Cryptocoryne wendtii turning black after 5 months

[bronzer]

My plant's turning black and getting all rough, like that pic I found online. I'm curious if this is normal or not.

I've got sand substrate with Seachem Flourish, API Leaf Zone, and Seachem Root Tabs - been working great until now. My other plants - Red Leaf Ludwigia, Twisted Leaf Valisneria, and more Red Leaf Ludwigia - are all healthy, no issues. I've got medium light from my Fluval AquaSky.

[kingrise]

New water conditions can cause C. W. leaves to rot when added to an aquarium.

[bronzer]

It's common for C. W. leaves to rot when added to a new aquarium - new water conditions can be a shock.

Ohh okay, thx, how long does recovery usually take?

[dungeon]

My plant's turning black and getting all rough, like that pic I found online. I'm curious if this is normal or not.

I've got sand substrate with Seachem Flourish, API Leaf Zone, and Seachem Root Tabs - been working great until now. My other plants - Red Leaf Ludwigia, Twisted Leaf Valisneria, and more Red Leaf Ludwigia - are all healthy, no issues. I've got medium light from my Fluval AquaSky.

Honestly, the whole plant may die back, like kingrise mentioned, it's pretty common with crypts. I'd suggest looking up 'crypt melt' - it's a real thing, and they're super sensitive to changes in water parameters. Just leave the plant where it is and try to keep the water parameters stable, be patient and it should start growing new healthy leaves.

[boomer]

I think there's more to this issue than just the typical 'melt' associated with newly introduced plants. If the plant had been recently acquired, it would have likely shown signs of stress and melting within the first few days. However, given that the plant has been in the tank for five months, it's unlikely that this is the cause. While it's possible that the plant is experiencing some sort of stress-related issue, the description provided doesn't quite fit the typical symptoms of a melt.

I'd love to take a closer look at the plant, but the provided photo is a bit too small for me to make any concrete observations. Would you be able to share a higher-quality photo or provide more context about the plant's condition?

One thing that caught my attention is the fertilization regimen. I suspect that over-fertilization might be a contributing factor, particularly with regards to iron. The Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement and Flourish Tabs are both well-balanced and should provide all the necessary nutrients for the plants. However, the addition of API Leaf Zone, which contains iron and potassium, might be pushing the iron levels beyond what's considered safe.

In my experience, excess iron can be toxic to plants and fish alike. I've personally witnessed the negative effects of iron overdose on floating plants. While it's not conclusive, I think it's worth exploring the possibility that iron toxicity might be the culprit. A higher-quality photo of the plant would help me better understand the situation.

[BadgersSong]

Does the rest of the plant appear normal apart from the color change and texture?

[bronzer]

Here are some photos, I see your point about the Iron. I've been thinking about that too, but I figured if I overdosed on iron I'd have algae issues, and I really don't have much algae at all. My substrate is inert, it's fluxx, so I got the root tabs for my crypts since they're heavy root feeders. I also have flourish comprehensive for my other plants that don't feed as heavily from the roots.

I did run out of root tabs for a couple weeks, my order from Zorchzon was backed up, but I just replaced them. I'll see if that makes a difference in a couple weeks. The thing is, the plant started changing color even when I had the root tabs in, so I'm not sure if that's the issue. And just to clarify, I don't have any fish in the tank.

[bronzer]

Looks like a phosphate deficiency to me, leaves that are deficient in phosphate grow darker than normal. The leaves also look a little wrinkled, that could be a calcium deficiency, and keep in mind that calcium and magnesium work hand in hand.

Crypts are heavy root feeders, require heavy root fertilization, and are also heavy calcium feeders, they'll struggle in soft gh water. Flourish tabs have calcium but very little magnesium and not much phosphate at .17% and hardly any nitrogen at .3%.

I use two different root tabs - flourish root tabs which are 10$ for 10 tabs and planted aquarium concepts tabs 20$ for 40 tabs. Planted aquarium concepts have higher levels of phosphate at .65% and nitrogen at 1.33% and magnesium at .215% to .22 calcium.

From the looks of your plants, I'd suggest a root tab or a combination of root tabs with more phosphates and calcium/mag. While phosphates can be provided by fish food and waste, many times those phosphates have a difficult time getting to roots in that form, so the crypts get what little they can from water column, which doesn't look like they're getting enough.

From your pics, your crypts are also flattened out instead of growing vertically, crypts do well in lower light, in bright light they flatten out instead of grow up, which would suggest light is too bright for them. Either try repositioning them to a shadier part of the tank, provide floating plants over to diffuse light, or decrease light intensity.

[boomer]

I've been adding ammonia to my tank since it's fully cycled and there are no fish. But I've just tested my nitrogen levels and they're at 20ppm. I see your point now, it's a bit of a catch-22 situation. I was trying to keep my bacteria alive, but I didn't think about the potential harm to my plants. I'll stop adding ammonia and focus on feeding my plants properly instead. Thanks for pointing this out.