# Help Identifying Crypts



## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

I've have three cryptocoryne species which I need help identifying. My best guess is that the first two are lutea, the third is wendtii 'Mi Oya' and the last is balansae. Please let me know your thoughts.


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

The first two appear to be Lutea but I would let them grow out more to confirm unless one of the more advanced guys chimes in, but the third one isn't Mi Oya thats for sure! It's Retrospiralis.


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

TorontoPlantMan said:


> The first two appear to be Lutea but I would let them grow out more to confirm unless one of the more advanced guys chimes in, but the third one isn't Mi Oya thats for sure! It's Retrospiralis.


Thanks for the input and thanks again for the crypts I picked up from you. Your plants are in beautiful condition and they will be very welcome additions to my newest planted tank.

The plant you're indicating as retrospiralis in picture 3 is still very young and it was grown in a strange manner as both the roots and the leaves were pointing upwards when I bought it. I agree that the leaf colour looks all wrong for 'Mi Oya'. One additional bit of information that may help, is the fact that the plant has been in an extremely low light position in the tank for the two months since purchased. It's a low light tank to begin with and the plant has been tucked in the front corner underneath an acrylic spawning mop that pretty much completely shades it such that the only light the plant gets, is probably reflected and ambient light from other tanks in the room.


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

greg said:


> Thanks for the input and thanks again for the crypts I picked up from you. Your plants are in beautiful condition and they will be very welcome additions to my newest planted tank.
> 
> The plant you're indicating as retrospiralis in picture 3 is still very young and it was grown in a strange manner as both the roots and the leaves were pointing upwards when I bought it. I agree that the leaf colour looks all wrong for 'Mi Oya'. One additional bit of information that may help, is the fact that the plant has been in an extremely low light position in the tank for the two months since purchased. It's a low light tank to begin with and the plant has been tucked in the front corner underneath an acrylic spawning mop that pretty much completely shades it such that the only light the plant gets, is probably reflected and ambient light from other tanks in the room.


No problem Greg, Glad you like the plants & I hope they do well in your new tank.

I myself have received plants that were grown with the roots and leaves pointing upward, I've attributed this to two things, 1. People floating plants before selling them, and/or 2. Tissue culture plants

The reason I don't say it's "Mi Oya" is because of the leaf pattern and colour, I have "Mi Oya" growing emersed and submersed. In it's submersed form it has dark brown leaves, very similar to the Wendtii Tropica or brown, yet in my emersed tub it has all green leaves? So lighting and whether it's still transitioning from emersed to submersed definitely play a large role in crypt's, especially those that are slow growing (the colour transformation may take longer). Do keep us posted though as I'm interested to see which species it turns out to be.

I think you need to start a "Crypt Only Tank"


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

TorontoPlantMan said:


> I think you need to start a "Crypt Only Tank"


That's definitely the plan  I find them a lot less maintenance and more attractive on a long-term basis than stems.

With the addition of the crypts I got from you, I'm up to 14 species now. The only one that hasn't done well for me is Crypt. nurii - I got it from 'kyle' about 6 months ago, it was two inches in height with 4 leaves on it and it's still the same size - looks fine - just very small and not really growing.

I checked through my old Menagerie receipts and it looks like the crypt in picture 4 is indeed balansae. Usually I keep track of the plants I have and their locations in tanks - however I missed labelling that one on my spreadsheet somehow...


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

greg said:


> That's definitely the plan  I find them a lot less maintenance and more attractive on a long-term basis than stems.
> 
> With the addition of the crypts I got from you, I'm up to 14 species now. The only one that hasn't done well for me is Crypt. nurii - I got it from 'kyle' about 6 months ago, it was two inches in height with 4 leaves on it and it's still the same size - looks fine - just very small and not really growing.
> 
> I checked through my old Menagerie receipts and it looks like the crypt in picture 4 is indeed balansae. Usually I keep track of the plants I have and their locations in tanks - however I missed labelling that one on my spreadsheet somehow...


Wow you're definitely on your way to having quite the collection with 14 so far, good job ! I had 3 different Nurii's at one point, "Nurii" "Nurii Pahang" and "Nurii Pahang Mutated", I found them all to be very slow growing, but have seen them significantly improve with potassium and iron, maybe that'll help you out a bit. Do you know which type of "Nurii" you have? If you don't already have this book, I recommend buying it, it's helped me with many of my crypt species in providing optimal conditions for them based upon where they were cultivated.

http://www.amazon.ca/Aquarium-Plants-Identification-Cultivation-Ecology/dp/0876664559


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