Retrophyllum_minus Posted September 11 Author Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 11:28 AM, clownbaby said: Botanicalsssss! Leaves. Seed pods. Cones. I use oak leaves, almond leaves, alder & birch cones, alder leaves, leaves from my Guiana chestnut tree (whenever they fall)... but there are so many options. They slowly lower the pH and also feed microorganisms in your tank, which is super beneficial for your beneficial bacteria colonies. You can buy these online or collect them outside. I usually collect them because I am cheap, but make sure if you do collect stuff from outside you know it is in an area that does not use herbicides pesticides etc :] Thankfully I own 6 acres of forest, and have a forestry degree so I'm pretty well familiar with species. I also have an indoor guava tree which I was thinking of taking leaves from since those are a popular one that is sold online for just this purpose. I was actually going to look into whether black locust would be a good one as well because it is in the Fabaceae family and there a lot of native rainforest species/South American species in that same family. But I have dozens of different trees species to choose from on my property. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownbaby Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 8:38 AM, Retrophyllum_minus said: Thankfully I own 6 acres of forest, and have a forestry degree so I'm pretty well familiar with species. I also have an indoor guava tree which I was thinking of taking leaves from since those are a popular one that is sold online for just this purpose. I was actually going to look into whether black locust would be a good one as well because it is in the Fabaceae family and there a lot of native rainforest species/South American species in that same family. But I have dozens of different trees species to choose from on my property. Woo!!!!!!!!! This made me light up dude!!!!!!!!!!! Heck yeah!!!! Way to go, keep it up!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrophyllum_minus Posted September 11 Author Share Posted September 11 On 9/11/2024 at 1:11 PM, clownbaby said: Woo!!!!!!!!! This made me light up dude!!!!!!!!!!! Heck yeah!!!! Way to go, keep it up!!!! Hahah thanks. I appreciate it. I do my best. Maybe someday I'll have enough good leaves that I can mail some out to people if they need them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billipo Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Big fan of Von Rio (wild type). Large school in my 40g. Always enjoyed Bronze, Peppered, and Panda Cories, but forum directed me to Sterbai. Yes my new favorite. Thumbs up for Bolivian Rams, Red Eye Tetras, and Emperor Tetras. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrophyllum_minus Posted September 12 Author Share Posted September 12 On 9/11/2024 at 6:50 PM, Billipo said: Large school in my 40g. How many, roughly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billipo Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 On 9/11/2024 at 10:31 PM, Retrophyllum_minus said: How many, roughly? I started with 6 , then got 6 more but had a couple jumpers. I'd go with the previous 12-15 recommendation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrophyllum_minus Posted September 12 Author Share Posted September 12 Update: the 40 gallon breeder tank has some snails that volunteered themselves in on some plants most likely. This is a good thing. They'll eat some dead plant matter and continue to season the tank. I'll keep an eye on them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrophyllum_minus Posted September 13 Author Share Posted September 13 On 9/12/2024 at 5:21 PM, Retrophyllum_minus said: Update: the 40 gallon breeder tank has some snails that volunteered themselves in on some plants most likely. This is a good thing. They'll eat some dead plant matter and continue to season the tank. I'll keep an eye on them. Got a better look. They're Ramshorns. So that's cool. I kind of like them as long as they don't get too crazily out of control. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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