Tyrone,
My favorite for small tanks is C. willisii, the smallest of the crypts. Dark
green leathery foliage with dark wine undersides and grows in a tight
rosette if it likes its home :wink:
Hi all
I'm really fond of Crypts (italics so no-one can accuse me of lurking about graveyards with Amazons). Perhaps its because they don't mind low light and I'm too cheap to invest a fortune in lights, or perhaps because they are such a varied group of plants?
I am eager to learn what species you have growing in your tanks. I have been known to trade fish/eggs for Crypts before and would do it again too... They survive the post quite well.
By I digress....
You can pretty much aquascape an entire tank with Crypts. You can have balasanae in the back with pontedofolia and wndettii in the middle and beckettii in the front. Oh, and you can have affinis because its crinkled leaves just look so nice... Crypts really are the perfect aquarium plant. There is also so much colour in the group.
Anyway... enough about what I think about Crypts. What is your opinion? What is your favourite species and why?
tt4n
Tyrone,
My favorite for small tanks is C. willisii, the smallest of the crypts. Dark
green leathery foliage with dark wine undersides and grows in a tight
rosette if it likes its home :wink:
Starring at my last post... I should really be shot for the terrible spelling...
My favourite has to be the pontederiifolia. Big, green, lush, easy to grow. A perfect plant.
tt4n
My favorite is Wendtii Bronze -- nice touch of color.
Deborah
I love Cryptocorynes and wish there were more species available. Currently I have:
C. affinis
C. albida
C. crispatula
C. nurii
C. parva
C. pontederiifolia
C. wendtii "bronze"
And about 4 mystery plants that would not surprise me if they all turned up to be different varieties of C. wendtii's. or C. becketti.
Over my vacation, I came home to find all my Cryptocorynes melted! The timer on for the lights was not working anymore(a black out screwed it up). They were in darkness for a good week and that was all it took to melt my beautiful C. affinis.
I did have a few other crypts, but thanks to my Abramites headstander-they have been eaten.
My favourite is C. nurii. If the plant was just not so difficult to maintain, it would be gorgeous!
It is true that some Crypts do not need much light to grow. My C. wendtii bronze has been living in almost total darkness for the last few months in a 20g. I moved the lights from the tank to my nano, hehe. The plant has not died and is slowly growing, even though the new leaves are a light green. Which reminds me, I should move it to my 65g now!
I am working on getting a few more uncommon species like C. thwaitesii. If I can grow C. nurii, the rest of the Crypt species should be no problem!
-Mark Mendoza
Maybe we should get a Cryptocoryne exchange goind... I'm sure as this thread evolves we are all going to be PM/emailing each other behind the scenes...
tt4n
I've recently grown very fond of Cryptocorynes. They are just so much fun to collect and so hassle free. I grow all of mine emersed in a tiny greenhouse.
My favorite "Cryptocoryne" in the setup that I have is my Lagenandra ovata for the simple reason that it is the biggest, lushest plant in there. The foliage is very glossy. I also really like my C. cordata var blassii with its almost perfectly round leaves and burgundy undersides. C. albida looks like it has a lot of potential, too. It's just starting to grow more rapidly.
Carlos
A Crypt trade would be good. Though, I would not be able to participate for awhile as none of my plants produced any daughter plants yet. Hopefully in a week or so I will be receiving several pots of C. affinis.
I am usually pretty careful what I Crypts I purchase. Just too scared of grabbing more unneeded C . wendtii's! Currently, I am on the search for some C. walkeri and C. undulata. There were a few blind purchases to hope for the best but the plants I got are slowly starting to look very similar my C. wendtii...
There are several species that are on my "wanted list". C. keei, C. bullosa, and C. uenoi which are on top. I love bullated leaves. But those will not be seen in North America anytime soon.
-Mark Mendoza
Well I have the following crypts in my tank:
C. wendtii "Green"
C. wendtii "Brown" (Initial plants given to me by Freddy. )
C. balansae
C. usteriana (Gift from a friend who got these from Manila)
May be getting several others at a later date. The wendtii "Brown" are growing very well and throwing out lots of plantlets after I started using CO2 injection and PL lighting. They grow very fast under such conditions. Overdosed on some liquid fertiliser the other day and the corkscrew Val are growing like crazy. The crypts love it though, showing shiny leaves.
Griffithi and x timahensis is native to Singapore so its not too difficult to find these.
Choy, a collection trip perhaps??
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
C. xtimahensis would be a great plant for the aquarium. You better wear a black ski mask over your head before your attempt to collect these!
-Mark Mendoza
Make that a balaclava.. and a camouflaged one too! Nah, probably not. Just buy them from the shops. I prefer farm-raised plants anyway. Got some nice balansae from a local farm. Real cheap too.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
mmm… US$5,900 surely isn't too much to pay for some nice specimens of C. × timahensis.Originally Posted by stormhawk
stormhawkii, where can you buy some of that? so far I know they're only circulating amongst the researchers.
why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica
Well if I can't find one I'll go get one. Certainly wouldn't see the flower stalk in my aquarium unless I grow it like a marsh plant.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Perhaps GanCW can introduce you to some of the plant people in NUS. Or perhaps poke around the labs next to Prof. Benito's.
Yes I think you should plant it in a marsh setting under a bell jar. C. griffithii doesn't take that well to being submerged so probably this one too.
why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica
*Hate to miss crypty discussion!! Don't let this go off without me!!*
*brrrrrr*
budak, maybe you should try to revive the discussion?
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
I am trying to grow various Crypts (usual Ceylonese species, some Malayan, Thai, Philippine and Sarawak species) in enclosed emersed setups now... with a clear plastic (acrylic) cover over the tray and tank, the plants do seem to develop larger foliage, and I hope they will start to bloom soon.
Still looking for the bullate leaved C. affinis though... this beauty isn't available in Singapore stores (or farms, even Oriental!).... a trip to limestone locales up north seems to be a necessity.....
Budak, these emersed-grown specimens should require a pretty soggy substrate to grow in right? Given that some species are marsh-type plants. What's the substrate you're growing them in? Ronnie has a great idea in making a mini greenhouse using a plastic tank with shrink wrap or the alternative clear plastic tub. His superb moss growth in an emersed set-up would be a testament to the success of his method. I'm not sure if his emersed C. balansae is doing OK at the moment though.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
My C. affinis has bullate leaves but only under some situations:
That was grown emersed and a peat & loam substrate
I have not taken a new picture, but grown submersed, the leaves are not as pronounced as this.
-Mark Mendoza
i grow the crypts in plastic, glass or china pots (with drainage holes) which are placed in watertight trays/tanks. The substrate is a motley mix of plain gravel (Lonestar), ADA Soil, peat and potting mix (from local nurseries). The setup is really an enclosed greenhouse, and I change the tray/tank water every 2 weeks or so (some malayan shrimps call the tray water home)... I also use mosses and liverworts (assorted) as groundcover in the pots.
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