Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia

Family
Araceae

Origin
These plants are only found in Sumatra.

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
Easy

Short Description
This plant is found in pools and slow moving water ways that have varying hardness levels and different levels of pH, 6this gives it the advantage of being tolerant to a wide range of water parameters in the aquarium. It displays green leaves on the upper side but underneath they display a beautiful red colouration. They do require plenty of nutrients in the water and older leaves on the plant are prone to being covered in green algae due to their slow growing. It takes a while to acclimatise into the aquarium and it is prone to “Crypt melt” during this time but once established it is easy to grow.