Cryptocoryne wendtii

Lighting and CO2:

Thrives in low to medium light. Bright light will simply cause it to grow flatter, hugging the substrate, while low light will cause it to grow taller, reaching up. Zero CO2 injection is required.

Nutrition and Substrate:

The Heavy Root Feeder. Unlike epiphytes (Anubias, Java Fern), Cryptocorynes pull almost 100% of their nutrients from the soil, not the water column. You MUST provide a nutrient-rich substrate (Aqua Soil) or shove heavy fertilizer tablets (Root Tabs) deep into the gravel underneath them. Liquid fertilizers do almost nothing for them.

Water Chemistry and 'Crypt Melt':

Highly adaptable to extreme pH and hardness variations. THE MELT CRISIS: They are notoriously sensitive to sudden chemical or environmental changes. When you buy them and put them in your tank, the shock of the new water will often cause 'Crypt Melt'. Over 3 days, every single leaf will turn into transparent slime and rot. Do not panic and do not throw the root ball away! Siphon off the dead leaves and leave the roots buried. Within 2 to 4 weeks, fresh, perfectly adapted leaves will sprout from the gravel.

Placement and Trimming:

Plant them in the mid-ground or foreground and NEVER MOVE THEM. Once a Crypt is planted, its root system can spread across the entire bottom of the tank, sending up new 'baby' plants via underground runners.

Risks and Diseases:

Constant Uprooting: If you constantly re-aquascape and pull the plant out of the substrate to move it every few weeks, you will exhaust its root reserves through endless cycles of melting, eventually killing the plant permanently.