Excellent video. I am personally in the pro-boiling camp when it comes to botanicals I agree with you that ketapang leaves are very fragile and become too soft after boiling. Instead, I use seed pods (unknown species) and the cones from the casuarina tree. These hold up much better than leaves and last much longer. Finally, I have also recently begun using bamboo leaves; the giant species, not the smaller houseplant species. It remains to be seen how long they last, but so far they seem to be much tougher than ketapang leaves, even after boiling The downside is none of these really leach much tannins to the water, so I just boil ketapang leaves and pour the water into the tank, throwing the leaves away (I also collect these off the ground so they were going to be trash anyway)
Thank you! You can use rooibos tea to add tannins. I'm currently only using jack fruit leaves in my tank as they last longer. I'm not a big fan of boiling as it doesn't remove chemicals and pesticides, some of them become more toxic after boiling. All boiling does is removes bacteria, but there is hardly any aerobic bacteria that will survive in water.
For leaves that do not sink (such as oak, but I use leaves from my own orchard: pear, apple, plum), the leaves can be boiled and immediately they submerge. I like pear leaves because they are thicker and last longer, I use a mixture anyway. Even boiled they last a few weeks
I use downy oak leaves in my aquariums and also in terrariums with tropical frogs. They are small (some extremely small) and although I collect them from an area away from human activity, I usually rinse them in boiling water to disinfect them. They hold up excellently in both aquariums and terrariums and, here let me disagree with you, release quite a lot of tannin. Definitely not as much as Indian almond leaves, but considerably more than what I saw in the video you posted.
Thanks for your input! This is good idea to wash leaves in boiling water instead of actually boiling them. I think we have different types of oak trees, because my oak leaves leach no tannin at all. I've been adding them to my clearwater tank, and there is no tint at all.
@@tropicalfishhub downy oak is Quercus pubescens. Is native in Southern Europe, in arid climate. The leaves are tiny, but thicker than in other species of oak.
@@mariantudor5986 Thanks! I just googled it and it seems that it doesn't grow in Scotland. It is probably tannin rich because its leaves seem to be more meaty and thick than regular oak.
Thank you very much! That's a good question! Actually I don't know whether some leaves can be poisonous for fish, so i'm trying to use only what I heard is being used in fish tanks.
I have heard that black walnut is toxic, but that if its dried out the toxins are pulled out. Either way it's one I'd avoid. We had a black walnut in your yard and no other plants, besides weeds and grass, would grow in the soil within 30 feet of it when I plant a garden in the soil.there.
Really like your wild discus 👌(Just I would avoid to add the leaves in the pump compartment because of the risk they could represent if they stick on the pump) You have a new subscriber with me 😁 I need to discover your other videos now...
Great video as always. Could you kindly suggest the amount of leaves to be used in one's aquarium. Would that depends on the size of the tank and what is the rule of thumb ? Thanks
Thank you! There are actually no rules; you can either cover the whole bottom with leaf litter or some selected areas. If you are after blackwater, normally 3-4 catappa leaves per 10 litres should work.
What about Maple leaves, has anyone used them in an aquarium? I have a number of big Maple trees in my yard. I also have a huge Magnolia tree. Besides that I have Black Walnut trees. I think I would be a bit afraid of the Black Walnut leaves because their roots and falling leaves put chemicals in the ground that kill off many other plants. I know all of these leaves find their way into streams, lakes, and rivers but my concern would be in a closed system such as an aquarium it might be an overwhelming toxin. This is I think a relatively unexplored area of aquarium science. I see oak leaves for example seem to be beneficial in an aquarium. My big question would be to know if anyone has used Maple leaves? I can see the benefits of them producing microbial life for you baby fish. I want to experiment with this in my tanks. I will have to find local oak leaves.
I also thought about using maple leaves as there are tons of them in the woods where I collect my oak leaves, but they don't look "tropical" enough to me, so I never pick them up. This is just my subjective opinion, and I can't think of another reason not to use maple leaves in your fish tank. There was a great article on the topic in PFK recently (www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/free-tank-decor/?fbclid=IwAR3rdgV8p3-313ORKXtWNGLjWvIh-w1kj2B8OQRcxiwhx_a6BXZwCzAHR6Q) where they say that walnut leaves are very beneficial for fish and shrimp.
