Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia
Also known asSumatran crypt · Heart-leaf crypt
Water parameters
Light and nutrients
Substrate type: nutrient preferred. Propagation: runners.
Substrate compatibility
| Substrate | pH effect | Nutrient load |
|---|---|---|
| Aquasoil (ADA Amazonia) | lowers pH | very high |
| Mineralized clay substrate (Seachem Fluorite) | neutral / inert | moderate |
| Dirted tank (mineralized topsoil) (DIY soil substrate) | slightly acidic | very high |
| Inert sand (Pool filter sand) | neutral / inert | none |
With fish
Origin and habitat
Native to West Sumatra, Indonesia, in slow streams, river margins and flooded lowland forest. Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia Schott, family Araceae, stands out among aquarium crypts for its broad, heart-shaped to oval leaves carried upright on sturdy petioles; the species name notes a resemblance to the unrelated pickerelweed, Pontederia. Leaves are pale green to olive, about 8–12 cm long and 3–5 cm wide with smooth margins, and the plant reaches roughly 15–30 cm, a medium size for the midground. The broad-leaved, upright form contrasts with the narrow-leaved crypts that dominate the trade. It is less common than C. wendtii or C. beckettii but sold by specialist suppliers and as tissue culture.
Care notes
An easy, genuinely low-light crypt, happy at 20 to 40 PAR with no CO2, which makes it a good low-tech plant; CO2 only thickens growth. In a nutrient-rich substrate it can grow well through its roots alone without high light, dosing or injection, since like all crypts it feeds mainly at the root, so use aquasoil or root tabs and plant the crown at the substrate surface with roots buried. Without CO2 expect a new leaf every ten days to two weeks once settled. The broad pale leaves can pick up green spot algae or diatoms under strong light without CO2, so keeping light moderate avoids that. Crypt melt is all but guaranteed when it first goes into a new tank, looking alarming but rarely fatal, with the roots surviving and new adapted leaves appearing within a few weeks, so leave it be. It spreads by runners that bud daughter plants a few centimetres away over months, and a group of three to five makes a lush midground cluster; it is also one of the easier crypts to flower emersed. The broad soft leaves serve as spawning surfaces for small cichlids and as cover for shrimp, fry and bottom fish. It is an ornamental rosette, not a crop, so it is unsuited to media-bed aquaponics or hydroponics.