Want the look of Vallisneria from a Crypt? Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae sends up long, narrow ribbon leaves with a distinctive hammered, ruffled texture — a background plant that moves like grass but behaves like a Crypt, and one that takes hard water in its stride.
What You’ll Receive
- Sold as Bare-root Plants, Bunched Plants, or Potted Plants
- Bare-root plants | approx. 1-2 plants loose, bare-root portion
- Bunched plants | approx. 1-2 plants bundled with foam, and lead weight
- Potted plants | approx. 1-2 plants with net pot and rock wool
- Young plants grow in a controlled laboratory environment
Plant Profile
- Common name — Balansae Crypt
- Scientific name — Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae
- Also known as — Cryptocoryne balansae
- Origin — Southern Thailand
- Placement — Background
- Mature height — 12–20 in
- Growth rate — Slow
Care
- Difficulty — Beginner
- Light — Low to medium. Brighter light brings bronze tones into the leaves
- CO₂ — Not required
- Water — 72–82°F · pH 6.5–7.5. Hard water with good calcium suits it well
- Substrate — Required. Root feeder — nutrient substrate or root tabs
- Growth habit — Amphibious. Also grows emersed
- Propagation — Substrate runners
Grower’s Notes
- Hard water is not a problem here. Cryptocoryne generally do well in harder water than most planted-tank species, and balansae is no exception — it appreciates a good calcium content. If your tap water is hard and stem plants have disappointed you, Crypts are the group to look at.
- Expect it to melt after planting. Crypts drop their leaves on a change of conditions and rebuild from the roots over two to four weeks. Leave it alone through that.
- Feed at the roots and place it once. Crypts melt again every time they are moved, so decide position before planting.
- Slow to start, then quick. Once established it spreads by runner and fills a background with little further help.
- Leaf color ranges from lush green to bronze depending on light — both are healthy.
Also available as sterile Balansae Vitro Culture if you want several plantlets in one bag.
Want to go deeper? Read our complete Cryptocoryne Care Guide.
Notes
- Pictures are not the actual plants you will receive, but a sample representation. Unless specific, we don't guarantee aquatic plants will be free of pests, and pesticides, grow emerged, or submerge.
- Never release aquarium plants into natural waterways.
At a glance
- Free shipping on orders of $150 or more (after discounts) within the contiguous United States, by USPS.
- Free thermal protection is included with every shipment, all year round.
- Processing: most orders leave us within 1 to 2 business days. Tracking is emailed when your order ships.
- USPS (2 to 5 business days) ships Monday through Saturday.
- UPS 2nd Day Air® ships Monday through Wednesday. Order by Tuesday at 6:00 AM Pacific Time for same-week delivery.
- UPS Next Day Air® ships Monday through Thursday. Order by Wednesday at 6:00 AM Pacific Time for same-week delivery.
- Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and military addresses ship by USPS at a flat rate shown at checkout.
- Weather holds: during extreme heat or cold we may hold live orders until it's safe to ship.
- We ship within the United States only.
Please bring live plants indoors and unpack them the day they arrive. Every live order is covered by our 24-Hour Live Arrival Guarantee.
The complete rules, including lost packages and address issues, are in our Shipping Policy. If anything conflicts, that policy applies.
Every live order is backed by our 24-Hour Live Arrival Guarantee. If a plant arrives dead, we'll make it right.
How it works
- Tell us within 24 hours of the delivery time on your tracking.
- Send photos of the affected items in their original, unopened packaging, plus a photo of the shipping label, to hello@aquariumplantsfactory.com with your order number.
- We'll make it right with a replacement, store credit or refund for the affected item.
Good to know
- Some melting or yellowing as plants adjust from greenhouse to aquarium life is normal. They regrow from healthy roots and rhizomes.
- Please bring your package indoors and unpack it the day it arrives.
- Free promotional items and shipping charges are not covered.
The complete rules, including what's covered and what voids the guarantee, are in our Returns, Refunds & Live Arrival Guarantee. If anything conflicts, that policy applies.
Please review your state's regulations on restricted plants, as we are committed to not shipping plants that are restricted in your area. Do not release any plants into the wild or waterways, as this can harm local ecosystems by introducing invasive species.
