# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk > Cryptocoryne Club >  Melting crypt. balansae

## fazlee

Never had much luck with balansae. Most of the time, after about a week in my tank, they started to melt and hardly grow after that. any idea whats the problem?  :Crying:   :Crying:  

4x1.5x1.5ft tank
4x36watts PL (8 hrs)
Co2 at 1.5-2 bps 
Ph 6.5
Kh 1
Gh 1
26-27 dg celcius with a singlr cooling fan

liquid fert weekly with water change 25-30%
Dr mallick's Lushgro Aqua and Lushgro Micros.

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## kadios

After your C Balanse melted, did you do anything to it or you juz leave it to its own devices? They usually spring back to life after melted if you keep its surroundings constant.

Juz a suggestion, you may wish to put some base fertilizers or tablets into the substrate prior to planting the C Balanse. 

Cheers!

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## gchoo

You probably change your water or too much water is changed at a single time...This will cause the crypts to melt...

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## leroyfong

Generally crypts melt when there are drastic changes in water conditions. e.g. My wendtii starts to melt when I increase or adjust my CO2 from 2bps to 4bps. Thereafter, maintaining at 4bps for 1 month, my wendtii sprouts back into life again. My balansae hwvr has been more tolerant to the changes without much melting. Balansae is a slow growing plant and has to be patient to see this crypt spring back to life.

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## PeterGwee

I have been changing loads of water weekly but my crypts are fine. It is definitely not an issue then. Unless the water parameters or amount of light changes constantly in the tank, crypts should do well with ample CO2, light and nutrients once it get use to the condition of the tank.

Your KH and GH are simply too low and might cause issues with plants. With a KH of only 1, you might experience pH crash if the plants start going after the carbonate especially when your CO2 level is low (9ppm). GH consist of Ca and Mg which are plant nutrients...having them at such low levels would mean limiting the plants in terms of nutrient for growth. 

Regards
Peter Gwee  :Wink:

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## TanVincent

If your crypts are fresh from emersed form or there are significant and drastic changes to the environment, they will melt and spring new leaves. It is known as the "Cryptocoryne Rot" effect. Once they are established, they will be fine.

Cheers
Vincent

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## Sleepy_lancs

Cryptocoryne Rot as vincent has brought up can be resolved by doing water changes. Just to add to all those whom commented, do not keep moving your crypts around. They do not like to be transplanted every so often. If it melts, as long as the base isn't affected, it will spring back after a few weeks. Just make sure you don't shade the stem.

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## fazlee

> Your KH and GH are simply too low and might cause issues with plants. With a KH of only 1, you might experience pH crash if the plants start going after the carbonate especially when your CO2 level is low (9ppm). GH consist of Ca and Mg which are plant nutrients...having them at such low levels would mean limiting the plants in terms of nutrient for growth.


That;s what I suspected. How do you safely increase ur KH &amp; GH. I've been using Sera KH plus pass few days but have yet to see any changes. 

Also i have Dr mallicks Potassium Sulphate (K2So4). Have a few questions:
How do u use it? 
Need to dissolve in water or straight into the tank?
Does it help plant growth?
Does it need to be use together with magnezium sulphate or potassium nitrate (kno3)?  :Confused:

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## PeterGwee

I need info on your plant load/type, critter load and type of substrate being used before suggesting a regime for you to work on.

Regards
Peter Gwee  :Wink:

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## fazlee

> I need info on your plant load/type, critter load and type of substrate being used before suggesting a regime for you to work on.


18 glowlight med/large size
10 emperor med/large size
2 neons med/large size
2 flyting fox med/large size
5 otos
5 sae juv
1x yamatoes+malayan shrimp
5 chocolate gouramis
a few juv apistos

plant assorted
java ferns
bolbitis
various mosses 
various crypts 
balansae
blyxia japonica
tenellus
nanas

jbl base fert 2bags
topup with lapis gravel

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## PeterGwee

First, try increasing your weekly water change regime to 50% if possible. In this way, you can dose more and worry less about possible buildups if plants don't take it up for some reason or so.

For the KH and GH, you can add sodium carbonate/Sera KH plus for the KH and Seachem Equilibrium for the GH till you get a value of 3dH for both at least.

Since your bioload is on the moderate side with mainly slow growing plants in your tank, I would suggest the following. You need to get the indivdual ferts accordingly. 

Prune and trim dead old looking leaves/algae followed by a 50% water change
1/2 tsp of KNO3 2x per week
3-4 rice grain of KH2PO4 2x per week
8-10 ml of micros 2x per week
Make sure the CO2 stays in the 20-30ppm range (error towards the 30ppm side).
Repeat the entire routine again weekly

You should see improvement in the overall plant growth if you keep up on things in 2-3 weeks. Make sure the CO2 is good throughout the entire regime or else things would go sour very fast.

Regards
Peter Gwee  :Wink:

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## fazlee

Hi PeterGwee;
Thanx for ur detail suggestion. How can i achieve 20-30ppm c02 range, Is it the relation between my c02 and KH? I believe theres a table for it right? Oso I did use peat in my filter. Not too sure whether it have any effect on anthing that u suggest though, i.e light penetration,etc.

Btw the way wats KH2PO4? Dr malick's product?

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## MdmBudak

I got some emersed crypts from ah pek and they are doing well in my tank.

Initially the leaves melted/rotted but after a while, the new leaves starts to appear.

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## PeterGwee

Remove the peat from the filter and do a large 50% water change. Add back sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to bring the KH up to 3 at least. Repeat the water change routine again the day after and do the same for the baking soda addition. The water changes should negate the peat effect pretty much and you can work on the CO2 level then.

For CO2 level, you need to know the pH and KH values in order to use CO2 tables which are available on the web or use chuck gadd's calculator. Make sure you get the CO2 good and stable before doing the fertilization routine. You do not need to worry about the N and P if the CO2 is no good.

Yes, KH2PO4 can be obtained from Dr Mallick...Potassium dihydrogen phosphate.

Regards
Peter Gwee  :Wink:

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## mad scientist

[quote:4f5bf2d :drool 1: e="PeterGwee"]

Yes, KH2PO4 can be obtained from Dr Mallick...Potassium dihydrogen phosphate.

Regards
Peter Gwee  :Wink: [/quote:4f5bf2d :drool 1: e]

So which is a better K supplement to use? KH2PO4 or K2SO4? Isnt the PO4 level ipresent inherently in our water sufficiently high?

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## PeterGwee

You don't get much K out of KH2PO4 unless you like overdosing of PO4. If you are going for K and doing KNO3, you don't need to add any more. There is more than enough K in KNO3 relative to the amount of N. 

Our tap water's PO4 is high? Which country are you from by the way?  :Roll Eyes:  Singapore's tap water PO4 level is less than 0.1ppm which is simply too low for growing plants. Great for drinking though...  :Smile:  

Regards
Peter Gwee  :Wink:

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## fazlee

Thanx a lot Peter. Will drop by at Eco n get the Dr Malick stuff first. Based on ur suggestion will get :

Potassium sulphate (currently have)
Potassium nitrate
Potassium dihydrogen phosphate

Wow, still hav a lot to learn  :Opps:   :Opps:

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