Need some help with new plant purchase

[914joe]

I just purchased this little pack of Cryptocoryn Wendti,its in some kind of gel,this is my first fish tank and my first attempt at using plants.There seems to be a lot of them in there more than i need for this small 5,5 ,i want to put most of them in my other 6.7 book shelf but it is not set up yet,can i put these all in the 5.5 tank that is in the pic and transfer some of them later when i have the other tank set up.I don't know what i am doing do these need to be planted deeply,do i have enough substrate and do i need to buy any type food for them.If i don't plant them all in the tank can i plant the remaining plants in a small pot with dirt from my yard until i am ready to use them.

[ChoclateBetta]

They would benefit from extra CO2 and you will need to add the occasional fertilizer.

[Oldfishlady]

Those are great low light easy care plants.

Wash all the gel stuff off, trim the roots if needed and remove any bad/dead leaves.

Its better to plant them shallow than deep-You want the crown of the plant to be slightly above the substrate line.

Plant as many as you can in your 5gal and you can allow the rest to float until the other tank is ready. Or, any container of water to keep them underwater so they can go through the leaf change if needed and place in a nice sunny window will work....

Depending on how they were grown at the nursery-they may or may not go though a leaf change. If grown above the water-you may see the current leaves die back and new underwater leaves form/grow. Submersed-vs-emersed growth that is normal.

They are root feeders and you may need to add root tabs per label directions since that can vary between brands.
They will grow fine without injecting CO2-but they do need at least 6500k color temp light on 10-12h/day photoperiod.

As for planting them in the garden-depends on the garden-they need to be in a high humidity location with their roots totally submerged in water.

[ChoclateBetta]

Liquad ferts really help mine are so healthy.

[ChoclateBetta]

P.S. I keep many types of Crypts and I got my rotala walchai that way but pretty sure mine was falsely labeled.

[914joe]

Thank's OFL for all your help,can i use liquid fert as ChoclateBetta has suggested ,the reason i am asking i seen some negative reviews on amazon that it turned the tank water dark green and brown for some people.

[914joe]

What brand of liquid fert are you using or would recommend .

[Oldfishlady]

Seachem has a great line of plant products, I have not personally used them since I don't need any added ferts in my system-but this is what other member recommend the most.

You really don't need the water column food-it might cause algae issue-Root tab is what I would recommend for crypts.

[914joe]

Do these crypts grow very big will they block my rocks when they grow,should i plant them in the back behind my rocks or to the side of them or can i just place them all over the tank.

[starrlamia]

they grow fairly tall, i would plant them in the backs or sides for a tank that size.