preparing oak leafs

[cwnaturescapes]

is there a best way to prepare oak leafs for your tank? Any info would be much appreciated

 

[daphilster08]

I did it this past fall just to try it out for a little bit.. All I did was stick them in the tank haha. you have to be very cautious though that they aren't sprayed with chemicals.. Find a place that is more maybe in the woods or somewhere you know that isn't sprayed.. Just to be safe, I would rinse them in water of even put them in a bucket of water for a while..

 

[ed seeley]

I collected my Oak leaves from my school where we don't use any chemicals so I just stick them in my tanks. They float for a couple of hours then sink. If you're worried then give them a good rinse under the hot water tap or soak breifly in a bucket.

 

[dw1305]

Oak leaves

Hi all,
I do the same, I collect a lot in the autumn, dry them out in a net bag, when they are dry I put them in a plastic bag, and when I want some, I just put them in the tank. As Ed says they float for a day or so before sinking.

First year I collected them I froze them 5 leafs at a time in plastic bags, but it doesn't seem to make any difference, and collected dry will definitely last from autumn to the next autumn.

Because our rock and soil at home is very alkaline, I go about 10 miles to where the rock is "greensand", and the soil more acidic to collect them.

cheers Darrel

 

[cwnaturescapes]

thanks

thanks alot , just wanted be sure before i put them in the tank ,thanks again

 

[tjudy]

Some oak trees do not drop their leaves in the Fall. They turn brown and dry out, but hang there until Spring. I harvest those leaves throughout the Winter when I need them. I know that they have not been laying in pollution. To prepare them for the tank all I do is pour boiling water over them, let them sit until the water cools, and rinse them off before putting them in the tank. This removes a lot of the tannin, but the water still turns very dark if there are a lot of leaves.

 

[wolf13]

I was cautious about the ones i used, i only used red oak leaves (the ones that tend to stay on trees over winter) that had fallen on snow. I took em home and poured boiling water over them then let them soak for a little bit before adding a small bit of bleach to the warm water. let them soak overnight in that then rinsed and added em to my tank.

 

[ste12000]

NOOOOOOOOO, dont add bleach!!!!!!!!

As long as the leaves are not collected from a obviously dirty place then they will be fine to add after a rinse in cold water, bleach is about the worst thing to clean them with, the leaves will suck up and store some of the bleach and then slowly release it into your tank when added...any fish that i can think off that would benefit from leaf litter would certainly take a dislike to bleach!!!!!

 

[bigbird]

Morning,

CORRECT DO NOT ADD BLEACH YUCK YUCK.
All i do is add the leaves to a bucket of conditioned water. After 2 or so days they since, then add them to the tank.
cheers jk :biggrin:

 

[fishy]

oakleaves

Hey Bigbird,maybe I am dumb ,but what do you use the oak leaves for.

John

 

[bigbird]

Morning John,

In the natural apisto environment, leaves are the base as a substrate. They release tanins and make the water slightly acidic. It also gives them hidding spots and that is where they search for food. Oak leaves are apparently the best leaves to use as they do not break down too quick. In my tank I use sand substrate, have 1/3 with plants and cocunut hidding spots and then use the rest a cover of oak leave. cheer jk :biggrin:

 

[fishy]

oak leaves

Thanks Bigbird
I have bred different apisto,s over the years,but had never heard of using oak leaves,( learn something every day) thanks mate.

John

 

[ste12000]

I moved house around a month ago, the first thing that greeted me when i looked in the back garden was several drifts of oak leaves on the lawn Looks like ill have an easier job of collecting them in my new house :biggrin:

 

[Hassles]

Oak Leaves

I just posted a question about Oak Leaves (elsewhere) before I stumbled upon this thread. I have a huge Oak tree in my yard and only today placed some leaves into a jar of my PH neutral tap water so that I could determine the influence these leaves will have on my water parameters. These are now obviously destined for my Apisto tanks.

 

[electric eel]

i just found some(smaller ones) left over from winter.i pulled the leaves off before but this time i have left some on the tiny little branchs on the end.they look like little trees and my apistos love it.i find them hiding in there a lot.i just stuck the ends of the little "trees" down in the sand(after they were well soaked of course) looks like a little forrest.

 

[apistoboi]

oak leaves preparing

i just heard of using oak leaves as a way to drop ph (good for apisto breeding). if anyone can help, where i live its hard to find white oak leaves but i was lucky to find red oak. unfortunately none are brown or dying, so i decided to pick leaves that are still green off the tree then drying them out until they turn brown. i just began this project yesterday and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

what are the difference between red oak and white oak leaves, which one lowers ph, kh, gh better?

how long does green leaves take to dry until you can boil them to use as a ph decreaser, water softener?

 

[Tedstank]

Oak leaves

Red Oak are the better of the 2. Set leaves out to dry and just soak them..if u boil too long you will cook out the tannins....where u live....we are still raking them up....send a truck load...lol

 

[electric eel]

you don't need to boil them at all.beech leaves work really well too and i'm sure others but not being a botanist i don't know which ones.one good thing about oak and beech leaves is that they decay very slowly in water compared to indian almond leaves etc.i have been out in the woods looking for morel mushrooms and there are dried beech leaves still around from last year(at least here in southwestern ohio)you can take beech and oak leaves and soak them in ro water to make a good blackwater extract(really technically an infusion) also.

 

[Sverker Hahn]

I use oak leaves on the bottom. Problem was that they tend to end up in corners and not staying where I want them.

However, that was easy remedied.

Just put a string of silicon glue on the dry downside of the leaf. Dip it in aquarium gravel. Let it dry for some days. Put it on the bottom. Now it stays "anchored" at the bottom, even when changing water.