# Advice on cryptos



## Majsa (12 Nov 2017)

Hi all,

I have a 175L (70x50x50 cm) tank running since June, and I am planning to go to Vivarium next weekend and maybe purchase some new plants  Hope you can advise on how to improve my plantscape.

The scape is inspired by one of the Tropica layouts. Now I have (see pic):

java ferns ("normal", narrow & windeløv)
anubias petite
staurogyne repens
mosses (I ordered two cups of spiky moss but got two different kinds delivered)
vallisneria tiger
cryptocoryne wendtii green (this was bought to my other tank where it turned brown, so I thought it was wendtii brown after all; but now it's turning green again in this tank)
cryptocoryne beckettii petchii

I just changed the spray bar to the back wall, which now lets the vallisneria hang over the tank. Probably nice for the fish but I find it too long. Would cryptocoryne crispatula be a good alternative, or would it be too much of the same or need more space?

Which red/brown crypto or another easy red plant would you consider in this tank and where to put it?
I am also thinking of maybe a darker green crypto to the back wall on the right side behind the windeløv, ±20 cm tall...any ideas?

Don't mind the yellow stuff on the right corner, that's my oto's enjoying their pepper


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## Furgan (17 Nov 2017)

I like your aquascape


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## tam (17 Nov 2017)

I haven't tried it with that tiger vallis, but with the normal vallis I trim the tops (it grows 3' long otherwise!). Just stretch it out of the water and trim a bit above the water line. The aim is you trim it at a height where the curve first hits the water. That way the cut edge sits at the water line and looks like maybe it goes through it, rather than you seeing cut ends. I need to trim mine again, so I can post a photo later of the result if you want to see.


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## Majsa (17 Nov 2017)

Thanks Tam, I would like to see that. I have been trimming the vallis close to the gravel until now, your method probably gives a much neater look. I like the way the vallis bends above the water, but not so much when it hangs half way the front glass


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## tam (17 Nov 2017)

Majsa said:


> Thanks Tam, I would like to see that. I have been trimming the vallis close to the gravel until now, your method probably gives a much neater look. I like the way the vallis bends above the water, but not so much when it hangs half way the front glass



Here you go, just trimmed. It's a little 30l I use for quarantine with standard vallis, so you can imagine the tangle it gets into. The vallis goes across the top, down the side and back round in circles in left untrimmed. 



 

My advice would be try it and see if it gives you the look you want - if not it grows back! Maybe trim a bit off at a time until you get the length right, it can be a bit hard to judge one it's back in the flow (sometimes I cut a bit short and then it does look weird). Once you've done it once, pull it straight up and you'll know you need it x-inches above the water line to give the right length in the water.


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## Majsa (17 Nov 2017)

Thanks, I will try this! Hope to get the background fuller this way.


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## Vandal Gardener (17 Nov 2017)

Masja,

If that doesn't work then think about this centred (not in the centre though) i'm not sure it'll get to the height you need.
http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Helanthium'Vesuvius'(067CTC)/19681

Feels like I'm pimping it a bit but got some in vitro from sabi and it's doing well in my nano - still moving between emersed and sub mersed state so can't really comment on speed of growth, it's says approx 20 cm high but not so sure you can ever trust height guidelines.

I really love your tank and I'm a bit like a magpie for shiny things with red plants, but would look into your focal points (rules of 1/3s and golden ratio - I reckon Keith is a master at that stuff)

Keep the colour low  - altern. reinikkii mini (sp sorry lazy) or aragua  to keep colour low - right now I'm slavering but what I love about your tank is the lovely green.  There's an Iaplc (whatever it is) where one of the entrants is like a 70s psychedelic trip because of the pinks, oranges, purples it's awesome but rude - I'm not the younger generation where rude means good  rude on the eyes - one of the judges said just cause you can doesn't mean you should, which I would die a happy man if I got feedback like that - think it might've been Karen Randel (who I admire hugely).
http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2013/show513.html




Anyway I digress enough of my slaver

All the best

eta photo


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## Majsa (19 Nov 2017)

We'll that's a colourful tank...And that Vesuvius looks cool! Thinking about it and reading your post vandal gardener, I think it's not red what I need here but rather brown. The reineckii mini would be too much already. I liked the wendtii when it was still brown, it was like a subtle transition between the green plants and the brown wood. A bit of contrast is nice, but not too much  I came across an in-vitro pot of crypto undulatus red yesterday (they didn't have any brown varieties) and ended up buying it, it should stay reddish brown at most. I hope! Now just to think where to put it. Next to the vallis back right maybe, or right next to the windeløv, to "blend" with the branches. I have a few days to think about it, I understood you can keep the pot a while in room temperature.


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