Your cooperation in protecting the environment is appreciated. For continuously updated information, refer to the USDA State Noxious Weed list here.
Thank you for your responsible commitment to environmental preservation.
Customers consistently praised these aquatic plants for arriving "healthy" with "impeccable quality." Shoppers noted plants were "bright green," showed minimal melt-back, and grew well. Some mentioned plants were smaller than expected or experienced slow initial growth. Packaging was excellent, with plants surviving shipping well.
- Impeccable quality!! Healthy roots, corms and leaves.
- Good healthy looking plants. Thank you! :)
- After a few weeks the plants have tripled in size and have a healthy root stock.
Y
Good healthy looking plants. Thank you! :)
A
I use a liquid fertilizer in my tank and it’s growing after only a few days! It’s lush and green like all their products! This is my go to place for all my plants!
S
The fronds are a little curly. All of my specimens were healthy, some were kind of short, but they are beginning to adjust to the new environment. They all arrived looking good but are dying back a little after the transplant.
S
Plants arrived fresh and healthy. Was delivered fairly quick even during these tough times. Have been buying from APF for a while now and have received high quality products always!
J
Look great and are going to provide excellent camouflage to hide filter pipes and back wall.
B
arrived in excellent condition, even a few extra "nubs" in the package that have sprouted new leaves! I will be Ordering more from APF in the future.
J
The crypts and the Malayan sword arrived fresh and perky. Planted in gravel with plant-tabs below they immediately responded to light and a few days later showed growth. Happy plants; happy me!
K
Arrived as is as expected for a bare root plant.
G
APF CONSISTENTLY delivers the best quality plants! I've ordered many, many plants from these guys and they are always the best, healthiest, highest quality plants, regardless of whether they're easy, low light plants or high light, bathed in CO2 to survive plants, they're always thriving in my tanks. This crypt is no exception. Healthy roots, corms and leaves. Just impeccable quality!!
L
Plants were in perfect condition on arrival, and have barely melted back after several days.
M
Beautiful
G
Basket is perfectly waited and plant is growing great!
R
Cool. Awesome texture.
M
healthy but smaller than I imagined. would like a better photo of what you actually get on line. I would have bought more for my new tank set up.
M
Cute little crypt. I was very surprised that they greened up right away and did not melt at all.
K
Very happy with the plants. They came in very healthy and are doing great in my tanks.
J
The plants i received were in great health and doing well in. I did a bulk purchase as I was setting up a 150gallon. I am very pleased with quality and quantities of plants that came. Very happy customer.
B
Instead of just 1 Cryptocoryne Balansae plant there were multiple plants
S
Dear APF,
Back in October I purchased 3 Cryptocoryne Balansae plants from you for my thriving fully planted 75 gal. tank. The plants were very small when arriving, but I wanted to see how they would do before reviewing the purchase. Here almost two months later the plants have not died, but have also not grown as much as a millimeter. I have had these plants before and find the lack of growth unusually poor. So, to this point this purchase has been a disappointment.
Sincerely,
Soren Meibom
A
This plant, along with the many others I ordered, arrived in perfect condition and looks beautiful in my aquarium! Very pleased
P
I thought I would received my order by now But I haven’t received it. Please send. Phyl Savage
A
Plants came in large and healthy, I'm excited to get them into substrate. Will be a great addition to my nano tanks.
T
After about a week of the plants being in the mail they were still in really good shape since they were packaged really well. I’m looking forward to them growing in!
c
I got 2 bundles and one for free. I received so much of the crypt balansae. Wish I started ordering from these guys a year ago. Super fast shipping and great communication. A+
J
Plants came with no roots. After a few weeks the plants have tripled in size and have a healthy root stock. I am amazed buy the growth.
J
I was so impressed when I opened my order, My plants were bright green and looked as if they had just been pulled from the tank. everything looked exactly as it does on the webpage. very little breakage considering how much I ordered. APF you have a customer for life.
m
Thank you for sending mature plants
R
Bright green and healthy! Nice midrange height for my 29 gallon. Survived the trip with great packaging. Overall very happy with this plant.
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