Hello and Welcome to my blog – Cryptocoryne Addiction
About me
My name is Michal and I am a Cryptocoryne Addict. (^_^) I live in Central Europe – The Czech Republic. My hobbies are fish keeping, aquatic plants (both emersed and submersed), photography, japanese, hiking, and recently motorbikes.
Me and Cryptocorynes
When I started fish-keeping I was a little boy. My first tank was approx. 30 liters, some bulb as a light (or sometimes without light) and too many livebearers for this tiny tank. My first plant was Cryptocoryne affinis and it was always growing – in dark, in light, with or without water change. As I grew older I have (learned from my mistakes and) bought bigger tanks, more plants, tried many other species but there always was something fancy about Cryptocorynes. I have bought almost all the Crypts I could find in my country and decided to pay attention to them a bit more. But soon I was confused – many sellers used different names… That was the reason to start my emersed trials (and errors) to explore another opportunities of these beautiful plants. Now I am trying to get as many species as possible. That is how I became a Crypt Addict.
What is this blog about?
This blog represents many things. First of all it is a way to document my trials and errors with Cryptocorynes, to photodocument it and to write about my experience with them. But it also is an attempt to contact and connect with other Cryptocoryne addicted collectors world wide, and to exchange Cryptocorynes (please, see my Crypt list and feel free to contact me). Unfortunately I do not have many interesting species – my collection is just growing – slowly but surely.
This is a hobbyist blog about Cryptocoryne growing. It can contain mistakes in plant taxonomy, although I will try to do my best (feel free to correct plant taxonomy in my posts – sometimes it is difficult to distinguish species).
What is it not?
It certainly is not a Cryptocoryne atlas or some rich database, neither academic nor scientific research.
Cryptocorynes in my country
- to be updated
My other sites:
- AQUA.KEYDOC.NET – fish keeping, photos (Czech)
- PHOTO.KEYDOC.NET – photography (Czech and English)
Hi Michal,
nice to see that there are people addicted to Cryptocoryne :-).
You have a nice blog; keep it up and running.
Greetings from Italy,
My best regards,
Fabrizio
Hi Fabrizio,
Thanks. I would like to write more often, but right now I am trying to expand my collection and to learn more.
Greetings from the Czech Republic,
Michal
Great site and thanks for sharing your collection.
Hello Michal, Greetings from Aberdeen, Scotland. I wrote you once before re your Crypts. Can I ask? did you ever find out, the lamp type that your friend Karel used on his beautiful Affinis Crypt? Many Thanks, Jim Davidson
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Hi Jim, I do remember 🙂
Unfortunately I don’t know the lamp he used. But I would say It was common T8 tube (low light intensity for tank’s volume). Tank was fertilized just by livebearers (mostly Swordtails), no CO2 addition…hard water. It was an old and common C. affinis (the same I sent you…imported decades ago), nothing fancy as they export nowadays.
I would not say it was by lamp, it was maybe a combination of “everything”. Correct me If I mistaken, but you wrote you have soft water in Aberdeen, right?. Feel free to email me again.
Some time ago, my Crypt affinis looked the same, but I had it in an old tank with high light intensity, CO2…hard water…and well fertilized gravel (thanks to fish).
Michal
Hello Michal, Really good that you should remember me and my soft water.Not entirely sure that chemical induced hard water, is the answer.Being a really old guy now, just wished to end my plant keeping days, with the Affinis I had, way back in 1959. Not wishing to give in as they say, am attempting the Dennerle Affinis, just keeps me going. Really appreciate you taking the time for me. Certainly no one more worthy to ask, about the Cryps You certainly have them down to a fine art. Many Thanks, Jim Davidson