Are crypt leaves tough? Axolotl resistant and other tough plants.

[vlad01]

Hi all,

Weird question which I could not find an answer for anywhere, asked on one of the FB planted/aquascaping groups I'm in this question but just got only one guy rambling something about potassium, totally irrelevant to my question.

Basically, I have a 4 and a bit foot tank with 2 fat axolotls, my son wanted them, and I wasn't having a tank in the house without plants. I hadn't had a tank since 1999-2004. So I took up the challenge to make it planted and I am having reasonable success now despite literally everything working against me due to poor choices made at setup.

So axolotls are a pain as they chomp everything randomly, maybe the movement of the plants, they seem to do it a lot when I work around and in the tank, so they just start biting and destroying plants.

I am redoing the setup when the new house is built (been 4 years and still not done, builders are useless in Aus), so I have had time to learn from mistakes and note where others have good success with minimal effort in their low techs.

I want to add crypts to the new tank, a lot of them. But I couldn't find any info on how their physically present in terms of leaf strength, toughness etc...

Everyone tells you how strong anubias leaves are but little mention for any other plants.


I have poly and corymbosa hygros, java, anubias, a massive sword and some regular pond lilies. There are other floating plants too.

I found that the anubias are pretty tough and get little damage, though they still managed to bite some leaves apart. Java they seem bite proof so far but delicate for their claws, easily cut, but they rarely try to eat the java as I heard they taste bad and a few times they spat them out without any obvious damage, most of the damage is from them walking on them and cutting them up or cracking the leaves.

The hygros seem to fair ok, takes a fair effort to tear their leaves but they are bitten often and have quite a few unsightly leaves because of this. Luckily they grow fast enough for it to be no big deal.

The lily pads are rubbish, they actively seem to like eating them, and that plant is sad as it refuses to grow, I think not enough light for it and too cold. The same stuff outside goes nuts in the hot weather, but looks the same as in the tank during winter. So I def won't have that in the new tank.

The sword is reasonably tough, but it's main defense is the shape and size isn't easily vacuumed in.

So I am hoping that crypts are not weak like pond lilies, and somewhat towards the end where anubias are for leaf strength. The shape should help being rosette and less likely to be inhaled like the sword.

Since the sword is growing so well and I have worked out how to get them to grow like giants in a low tech, my hope is crypts will respond similar and be more like a tree to them than a piece of broccoli if you know what I mean.

I can easily order a number of varieties here at any pet supplier as they all use the same plant supplier which sell these crypts, however, not a single store, physical or online actually keep them in stock, so I have not been able to see any in person. I guess this might be because of their tenancy to melt?


Thanks in advance!
Here is a recent pic for my setup, some plants look very sad, that's another story in one of the other threads I made. I have since worked out the issues.

 

[Kukrai]

Hi all,

Weird question which I could not find an answer for anywhere, asked on one of the FB planted/aquascaping groups I'm in this question but just got only one guy rambling something about potassium, totally irrelevant to my question.

Basically, I have a 4 and a bit foot tank with 2 fat axolotls, my son wanted them, and I wasn't having a tank in the house without plants. I hadn't had a tank since 1999-2004. So I took up the challenge to make it planted and I am having reasonable success now despite literally everything working against me due to poor choices made at setup.

So axolotls are a pain as they chomp everything randomly, maybe the movement of the plants, they seem to do it a lot when I work around and in the tank, so they just start biting and destroying plants.

I am redoing the setup when the new house is built (been 4 years and still not done, builders are useless in Aus), so I have had time to learn from mistakes and note where others have good success with minimal effort in their low techs.

I want to add crypts to the new tank, a lot of them. But I couldn't find any info on how their physically present in terms of leaf strength, toughness etc...

Everyone tells you how strong anubias leaves are but little mention for any other plants.


I have poly and corymbosa hygros, java, anubias, a massive sword and some regular pond lilies. There are other floating plants too.

