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Posted

Hey y’all,

So I finally set my 75 gallon up. However, I only did so after working three nights in a row when I had expected at least a day off, so I wasn’t super clear in my thinking. 
Having heard that grape leaves are high iron and therefore beneficial to crypts in particular I decided to add a layer of them to my substrate.
I did not have a clear direction in how I wanted to plant the tank, so I just spread them across the entire bottom. 
My chief question is whether anyone else out there has any experience using grape leaves, not dried but from a grocery store, in their substrate?

And second, what does everyone think will happen? I had a moment when I was about half finished planting, that maybe it wasn’t wise to have a layer of decaying plant matter sitting between my aqua soil in media bags and my upper gravel layer. Should I just rip them out now or ride it out and find out what happens?

Thanks!

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  • Like 1
Posted
On 1/10/2023 at 7:47 PM, Pookieq said:

My chief question is whether anyone else out there has any experience using grape leaves, not dried but from a grocery store, in their substrate?

Hello, welcome to the forums. 

I do think pecktec might have a video on it.  I haven't heard about that technique from anyone else.

  • Like 1
Posted

I suppose it's like doing a layer of compost but it will take a bit longer to be available to the plants. 

Du those media bags contain inert media or something more soily?

Cycle might do some strange things as they break down but I've no experience with adding organic matter to substrates I can't see it being harmful as long as you can keep an eye on things.

  • Like 1
Posted

@nabokovfan87 actually I recall coming across it in a Bentley Pascoe vid. I don’t remember if it was part of the whole substrate series or a species special or even something else entirely. But I can definitely say that he inspired the idea. 
 

@Flumpweesel the media bags are filled with a mixture of mostly stratum with some red flourite at a very roughly eyeballed ratio of 4:1. 
I imagine I’m going to see some pretty odd things go on with the chemistry as this progresses. 

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  • Like 2
Posted

By my very basic understanding those substrates can absorb nutrients rather than throw more out so the leaves are the main the nutrient source so I think it will ok but as I said take your time with it and keep an eye on it.  

I was slightly worried you had put compost in those bags which could have made things a bit rich

  • 1 year later...
Posted (edited)
On 1/11/2023 at 1:21 AM, Pookieq said:

@nabokovfan87 actually I recall coming across it in a Bentley Pascoe vid. I don’t remember if it was part of the whole substrate series or a species special or even something else entirely. But I can definitely say that he inspired the idea. 
 

@Flumpweesel the media bags are filled with a mixture of mostly stratum with some red flourite at a very roughly eyeballed ratio of 4:1. 
I imagine I’m going to see some pretty odd things go on with the chemistry as this progresses. 

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I know it’s a year+ later sorry, but how did this work out for you? It 100% was a Bentley vid btw, I watched it one night a few months back and have been waiting on the grape leaves in Oregon to come back, now they are here and I’m curious.

The vibe I got from the vid, it’s on one of his playlists can’t remember the exact vid, but I assumed he was talking about sticking it in the substrate root tab style like supplemental, I hadn’t thought to do it this way with a layer. 
 

Anyways I have some leaves currently and am going to use them root tab style right now in a 30 gallon, would love an update though cause the lasagna layer is a cool idea too I’d love to try it. 
 

made an account just to respond to this 

 

edit- my tanks are all fluorite red, fluorite black, or a mixture of the two, thought I’d add that since fluorite was mentioned previously 

Edited by Aquadaddy
Adding more context about substrate
Posted

I did this, but I used oak leaves not grape. It worked fine, unrelated tank crash not withstanding.  I got a lot of tannins so if you want a blackwater tank I can recommend that.  Water changes cut that down again, there's a limited amount of tannins in them. There's pictures in my journal if you want yo see.

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