Cryptocoryne balansae
Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae
Also known as Cryptocoryne balansae, Cryptocoryne crispatula "Balansae", Balansae crypt, Cryptocoryne longispatha
Care at a glance
- Light
- Medium light
- CO2
- CO₂ beneficial
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Placement
- Background
- Type
- Rosette
- Temperature
- 72–82°F (22–28°C)
- pH
- 6.0–8.5
- Hardness
- 5–21 dGH
- Max height
- 19.7 in (50 cm)
- Spread
- 7.9 in (20 cm)
- Nutrient uptake
- Root + water column
- Growth region
- Submersed or emersed
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Origin
- Thailand
- Family
- Araceae
Overview
A tall background crypt with rippled, hammered, strap-like leaves that fill the rear of a tank with a flowing curtain of green. It does best in harder water, and calcium matters: low calcium causes the new leaves to come in twisted and deformed, so a moderately hard tank or a calcium supplement helps. Light and CO2 are not required but it grows faster and fuller with them. Like all crypts it is a strong root feeder, so use rich substrate or root tabs, give it 18 inches or more of depth, and leave it planted since it melts and sulks when moved. It spreads outward by runners.
In the wild
Found in rivers and rivulets of southern Thailand, part of the wider Cryptocoryne crispatula complex that ranges across mainland Southeast Asia, where it forms dense, mostly submersed stands with long band-like leaves streaming in the current. The streams are often fast-flowing and high in calcium from surrounding limestone, so the wild water is hard and alkaline. When water levels drop, exposed plants grow emersed and flower.
Good to know
This is the band-leaved variety of the widespread, variable Cryptocoryne crispatula complex, formally Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae, and was once described as its own species (C. balansae). It is a member of the Araceae and is one of the larger crypts, with strap leaves that can exceed 50 cm.
Did you know
In its limestone-stream home the leaves can grow close to a meter long, trailing in the current like ribbons, far longer than the half-meter or so it usually reaches in an aquarium.
Where to buy
Some links may not be the exact species or variety.
- Glass Aqua Aquascaping plants and planted tank supplies
- Buce Plant Aquatic plants and aquascaping supplies
- Aquarium Plants Factory Aquatic plants shipped from a California greenhouse
…or ask your local fish store.
Appears in
Growing Cryptocoryne balansae?
Track your planted tank, set reminders and plan your layout.
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