Crypt leaves changing color

[An t-iasg]

I have two crypt parvas that have recently begun growing brown leaves. I waited until the leaf was a little bigger, thinking that it would change back to green as it grew. It didn't, so I cut it off. A new leaf started, and it's brown also. The older leaves are still green. The new ones are brown. Is it something I've been dosing? I think I am dosing a lot of iron (6-9 drops a week in a 5 gallon tank.)

I just noticed that another crypt in another tank is starting to grow a brown leaf. All these crypts never did this before. They are all probably a year and a half old.

Two of the older leaves on the parva are pretty tall. I thought parvas stayed smaller. Here's a picture of the parva. You can see the small leaves, the tall leaf, and the brown leaf (and my new betta, Peyton!)

 

[Purrbox]

This is normal behavior for crypts from what I've seen. When a crypt is placed in a higher light setup, it will often start displaying brown/red coloration. Some varieties will color quite readily while others don't change at all. I think the new coloration is quite lovely, though it makes me wonder whether you have Crypt Parva or if it's actually Crypt Willisii. I didn't think that Crypt Parva was one of the ones that would change color, but I may be misremembering.

 

[zenkatydid]

i agree - all the crypts i've had have changed colour to some degree. usually right after the initial melt, but sometimes they just suddenly change. i think it's them finally acclimatising and settling into their 'true' form, or something.

 

[An t-iasg]

It's good to know I'm not hurting them or anything, although I do want my little green crypts back!

I had all these crypts in a low-light setup, and last summer I began the switch to medium light and CO2. All the tank plants floated in a foil breadpan for a little while. The crypts were placed in a critter keeper with plain gravel on the bottom. (If you let crypts float, they will twist their stems around to reach for the light, and then when you plant them again, they are all crooked!) Their only illumination was from the under-cabinet kitchen lighting. They melted, of course, but quickly came back. Each crypt had 4-5 leaves and were about 3 inches tall when transferred back to the tanks. The two parvas quickly shot up one tall leaf each. Since they are close together, it looks nice. Then came the brown leaves. Now that I look more closely, the ones growing the brown leaves are the ones right under the lights. The ones off to the side, under the betta beds, remain green, or one leaf has some reddish-brown striping on the edges. The weird thing about the brown leaves is that they seem to have little or no leaf stem.

The crypts now have been in Eco Complete for about 4 months. That may be a factor too. They were just in regular gravel before.

I did think about the fact that maybe it isn't a parva. I guess I'll never know for sure!