@@tropicalfishhub I have been looking at a lot of videos and see that there are people using maple leaves and much more. Magnolia, Alder, Almond, Apple, Banana, Beach, Cherry, Poplar, Guava, Hibiscus, Maple, Peach, Mulberry, Chestnut, Hazelnut, Birch, Avocado, Nettle, Dandelion, and now I will add Walnut. Many make great food for your shrimp. One guy in England lays green leaves between paper towels on a plate and then puts another plate on top of them to press it all down. He then microwaves it for 2 min. and it dehydrates them like pressed flowers. He leave them laying flat on the paper towels and places them in a Tupperware container to uses as food for his shrimp in the winter. The dandelions were so dried that they could be crumbled into flake food. I am very interested in this research you and others are doing. It is a great way also to get microbes into your tanks for baby fish. I am sure it has multiple benefits in the aquarium.
@@phillip1beer Thanks for sharing this. I also heard about microwaving the leaves to disinfect them, but never tried it myself. I certainly agree that leaf litter creates all sort of invaluable micro-food for fish fry. Previously I had my apistos raising their fry only on infusoria that lived in leaf litter; I could even see the fry picking up and feeding on decaying leaf litter.
@@tropicalfishhub I am old and do not have a lot of money to put into the hobby but I have been having fun with growing terrestrial plants with their roots hanging down into my tanks. Aquaponics is not expensive if you are creative. Many plants like Ivy will grow in dark shaded corners of your yard so they will also do well in your house without direct sunlight. Recently my wife threw away a plant she was not happy with. I got it out of the trash and cleaned the roots and hung it on one of my open-topped aquariums and boy did it take off with astronomical growth. I have tanks set up and interconnected with causeway tubes and I have a long tube pulling water from the tank on one end down to the hang on the back power filter on the other end. This causes a constant flow from one end to the other through my causeway tubes. I do not worry about diseases spreading through all of the tanks because I don't have expensive fish. For example, I have a school of feeder minnows that cost very little. They like to swim in a school and it is very entertaining to watch them move together. The hobby can be interesting without spending a fortune if you are creative. There are for example some real interesting wild fish in a rocky stream like Darters and Scalpins. crayfish are immensely interesting to watch in your aquarium. This is not to mention the unbelievable amount of fun one can have out in a stream catching them. I like to try to create a habitat in my tanks with many hiding places, plants, rocks and caves. I like to try to create an environment where a baby fish has a chance to survive just as it would in nature. I once had Piranha and convict fish sharing a 100-gallon tank. The tank was stacked down the middle with rock, coral, seashells, driftwood and just full of spawning caves and crevices. The Convict would come out of their caves and attack the Piranha from behind whenever the Piranha came too close to the Convict's territory. The Piranas would then turn to attack but most of the time the Convicts would escape back into the rocks. There were always lots of baby Convicts in the rocks that would grow up and replace any losses. This is what I call the balance of nature. I am not interested in profit and I do not mind if baby fish get eaten as long as they also have a decent chance of survival. I look at leaf litter as part of creating such an environment. I have been doing this hobby since I was 5 years old and I am now 67. I have never gotten bored with it. There is just no end to ways you can go with it. I have Duckweed growing like wildfire and have to dip it out on a regular basis. I do not consider this bad because it is removing nitrates from the water. I harvest it and dry it and then store it in my old fish food cans. Did you know that duckweed has a higher percentage of protein than almost any food and unlike soy which does not have a complete group of amino acids, Duckweed does have a complete group of amino acids. It is being considered as a human food because it grows so astronomically fast. To say the least it is a great ingredient to use when making your own homemade fish food. Well, I guess I have been rabbling. I am going to go out in the next couple of days and collect many different types of fallen leaves to start experimenting with. It is a great hobby isn't it?
@@phillip1beer Thanks a lot for sharing! I wholeheartedly agree that our hobby can be immensely enjoyable without investing too much money into it. I am also trying to learn how to get by without expensive equipment and I sold out most of my canisters over the years as I don't see much need in them. I've been keeping fish since the 1990s and back in those days we didn't have CO2, fancy wifi canister filters and ADA soils, so things were simpler and also very enjoyable!
