Cryptocoryne ciliata

Family
Araceae

Origin
East Asia; they are found from Western India to Eastern New Guinea

Planting Area
Midground to Background

Propagation
This plant will propagate itself by sending out runners from the mother plant. After a while, miniature plants will appear on the runners and these will soon develop roots. At this stage, the runner can be separated from the mother plant and the individual plants can be removed from the runner. They can now be placed in different placements in the aquarium.

Difficulty
Medium

Short Description
There are actually two varieties of this plant, Cryptocoryne ciliata var.latifolia and Cryptocoryne ciliata var.ciliata, the latter tends to have a better growth rate and will end up being a larger plant when mature. Like all of the Cryptocoryne species, they do not like being moved once settled into the aquarium and doing this can bring about the infamous “Crypt melt”. The do take a while to establish when first planted but when they have been in the tank for a few weeks they will grow happily.