Fall Leaves in Aquariums

[Fish Folk]

I’m sure others do this, but wanted to share something I do every quarter or so. I add fallen, brown Oak Leaves underneath my Hardscape — about 6x leaves at a time. These slowly break down and provide some natural context for a healthy organic “aquasphere.”

Of course I do this most with tanks of U. S. Natives, whose streams, rivers, and swamp waters receive a lot of falling leaves. I also like to do this in Apistogramma tanks. Oak leaves seem to work safely for me, though I’d be interested to learn what other natural leaves others use. I try to pick them away from locations where any road salt treatment or automobile grease might contact them too much.

I lay them under the large Mexican Beach Pebbles in this tank.

[HotTunaCartel]

Oak leaves are awesome for blackwater.  I'm still waiting a few weeks until the leaves really get crispy here.  

They do tend to come apart easier than the thicker indian almond leaves but I like the look as they decompose in the tank.  

I think these are from the spring before we got heavy rains.  Living in the woods is great for me as I love natural looking aquariums.  

 

[Fish Folk]

On 10/27/2021 at 11:50 AM, HotTunaCartel said:

Oak leaves are awesome for blackwater.  I'm still waiting a few weeks until the leaves really get crispy here.  

They do tend to come apart easier than the thicker indian almond leaves but I like the look as they decompose in the tank.  

I think these are from the spring before we got heavy rains.  Living in the woods is great for me as I love natural looking aquariums.  

 

Looks awesome! We've got wild alder cones out where we live too. So great for tannins and decompositional context for micro life.

[Atitagain]

I’m definitely on the look out for oak leaves. I’ve heard they break down kinda fast but I think they will suit my tank well.

[HotTunaCartel]

On 10/27/2021 at 11:55 AM, Fish Folk said:

Looks awesome! We've got wild alder cones out where we live too. So great for tannins and decompositional context for micro life.

I'm so jealous of the wild alder cones by you.  Really tints the water beautifully.  

[Patrick_G]

On 10/27/2021 at 8:56 AM, HotTunaCartel said:

I'm so jealous of the wild alder cones by you.  Really tints the water beautifully.  

They’re a more or less invasive tree where I live. I’m happy to have the cones but I wish I didn’t have to deal with the trees! 

[HotTunaCartel]

On 10/27/2021 at 12:04 PM, Patrick_G said:

They’re a more or less invasive tree where I live. I’m happy to have the cones but I wish I didn’t have to deal with the trees! 

I hear ya, the acorns that fall from the oak trees are almost deadly lol 

[Hobbit]

I use fall leaves to feed my infusoria cultures! I love the idea of putting them in tanks.

[JettsPapa]

I don't put mine under the hardscape.  I just drop them in the tank and let them float until they absorb enough water to sink, and then if I don't like where they landed I will move them.

I also use oak leaves; mostly red oak but occasionally post oak.  I've seen one or two people say that you shouldn't use live oak leaves, but I have done so a time or two without noticing any ill effects.

I have a magnolia tree in my yard, and I try to keep one or two of those leaves in my tanks at all times, especially the shrimp tanks.  They're thick, fleshy leaves that break down fairly quickly and are great for shrimp to graze on.  It's also nice that magnolia trees are evergreen, so they shed leaves all year round, not just in the fall.

I've used sycamore leaves and sweet gum balls (though I lost my source for those).

For anyone reading this who isn't familiar with adding leaves to a tank, you should only use leaves that are completely brown, with no green spots.

[Streetwise]

I did a bucket test with maple leaves last year to see what they did for tannins and pH. I think I got pH to drop from mid 7s to high 6s. I could have used the bucket to condition water to add to tanks.

[Hobbit]

Is there any danger to aquatic plants in using black oak leaves, since black oaks have some sort of plant-killing chemical they release?

[Andy's Fish Den]

I have used oak leaves for a few years now in my tanks, ever since I saw a video of Jeremy Basch using them in a lot of his tanks. I have a large patch of woods at the back of my property that have a ton of oaks in it, I go back there and will fill a few paper grocery bags (yes, they still make them) up with the brown oak leaves that have fallen on the ground. I've even used the caps from acorns, I've found them attached to a bunch of leaves before, and just put the whole thing in a tank. I was just thinking the other day that I need to go collect some this year, but it has been so warm and wet this fall, the leaves haven't really started to fall yet much. 

[Fish Folk]

On 10/28/2021 at 12:35 AM, Hobbit said:

Is there any danger to aquatic plants in using black oak leaves, since black oaks have some sort of plant-killing chemical they release?

I’ve never heard of this. Can you link to an article or video?

[Hobbit]

On 10/28/2021 at 7:16 AM, Fish Folk said:

I’ve never heard of this. Can you link to an article or video?

Oh whoops, I’m thinking of black walnut. My bad!

https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/black-walnut-toxicity/#!

[Fish Folk]

On 10/28/2021 at 8:52 AM, Hobbit said:

Oh whoops, I’m thinking of black walnut. My bad!

https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/black-walnut-toxicity/#!

Yeah, Black Walnut trees are a gummy mess. We’ve got a huge one down the road that my baby boy loves to go visit in order to throw the nuts into the creek. 😂 Here he goes!

 

I always have to look out for junk he adds to my tanks! Dinosaurs…. Cheerios… Markers…. 🤪

Edited October 28, 2021 by Fish Folk