Polys and leaf litter?
- Thread starter Experiment397
- Start date
Well I did it today. So far loving it and everyone in the tank seems to dig it.
yeah looks awesome. did you do anything to the leaves before adding them? like treat them with something? I love the way that looks, may want to do it in one of my tanks
It looks awesome! Argh, I miss having leaves.
ShanerBock888
You shouldn't need to treat leaves if you buy them or get them from a yard without pesticides. I used to do a quick rinse but that's it.
Some soak them first to leech out some of the tannins. I used Indian almond leaves and part of the point is that its supposed to be good for he fish health-wise so I didn't see the point of soaking those.
Supposedly some leaves are less likely to drop pH, do you know anything about that, Experiment? I wonder if now that I'm doing crushed coral in my filter if I could do leaves again.
ShanerBock888
You shouldn't need to treat leaves if you buy them or get them from a yard without pesticides. I used to do a quick rinse but that's it.Some soak them first to leech out some of the tannins. I used Indian almond leaves and part of the point is that its supposed to be good for he fish health-wise so I didn't see the point of soaking those.
Supposedly some leaves are less likely to drop pH, do you know anything about that, Experiment? I wonder if now that I'm doing crushed coral in my filter if I could do leaves again.
What if you buy the once from walmart? The leaf with a nice smell that you usually see in the bathrooms(joke)It looks awesome! Argh, I miss having leaves.
Some soak them first to leech out some of the tannins. I used Indian almond leaves and part of the point is that its supposed to be good for he fish health-wise so I didn't see the point of soaking those.
Supposedly some leaves are less likely to drop pH, do you know anything about that, Experiment? I wonder if now that I'm doing crushed coral in my filter if I could do leaves again.
These are oak leaves. Super hard bodied so they last longer. Oak and maple variants don't seem to drop the ph as much for me but my water is naturally super hard. I did see a drop when I used beech leaves and any from fruit trees. This tank sits around 7.9-8.1 normally I'll do some testing the next few days to see how it is. I freeze the leaves then wash them then boil for 15 min. Helps to make them sink. You can either add the water you boil them in or just net the leaves out. Depends if you want the tannin tint in your tank. I'll be adding some other types of leaf litter as this degrades but for now I think the oak is a good start.
