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I am a little concerned about my crypts. I have never kept them before, but this forum got me hooked. The crypts I have right now are the "American" C. becketti that Paul (HeyPK) and I collected on the San Marcos River. I think they are going to make it but I am not 100% sure.
I collected a whole bunch thinking that I could populate a biotope and show it growing along side wild rice as a simulation of how the becketti reacts to the endangered Texas wild rice in the San Marcos River. I had a soil substrate in the tank and I think because of the rice started to decompose I got a lot of brown algae in the tank. The becketti leaves began melting, and when I checked the roots they were putrefying. I pulled them all out cleaning up the rooted parts and put them in a 20 g tank with Schultz aquatic plant soil. I have been dosing per T. Barr. The surviving leaves are now melting. Fearing that I was losing the rhizomes, I pulled two plants up today after a week in the 20 g tank. I found that they were producing fine roots and the soil nuggets were fused to the new fine roots only. I take this as a positive sign. I know this stuff is made of Fullers Earth that has a very high CEC. I figure the roots were binding to the gravel to help break down the fertilizers into usable nutrients. Is this so? So I am hoping that this indicates that I will not lose the plants.
I tried growing them emersed in the mini greenhouse both in soil and in gravel, and all these plants died. I do have a few plants in 3 liter bottles with soil and water, and they seem to be hanging on.
If I can get these to grow we can share them, hopefully.
Steve Pituch
I collected a whole bunch thinking that I could populate a biotope and show it growing along side wild rice as a simulation of how the becketti reacts to the endangered Texas wild rice in the San Marcos River. I had a soil substrate in the tank and I think because of the rice started to decompose I got a lot of brown algae in the tank. The becketti leaves began melting, and when I checked the roots they were putrefying. I pulled them all out cleaning up the rooted parts and put them in a 20 g tank with Schultz aquatic plant soil. I have been dosing per T. Barr. The surviving leaves are now melting. Fearing that I was losing the rhizomes, I pulled two plants up today after a week in the 20 g tank. I found that they were producing fine roots and the soil nuggets were fused to the new fine roots only. I take this as a positive sign. I know this stuff is made of Fullers Earth that has a very high CEC. I figure the roots were binding to the gravel to help break down the fertilizers into usable nutrients. Is this so? So I am hoping that this indicates that I will not lose the plants.
I tried growing them emersed in the mini greenhouse both in soil and in gravel, and all these plants died. I do have a few plants in 3 liter bottles with soil and water, and they seem to be hanging on.
If I can get these to grow we can share them, hopefully.
Steve Pituch