Jhn

Should flourish excel and good substrate and root tabs be enough to keep
crypts and java ferns alive.

angelfish220

What is your light situation? with half decent lighting I would think but I dont have any plants so I wouldnt know. You know that your goldfish would tear plants apart.

Jhn

Actually my lighting is pretty low but I plan on upgrading the light bulb to a
40 watt. Also, I am transferring these plants to my 29 gallon because I am moving my two goldfish to it. Secondly my goldfish have been living with these plants for 9 months and the plants are in good condition.

Chief_waterchanger

Even in low light the plants should do fine with that group of things. Best of luck.

sirdarksol

Goldfish leave java ferns alone. As a side note, the java ferns prefer to be anchored to rock or driftwood. They don't much like being rooted.
Second, I thought Crypt Melt was sometimes caused by Flourish Excel.
Not sure on that. I don't use Flourish Excel and just got Crypts a couple of hours ago, but I remember hearing that FE can kill certain plants, causing them to "melt".
Honestly, a good substrate periodically supplemented with root tabs (or the newer root spikes, which are more concentrated and last longer) should keep the two alive, as both are pretty undemanding.

Jhn

Would only flourish excel be enough to satisfy the needs of these plants or do I need other types of nutrients?

Chief_waterchanger

We also do not use flourish excel. (So Sirdarksol may be right.)

Crypt Melt refers to the leaves dying back, usually after the plant has been transplanted. FE may cause that, but not to our knowledge.

Jhn

Well, so far using flourish excel has not affected them negatively but for some reason only one of my crypts has black dots all over it. Also, I have the Java fern attached to driftwood.

sirdarksol

Excellent on the Java Fern.
Anything that periodically adds minerals to the water should be enough for both, particularly if you have a good substrate.