# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk > Cryptocoryne Club >  Cryptocorynes

## TyroneGenade

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.  :Very Happy:  

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

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## ruyle

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:

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## TyroneGenade

Starring at my last post... I should really be shot for the terrible spelling...  ::smt072:  

My favourite has to be the _pontederiifolia_. Big, green, lush, easy to grow. A perfect plant.  ::smt055:  

tt4n

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## Piscesgirl

My favorite is Wendtii Bronze -- nice touch of color.

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## Slaigar

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!

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## TyroneGenade

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

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## tsunami

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

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## Slaigar

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.

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## stormhawk

Well I have the following crypts in my tank:

_C. wendtii_ "Green"
_C. wendtii_ "Brown" (Initial plants given to me by Freddy.  :Very Happy:  )
_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.  :Very Happy:  

Griffithi and x timahensis is native to Singapore so its not too difficult to find these.  :Laughing:  
Choy, a collection trip perhaps??  ::smt112:

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## Slaigar

_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!  :Laughing:

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## stormhawk

Make that a balaclava.. and a camouflaged one too!  :Twisted Evil:  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.  :Laughing:

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## hwchoy

> 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.


mmm US$5,900 surely isn't too much to pay for some nice specimens of _C._ × _timahensis_.

stormhawkii, where can you buy some of that? so far I know they're only circulating amongst the researchers.

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## stormhawk

Well if I can't find one I'll go get one.  :Laughing:  Certainly wouldn't see the flower stalk in my aquarium unless I grow it like a marsh plant.  :Confused:

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## hwchoy

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.

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## budak

*Hate to miss crypty discussion!! Don't let this go off without me!!* 

*brrrrrr*

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## stormhawk

budak, maybe you should try to revive the discussion?  :Laughing:

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## budak

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.....

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## stormhawk

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.  :Rolling Eyes:

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## Slaigar

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.

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## budak

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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## mrs budak

My sink looks like a disaster area with all those pots and plants and soil water flowing all over the place!!  :Mad:

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## Slaigar

I can't say that I enjoy placing my _Cryptocorynes_ in pots. I take my chances and try their suitability for the aquarium. My success so far with medium difficulty species is not so bad(just got deal with a lot of melting!). Most of my _Cryptocorynes_ are in my nano tank. Later when the plants develop more, I plan on lowering the water level to see if any will flower.

One my LFS' had _C. parva_ in stock so I bought two more bunches of the plant. I was looking for this plant for awhile so I could I finish foreground on my nano. Now I just got to wait a few years  :Rolling Eyes:  

Budak, would you be able to show any pictures of your Cryptocorynes? You mentioning Sarawak species has already started to make me drool!

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## stormhawk

I got this somewhat new (to me at least) Cryptocoryne plant from a fellow forumer here. The thing is, I've not taken a picture yet so here's some identifying features. 

1) Leaves elongated with a not-so-narrow profile (spearhead).
2) Leaves with a slight undulating pattern on the leaf margin.
3) Leaves are reddish-green in colour with a marmorated pattern. 
4) Patterning in a dark colour akin to very dark blue.
5) Leaf stems are purplish-red in colour.

This crypt was grown submersed and was given to me with a plantlet attached. I have no idea what species this is and would appreciate any positive ID regarding this plant. :wink: 

Was showing it to a friend of mine and he said it was most probably either _C. nurii_ or _C. griffithii_. The plant is adapting well to my tank conditions and the young plantlet is growing slowly. The mother plant is starting to produce new leaves. I have never seen the spathe of this species and is therefore unable to tell what colour or characteristics it had.

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## Slaigar

Some forms of C. nurii and C. griffithi look similar to each other. A dead giveaway for C. nurii is red spots on the leaves along with the marmorate pattern.
RVA has the best picture of this:
http://www.rva.jp/gallary2/cryptocor...g_pinang2.html

Postive ID's don't exist in this part of the hobby! But we can give you a bunch of "maybes"  :Very Happy:  .

Would you be able to get a picture of it, Jianyang?

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## Piscesgirl

Slaigar -- the crypt in that link is very pretty with all the different colors. Is that one of the rare ones?

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## BeyondGomer

That is C. nurii  :Smile:

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## Slaigar

Yup, Tony has it right. _C. nurii_ is not too rare. There are a few places within the US that probably carry it right now. Because of it's long term difficulty, I do not know if it will be mainstream anytime soon.

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## stormhawk

Okay here's a picture of the plant. Doesn't seem to have the spots on the leaves. I'm wondering whether its a hybrid or some oddball species. My friend forgot the ID of the plant from the source he bought it from.

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## stormhawk

Budak, anyone? Has anyone got any idea what species I have here?

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## Slaigar

Sorry, I was going to respond earlier, then I got caught up in work. I have to say _C. nurii_. This because of the dark marmorate pattern and what seems to be lanceolate leaves. It actually looks quite similar to mine.

If the leaves were more oval and the marmorate pattern less pronounced, I would have guessed _C. griffithi_.

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