Why are they dieing??

[crs1945]

I have three Crypt. wendetti ( spelling ) in my29 gal., low tech tank. Plants were added last July. Since then I have lost several crypts but my C.wendetti was doing good. Then several months ago I noticed that the three plants were getting smaller in size ( no new growth ). They would lose one or two leafs every week or two. The leaves are not discolored,nor transparent. The plants have had fertilizer tabs inserted into the gravel substrate.Light = 2 x18 watt NO bulbs for 10 hrs/day. I also have used a dry fertilizer made into a solution for the other plants in the tank. 50% water change every week, temp 78 degrees, parameters 0/0/10-20ppm. I have also added a 13 watt CFL bulb to one end of the tank. Any suggestions as to why the crypts are dying when they are supposed to be almost "bombprroof" to grow in a low tech tank ( and they were doing well for over 6 months )?? Thanks

[TwoTacoCombo]

How are they losing their leaves? Are they melting, or just falling off? Have any fish in there adding poopilizer? Why such frequent large water changes?

[crs1945]

Yes there are fish in the tank.Everything I have read states that large water changes are good for the health of the fish/tank. They are just slowly losing their leaves.

[TwoTacoCombo]

Large water chances usually aren't beneficial for low tech tanks. The plants act as a filter, and unless you're dumping in large amounts of ferts, there's really no need. I've read that large frequent water changes can actually cause algae issues, as your tap water probably has more co2 in it that the tank water. What kind of leaves are your crypts losing? Are they the ones with long stems and oval shaped leaves, or the wrinkly triangle shaped ones? My crypts were all grown emersed, and came with oval leaves. They're just now starting to shed those as the submerged-form leaves are coming in. Could you possibly provide a photo of the problem plants?

[Complexity]

I have Crypt wendtii "Bronze" in all my tanks, including "high tech" and "low tech", and I have to say it is an indestructible plant in my experience. The only time I had a major leaf loss of established plants was when I nuked a tank with very high levels of Excel to get rid of a severe algae problem; however, the leaves came right back without a problem.

The Crypts that are in my "low tech" tanks have gone through very large water changes without suffering any problems. For example, a few weeks ago I screwed up and grabbed the wrong bottle while doing a water change on my little 5g RCS tank. Instead of adding Prime, I accidentally added Bleach!! I instantly caught my mistake and hit the tank with lots of Prime and then several large water changes. The crypts are as happy as ever (didn't lose any shrimp either!).

So there's something strange going on to make the crypts die back after being established in the tank.

I'd really like to see pictures of the tank and of the crypts. Also, can you uproot one of the dying crypts and take pictures of the roots?

I have two tanks almost identical to yours (29g, 2x18w T5NO lighting, but I don't add ferts) with the crypts growing very well. What substrate are you using?

[crs1945]

The leaves are long and oval and my substrate is plain gravel.Will try to get a picture but I never have had success taking a picture of the tank!

[ony]

Originally Posted by crs1945

The leaves are long and oval and my substrate is plain gravel.Will try to get a picture but I never have had success taking a picture of the tank!

When did you last replace the bulbs? Tubes colour shift over time so they start to provide less and less useful light for photosynthesis. Ideally they should be changed every 6-12 months depending on the brand and how long you have them on per day.

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by crs1945

The leaves are long and oval and my substrate is plain gravel.Will try to get a picture but I never have had success taking a picture of the tank!

Pull one out, put it down somewhere, and snap a photo of it so I can see the roots.

As far as the tank goes, it doesn't have to be a perfect photo, just something to give some idea of the tank's condition.

[crs1945]

Will have to get the pics. later. Have a graduation to go to today. I will try and post the either later today or Monday.

[HybridHerp]

crypts are super hardy, a water change once destroyed a small low tech tank i had and I was left with just the rhizomes of my old plants, so for a while I kept trying to buy plants that would fill in, eventually just giving up on the idea. Then I took out half of my crypts, or rather the root with no leaves, and put them into another tank thinking they would grow better there (which they did but that was because it was a larger tank with brand new eco-complete as opposed to over a year old substrate)
however, my crypts are now coming back full force, and interestingly enough one of them that was a brown now decided to put out really nice red leaves
sometimes crypts just need time to do their own thing, it might not look pretty to us, but it all works out in the end

[crs1945]

Ok here is a picture of the 29 gal tank and one of one of the plants. The plant used to be 4 inches tall with 8-9 leafs!!

[Complexity]

The roots look really good so the crypts aren't actually dying. Looking at your overall tank, I suspect the crypts are starving for fertilizers so they aren't able to flourish, causing new growth to be stunted.

I think you'll see improved growth if you add fertilizer tabs to the substrate under the crypts.

[crs1945]

There are root tabs under and around the three crypts but this is still happening. Guess I'll just wait it out and see what happens. Thanks