Oak Leaves

[kpkbfish420]

I was wondering if oak leaves will have any effect on my water? Do I just boil them and put them in there? Also, would dead oak branches and other branches in my backyard be safe? Thanks!!

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Oak leaves are often used to make a leaf litter for SA Biotype tanks. I would expect them to drop your pH, and darken your water as they leach tannins.

The oak branches should be fine, boiling will help remove tannins and help it to sink.

 

[joy13]

Make sure you strip all the bark off any of the branches you are going to use.

 

[mgamer20o0]

i wouldnt use the branches but the leaves should be good. great place for micro organisms to live on for fry to eat too.

 

[kpkbfish420]

Thanks guys! I think I'll go with no on the leaves if it's going to soften my water because if I don't keep a constant supply it'll cause PH swings, right? So why no on the branches?

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I would not worry about the pH change, as I overstated a bit in my original post. Leaves will gradually lower pH over time (as would driftwood), but it should not be quick enough to worry about a pH fluctuation. With regular water changes it actually takes a good deal of work to change your tanks parameters from those of your tap water.

There should be no problem with the branches as long as you give them a good boil first. As an added bonus, the bark should fall right off in the boil.

 

[kpkbfish420]

Ok cool! So how exactly am I going to boil them? They are way larger than any pot I have, lol.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Half at a time if possible.

If not, you should be able to put them into a larger container and pour boiling water over them. A stainless steel sink would work well for this.

 

[gzeiger]

The leaves are basically tannin-free after boiling for 5 minutes or so. They will stain the boiling water very dark but have no noticable effect on the tank water afterward. Leaves last a very long time in the tank (months) even if the tank contains shrimp, crayfish and other scavengers that eat them.

I agree that their effect on pH in my tank has been small and slow.

Branches however will stain your water unless soaked for a long while (weeks). Personally I really like the look of stained water in my tank, but many disagree. It takes a lot of water changes to get rid of it if you decide you don't like it. They do offer a very nice look if you want to add structure to your substrate though. It's hard to beat driftwood for making a natural-looking environment.

 

[krap101]

Do you just use normal oak leaves?

 

[gzeiger]

Yes. Pick them up off the ground, don't pick them from the tree. I don't know for sure that the sap wouldn't be harmful, and anyway green leaves are more buoyant. The autumn leaf litter is what you want.

There's nothing really special about oak as far as I know, except the leaves have a nice shape to them. My tank had handfuls of whatever was in easy reach.

Now that I mention it my crawdads have mostly eaten that. Time to replenish them.