Is this Crypt Melt?

[NathanB]

Hi everyone, this may sound like such a simple question, but what does crypt melt actually look like? Do the leaves go yellow at first with signs of deficiencies before melting away? or do they just straight away melt. Hopefully that makes sense.

I just set up my second scape a few weeks ago now, and it is mainly dominated by different Crypts, Wenditii Green & Brown, Albida Brown, Crispatula, Beckettii Petchi and Costata.
My problem is that some of the crypts (Mainly the Beckettii Petchi & the Wenditii Green, the others are completely fine!) have some yellow patches on the leaves and some small holes. From the moment I added these plants i've been ready for any signs of melting crypts but they have all seemed to settle in perfectly and are showing lots of new growth! which makes me unsure if they're about to melt, or if they're just deficient in something? Because theres also lots of Staurogyne repens with some mild yellowing too.

I should mention, Aquasoil substrate with some root tabs here and there, no CO2.

 

[G H Nelson]

Thread 'Adding purchased plants into a New Set-up aquarium!' Adding purchased plants into a New Set-up aquarium!

 

[Mike Singh]

Melting leaves go pale then translucent. If you touch it with something it will break off easily.

 

[MichaelJ]

Hi everyone, this may sound like such a simple question, but what does crypt melt actually look like? Do the leaves go yellow at first with signs of deficiencies before melting away? or do they just straight away melt. Hopefully that makes sense.

I’ve seen leaves go from healthy green to graying transparent mush over the course of a couple of days and I’ve seen leaves yellowing and withering over a couple of days as well. While I do think the former description is more what hobbyist refer to, I don’t think we have a firm definition of melt. Or exactly what causes it for that matter.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[PARAGUAY]

All we know is Crypts are prone to melt ,especially. in early stages of the aquarium, or first planting ,probably transioning so keep trimming discarding old leafs and watch out for new green leafs, everything should improve

 

[Tim Harrison]

Or exactly what causes it for that matter.

I think it's just as simple as a change in environmental conditions. Crypts exhibit an amazing degree phenotypic plasticity regarding leaf morphology in response to different environmental parameters. It's probably more energy efficient, as a longterm strategy, for them to shed old leaves and grow new ones specifically adapted and optimised to exploit new environmental conditions. Many scapers take melt as given and just take the leaves off before planting. It just speeds up what has possibly come to be accepted as an inevitable process.

 

[MichaelJ]

I think it's just as simple as a change in environmental conditions. Crypts exhibit an amazing degree phenotypic plasticity regarding leaf morphology in response to different environmental parameters. It's probably more energy efficient, as a longterm strategy, for them to shed old leaves and grow new ones specifically adapted and optimised to exploit new environmental conditions. Many scapers take melt as given and just take the leaves off before planting. It just speeds up what has possibly come to be accepted as an inevitable process.

Yes, that might be the case. I've had crypts melt off all their leaves from merely being moved around in the same tank (while others would be fine) and then later bounce back and be just fine. I always considered crypts the snowflakes among the aquatic plants I've kept, but that might be a somewhat misguided notion - the melting might just be a survival strategy. 🤷‍♂️

Cheers,
Michael

 

[NathanB]

Thanks everyone for the replies, when my crypts are showing good signs of growth and getting a little more bushy and taller, this would surely mean that these yellow spots are just deficiences no? I would say maybe shoving a little root tab underneath would help, but thats already done! So maybe they're just yet to reach it? Im not sure, I wouldn't have thought that these crypts would even need a root tab to avoid deficiences, but I guess that depends on the available nutrition in the water too maybe.

They're all planted into aquasoil, and I did add a squirt of 2 hour aquarist APT3 every couple of days but im very hesitant to go down the liquid fertiliser route to try and avoid excess nutrients in the water and potential algae issues, especially during the tank's early stages where the growth is still a little slow.

Also, the crypts were planted exactly 3 weeks ago today, some even longer ago. Is there a usual sort of timespan before crypts start to melt after being added? What are your experiences?

 

[Walt1908]

My experiences are pretty much with all my crypts that when planted they lose a few leaves in the first weeks.

Other leaves just stay as they were and new leaves emerge pretty much always with new colours and shapes.

Picture of some melt of one of my c. Nevellii leaves;


I usually cut them off

 

[NathanB]

My experiences are pretty much with all my crypts that when planted they lose a few leaves in the first weeks.

Other leaves just stay as they were and new leaves emerge pretty much always with new colours and shapes

That's my experience so far too, I haven't had some big drastic crypt melt like I was expecting, just a leaf here and there! I dont want to speak too soon though..
Maybe I just had an unrealistic expectation when it came to crypts melting? But saying that, I guess every tank is different and some might have a completely different experience to others.