-based root tabs (courtesy of DogFish) in a two-inch perimeter surrounding the Bullosa, as well as adding two iron-rich root tabs (courtesy of Hydrophyte...I was "beta testing" his root tabs about six weeks prior to him selling them) under and slightly behind the Bullosa.

A few weeks following the addition of the root tabs and the "loosening" of the substrate, the Bullosa has been sending up one new leaf every two weeks:



The leaves are nicely bullated and dimpled, and the color has been improving to what you might expect to see on a healthy Bullosa crypt:

Illustrating the dimpled pattern---


Leaf closest (and easiest) for me to use as my example---


The underside of a leaf---


Closer look at the color and patterns.....and nerite eggs (gosh darn it!)---


Intangibles---the following is to sum up my tank conditions. As I do not measure water parameters (never have), some conditions are based on "best guess," which I have placed an asterisk:

Lighting: 12 T5 HO Giesmann bulbs; 6 Midday, 6 Aquaflora; 48" 54 watt. Photoperiod is 12 hours total; 1.5 hours Dawn; 9 hours "burst"; 1.5 hours Dusk. Bulbs are about six months old. Suspended about 12" from water surface

Water temp: 78 degrees F

**Water pH: high 6's (?) Not measured; water is filtered through peat granules; filters have not been cleaned since initial start up. Breakdown of organic debris into mulm does lower (and soften) the water. Water change of about 5 gallons or less twice per week. Introduction of CO2 gas will create small amounts of carbonic acid (HCO3) which will lower pH over time.

**Water Hardness: fairly hard out of the tap (high mineral concentration evident as lime/calcium build up on other faucets in-house); tank conditions, along with small volume water changes, likely create softer water over time.

CO2: 3 bubbles/second; no drop checker. CO2 introduced into needle wheel pump; spray bar outflow

Fertilizer: EI dosing. Dosing schedule depends on amount of plants trimmed, any noticeable algae growth. With plants at "optimum" levels (2 weeks post trim), dosing schedule is six times per week, alternating "Macros" plus Iron on Day 1 and dosing "Micros" on Day 2. Day 7 is a "rest" and water change day.

With Plants at "Sub-Optimum" levels (less than two weeks post-trim), dosing schedule is modified to a Day 1 "Macros" plus Iron, Day 2 "Micros," with Day 3 being a Rest and/or water change day.

Fertilizer concentrations are....."propitiatory." However, as crypts are mostly root feeders, this would not be imperative to know.

Organic matter/debris is painstakingly removed twice per week via fish net, thus preventing nutrient-rich material from leeching back into the water column, overloading it, and creating algal blooms. This seems to really help to prevent any algae problems from occurring and harming slower growing plants such as the Bullosa. Even the floaters are removed, rinsed free of any debris caught in the root system, and placed out of the tank to maximize the efficiency of netting the debris. This may be the most important thing that I do. If it is floating around the tank and shouldn't be, get it out of there.

The substrate is RARELY vacuumed or cleaned, and then, if needed, it is only spot-cleaned for excessive mulm buildup in one or two locations, or perhaps a piece of driftwood. The snails do a great job of keeping things pretty tidy, and the substrate loose.

Lastly, I try at every cost to avoid moving or touching any of my crypts, unless I need to prune off a few leaves. If necessary, I'll prune off one bad leaf per week, IF necessary, even if two leaves need to be pruned. I have found that over-pruning a slow growing plant is a good way to kill it, or have it start growing BBA. In addition, even if it looks "ghastly" to have some algae on a leaf to you, it doesn't mean that the leaf isn't still performing a vital function for the crypt. Let a new leaf come out first, then prune the "nasty looking" one. If it loses too many leaves, you may kill it.

Perhaps a final point to think about: those who over worry about their plants tend to kill more plants than those of us who take a more laid back approach. This is because their is a tendency to worry that said plant isn't growing as well as they "think" it should, and stick their hands in there, and keep moving it around from place to place in the tank, adding various root tabs, or planting or removing other plants around it. I would REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY ADVISE AGAINST DOING THIS!! Crypts, especially the expensive rare ones, grow very slowly and seem to need their environment to be "dependable" and unchanging. Every time the plant is uprooted and moved and replanted, the root structure takes a massive toll. Same thing happens if you are planting root tabs around the plant, or adding or removing other plant species around the crypt....you are damaging the root structure. As these guys grow slowly, the time it takes to repair the root structure is increased. Do not expect to see dramatic changes within a week or two....it's not going to happen. Plant it, and leave it alone. If you have to move it, or something around it, don't do it very often. Don't add root tabs any more than occasionally. Don't over-bury the rhizome, either. Put the crypt in an out of the way place and let it do it's thing....these guys don't operate on your time frame.

Well, I hope this may have helped answer some questions for some of you out there having some difficulty growing this neat crypt species. I wouldn't presume to lecture anyone here, especially when there are so many of you out there that know so much more than I do about crypts and the aquatic plant hobby. I only meant to provide my personal experience and recommendations, and that is all! Let me know if there are any questions!

[ikuzo]

awww man those nerite eggs

[DogFish]

Don - Great write-up on your efforts with C. Bullosa!!! My theory is binging a river crypt the current might ne more important that we understand.

I look forward to seeing how this Crypt grows for you over the next 6mos.

[lbacha]

Originally Posted by DogFish

Don - Great write-up on your efforts with C. Bullosa!!! My theory is binging a river crypt the current might ne more important that we understand.

I look forward to seeing how this Crypt grows for you over the next 6mos.

I think C bullosa, keei and uenoi all have the same requirements like this, they like clear neutral to slightly acidic moving water that holds a lot of nutrients when the water level rises due to forest run off. I'm trying a sand and clay based substrate for my keei and if it works I'll add some bullosa and uenoi to it.

Len