# Cryptocoryne conundrum



## RedLoach (Apr 6, 2011)

Had a quick question regarding a Cryptocoryne Becketteii, but reading a few posts here has raised another concern. I was sold the Crypt and a Java Fern when I asked for a couple of plants that would be good for a newbie like myself. I have about 3 inchs of flourite covered with some decorative gravel as a substrate. Have had the plants in for close to 2 weeks, lighting is the florescent hood that come with the tank, a 38 gallon, and I was told I didn't have to worry about fertilizer, as there are 10 tiger barbs in with them. The fern looks the same, but the Crypt is getting rusty red patches on its green leaves. It has some rusty coloured leaves that look healthy, but I don't know if the green ones can change, or is it some kind of mould or rot? So I was reading a few posts looking for some info, and I read something about rockwool. The crypt was sold in a little basket, which I carefully cut away before I planted it, I am pretty sure rock wool was the substrate in the pot. Can this hurt my fish? It had been planted a couple of days with filters running before I introduced fish, so I hope its fine. So if its a danger, I'll remove the Crypt with the offending rock wool, or if thats safe, any advice on this plant? Is the colour change normal or should I get any fertilizer etc


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Remove the rockwool from the plant it will do a lot better. Crypts are prone to melt so it won't be unusual for it to loose all of its leaves. Just leave it alone if it does that as they will come back in a couple of weeks, once it adjusts to your tank.


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## RedLoach (Apr 6, 2011)

Really? Plenty of contradictory info out there. I read in a few places that getting one in a pot greatly increases its chances. I have a bit of a green thumb on dry land. I have used rock wool cubes on a number of occasions, and I don't know if I could remove a cube without seriously damaging the roots. My terrestrial plants all have tiny, tiny little hairs on the roots that affix to the substrate, and tear off if you try and remove the root. I would love to hear a few more opinions on this, maybe a good method for going about this to reduce the root shock if its necessary. In the future, I guess its best to buy plants without rock wool plugs. Good to hear it should be fine though, my tiger barbs like it. Thanks for the reply!


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## Ming shipwreck (Feb 26, 2011)

Take it out of the rock wool.

I planted some ludwigia in my tank before I knew you're supposed to take them out of the rock wool. It sat there for about a month not growing at all. A week ago I pulled it out and separated the stems from the rock wool, and planted them separately with at least 1 cm of dirt between them. Already they're showing more signs of growth than they did in a month.

I also planted 2 crypts in the same tank, which I took out of the rock wool (the 3rd went in another tank). No leaf melt and they started putting out new leaves almost right away. Then the crayfish that live in the tank chewed on them, and by 2 weeks they each had just one leaf left. But the less chewed up one keeps putting out new leaves. So I'm sure if it weren't for the crayfish they'd be thriving.

One thing that might be different about my tank is I have 1" of potting soil substrate under the gravel, and crypts love that. Also, they are more deep-rooting than most other plants, so they might not have as much trouble penetrating the rock wool as the ludwigia did. What I think made most of the difference is that the individual plants are crowded together when they're in the rock wool. If you pull it apart, you'll probably find that you have 3 or more individual plants which you should plant separately.


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## Suenell (Mar 26, 2011)

Remove the wool. Once those roots spread out a bit into the substrate they'll be MUCH happier!


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## DocPoppi (Mar 4, 2011)

Yup, gently remove the wool. Your plants will start to spread their roots in the substrate. Many plants go through a little rough Patch as they adjust, as Susankat said.
Java fern does best if attached to wood, lace rock, or lava. 

"Buddha in your tank"


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

these peeps answered it just right.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I've noticed aquarium plants tend to be different from terrestrial ones. Normal plants need lots of fine roots to suck the water out of the soil but plants that are in water already don't have the same problem and often have courser less delicate roots and when you do damage them it rarely seems to do much harm to the plant, beyond perhaps slowing down the growth briefly. Rockwool is good for temporary housing and transport of aquarium plants but if you leave it too long it often causes the plant to rot and if not stops the roots from spreading so the plant doesn't thrive.


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## RedLoach (Apr 6, 2011)

Alright, its unanimous, I'm going to get the rockwool off and re-plant this guy. Should I bring up my fern too to anchor something to it? I was going to put some decorative rocks around the base, but as it is right now, its just roots planted in the flourite anchored to nothing but itself. Thanks for all the replies!


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