Crypts and Vals

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plantnoob

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Houston, TX
After a pleco disaster with my swords, I plan to move to a combination of crypts and Vals in my 70 gal tank. I was thinking about some crypto lutea and undulata plus Vallisneria Americana. I'm looking to hear about your experience with them especially in low tech tanks. I have no experience with them and everything I read about them says they are "easy" plants. Thoughts? Any do's and dont's? As always, appreciate your time and help!

Cheers.


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I have not grown C. lutea but have grown C. undulata with wendtii green and red for a few years. They are slow growers. I used root pellets and no water column ferts or carbon. EcoComplete and dual T-5 normal output lighting. They will spread by sending runners.
Nice no maintenance plant for a low tech tank.


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Fresh, great thanks. Mine is a similar setup. So time to do some mods to the layout and flora.


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Get the hardscape situated well in advance (with the plants in mind).
Here is what my shrimp tank looked like with the crypts (and some stem plants and moss):
SHiizVm.png

I decided the breakdown the tank and harvested the crypts.


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The crypts will melt when u first put them in but once they adjust (mine took 4 weeks) they should grow at a nice constant rate. Nice easy plant to grow


30g planted, 90g Oscar tank
 
Wow fresh, that's pretty lush growth. I hope to have that problem someday :)

Bert, thanks. That's good info - 4 weeks is a long time for someone who is super impatient, but at least I'll be mentally prepared!


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Wow fresh, that's pretty lush growth. I hope to have that problem someday :)

Bert, thanks. That's good info - 4 weeks is a long time for someone who is super impatient, but at least I'll be mentally prepared!


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Haha yes I almost pulled them out because I thought they were dead but they just took off one day :)


30g planted, 90g Oscar tank
 
The Old say, it is not good, Crypts with Vallisnerien.
Do not tolerate with each other.
 
The Old say, it is not good, Crypts with Vallisnerien.
Do not tolerate with each other.

Interesting, when I planted up a lot of val in my 30 all the crypts melted. Crypts were doing great prior.

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Interesting, when I planted up a lot of val in my 30 all the crypts melted. Crypts were doing great prior.

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Plant warfare? I heard of corals not getting along, but plants? Something definitively changed that disagreed with the crypts. Interesting observation.


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Oh, plant wars, very interesting. I'll definitely do more research on this before I start buying them.


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I remember reading something about val releasing something?? Natural algaecide??

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Ok so after some research and scouring the Internet this morning, I've learnt a bit about allelopathy in submerged plants. In summary, there is no consensus that allelopathy exists among the plants under discussion - Crypts and Vals. While empirical data overwhelmingly suggests that there are issues with the two plants thriving together, there is no conclusive evidence that the Crypts die when Vals are present because of the release of certain compounds. The argument that most community is in favor of is nutrient deficiency. Vals are nutrient hogs and due their rapid growth rate and prolific runners to propagate, the crypts are left without adequate nutrients. So there is a definite relationship between the two.

There is however one interesting fact to which there is general consensus. V. Spiralis exudes certain phenolic compounds, 4 different acids to be precise, that inhibit the growth of d Microcystis Aeruginosa, commonly known as Blue Green algae or Cyanobacteria.

All said, I think I'll go with one or the other. I'm not so much for experimenting at this point. The wife is already a bit unhappy with the money I've been spending on the aquarium!

Cheers!


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