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possible nitrogen deficiency

>I disagree. Crypts are plants that _prefer_ different form of nitrogen
>other than nitrates. It seems that they are less able to reduce nitrate
>than many other species (that could also explain why they loose leaves
>sometimes), and beside that they have a very well developed root systems,
>so I would go for a _light_ fertilization of the substrate, with some
>tablets that contains nitrogen _also_ in NH3/NH4 form.

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with.  That these symptoms can be
caused by a nitrogen deficiency?  I did say that there could be other
causes as well.  Or are you disagreeing that nitrogen deficiency is the
cause of decreased growth of Crypts in my tanks.  If so, you are welcome to
disagree if you want, but you haven't seen my tanks.  I cannot comment on
how the Crypts in your tanks respond to various nutrient dosing.  I can say
with certainty that:

1.  My tanks run nitrogen deficient without regular supplementation
2.  When allowed to continue in a nitrogen deficient manner, the leaves of
the Crypts in those tanks become smaller, lighter in color, less bullate
and less shiny.  
3.  When I increase the amount of nitrogen available to them by adding KNO3
to the water, they immediately respond with leaves of increased size, and
better color and texture.

I will not argue what form of nitrogen Crypts "prefer".  They clearly
respond to the application of nitrate to the water column.  (BTW, at one
point to try to determine whether it was a potassium shortage as opposed to
a nitrogen shortage that was causing the problem, I dosed with just K2SO4.
This was ineffective in solving the problem of reduced leaf size in the
Crypts)  

I used to dose macronutrients exclusively via the substrate in the form of
solid fertilizers.  I have stopped doing so because I have had no adverse
results from dosing nitrogen in the form of nitrate directly to the water
column, and have had excellent results.  If you prefer to dose via the
substrate, that's fine too.