I found that the anubias are pretty tough and get little damage, though they still managed to bite some leaves apart. Java they seem bite proof so far but delicate for their claws, easily cut, but they rarely try to eat the java as I heard they taste bad and a few times they spat them out without any obvious damage, most of the damage is from them walking on them and cutting them up or cracking the leaves.

The hygros seem to fair ok, takes a fair effort to tear their leaves but they are bitten often and have quite a few unsightly leaves because of this. Luckily they grow fast enough for it to be no big deal.

The lily pads are rubbish, they actively seem to like eating them, and that plant is sad as it refuses to grow, I think not enough light for it and too cold. The same stuff outside goes nuts in the hot weather, but looks the same as in the tank during winter. So I def won't have that in the new tank.

The sword is reasonably tough, but it's main defense is the shape and size isn't easily vacuumed in.

So I am hoping that crypts are not weak like pond lilies, and somewhat towards the end where anubias are for leaf strength. The shape should help being rosette and less likely to be inhaled like the sword.

Since the sword is growing so well and I have worked out how to get them to grow like giants in a low tech, my hope is crypts will respond similar and be more like a tree to them than a piece of broccoli if you know what I mean.

I can easily order a number of varieties here at any pet supplier as they all use the same plant supplier which sell these crypts, however, not a single store, physical or online actually keep them in stock, so I have not been able to see any in person. I guess this might be because of their tenancy to melt?


Thanks in advance!
Here is a recent pic for my setup, some plants look very sad, that's another story in one of the other threads I made. I have since worked out the issues.


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Interesting question! Crypts are generally tougher than lilies but not as hardy as anubias. Their leaves are thicker than hygros but not as rigid as anubias, so axolotls might still chomp on them. However, their rosette growth might help them avoid being fully devoured. Since your sword is thriving, crypts should do well too. They do tend to melt when adjusting but bounce back with time. Worth a try!

 

[vlad01]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Funny timing as I just bought two crypts to try a week ago, I have them in a quarantine bucket to nuke any pest snails with copper and also a heater to match the shops water and slowly drop the temp down as I treat for snails and wait for any eggs there might be hatch and die too.

You are spot on, they are tougher, but somewhere in between my current two extremes.

I know about the melting, but surprisingly they have not in my bucket, they have been in there something like 9 days so far. Their roots are actually growing out a little in the bucket.

Normally most plant I add now melt due to the drop in temp from the shop.

I went to one of the oldest and biggest aquarium shops in Melbourne and they actually had lots of crypts there, same supplier as other shops but they actually stocked them. You could tell some of them had gone through a melt and regrown due to the smaller and deficient leaves, and some of the original leaves from the supplier still there so you could tell.

I got these two. This is the supplier that sells to all the shops, they hold majority of the aquarium plant market in Aus.

https://www.piscesgroupaustralia.com/product/1875-crypt-undulatus-red-terracota-3cm-pots

I not sure on the bigger one I got, they weren't labeled on the pot itself and I forgot the exact name when I chose it, but this is probably the one.

https://www.piscesgroupaustralia.com/product/1877-crypt-wendtii-tall-terracotta-3cm-pot

 

[vlad01]

Crypts are doing well it seems, no melting, even in my high copper quarantine bucket I had them in more than week.

I tried to feed one of the axolotls this morning that was under the crypt and tried to coax her out, but she ended up biting some of the leaves before finally coming out into the open, but she spat them out and no damage at all.

So crypts are a winner! There are some new leaves starting on them, I have my Osmocote tabs under them, but being new it could take a while for them to get going properly, but the undulatus's new ones are nice and dark brown, look bigger than the old mature leaves, the old ones are pale green with a yellow tint and rather small.

The wendtii I think has some new leaves, but it's very dense so it's hard to tell and it had some already that were that dark brown, but I reckon there are 2-3 more that are fatter that appear to be new, also dark brown. They look so nice.

So if anyone ever has the same question I had, they hopefully find this thread. Crypt leaves are pretty resilient against axolotls munching on them it seems and I give them a thumbs up!


Here is an updated pic, redid a few things in the tank, added some more plants etc... Only about 3 weeks since that big clean and rearrangement but looking nice so far.