Cryptocoryne Flamingo
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Flamingo'
Also known as Crypt Flamingo, Cryptocoryne Pink Flamingo, Cryptocoryne wendtii Pink Flamingo
Care at a glance
- Light
- Medium light
- CO2
- CO₂ beneficial
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Placement
- Midground
- Type
- Rosette
- Temperature
- 72–82°F (22–28°C)
- pH
- 6.0–7.5
- Hardness
- 3–12 dGH
- Max height
- 5.9 in (15 cm)
- Spread
- 4.7 in (12 cm)
- Nutrient uptake
- Root + water column
- Growth region
- Submersed or emersed
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Origin
- Cultivated hybrid (parent species Cryptocoryne wendtii native to Sri Lanka)
- Family
- Araceae
Overview
A slow, low-tech rosette that melts back completely when moved from emersed tissue culture to a submerged tank, then pushes fresh pink leaves from the rhizome over the following four to six weeks. Give it a nutrient-rich substrate with root tabs, moderate light (roughly 40 to 60 PAR) for the best pink, and leave it undisturbed since it hates being uprooted. CO2 is not required but helps it establish and color up faster.
In the wild
This is a cultivated pink-leaved selection, not a wild plant. Its parent species, Cryptocoryne wendtii, grows in shaded streams and riverbanks across Sri Lanka, rooted in leaf litter and soft substrate along slow water. Like other crypts it can grow submersed underwater or emersed along a stream margin.
Good to know
Flamingo is a color mutant within the Cryptocoryne wendtii complex, in the arum family Araceae. The pink to magenta coloration comes from reduced chlorophyll and high anthocyanin pigment, which is why it grows slowly and needs decent light and iron to hold its color rather than fading to green. It is almost always sold as tissue culture because it is difficult to bulk up any other way.
Did you know
Did you know the bright pink color is essentially a genetic defect. The plant makes so little chlorophyll that it grows much slower than a normal green crypt, which is exactly why a small Flamingo pot costs several times more than ordinary Cryptocoryne wendtii.
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 Flamingo?
Track your planted tank, set reminders and plan your layout.
Related plants
Cryptocoryne wendtii red
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Red'Low lightMidground5.9 in (15 cm)
Cryptocoryne wendtii Tropica
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica'Low lightMidground5.9 in (15 cm)Cryptocoryne petchii
Cryptocoryne beckettii 'Petchii'Medium lightMidground5.9 in (15 cm)
Cryptocoryne albida
Cryptocoryne albidaLow lightMidground7.1 in (18 cm)
Cryptocoryne beckettii
Cryptocoryne beckettiiLow lightMidground7.9 in (20 cm)
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia
Cryptocoryne pontederiifoliaLow lightMidground7.9 in (20 cm)