oak leaves

[jonnyt]

im planning on drying out some oak leaves and using them as litter for my snakeheads
any hints or helpfull tips

[damba]

I did this a few years ago from our Oaktree. I just picked the brown leaves form the ground and used them in the tanks. I think if you are collecting then you may want to pass boiling water over them to clean them. The only reason I dodn't is because they came from my garden and I knew they were safe! The worked really well to soften the water and the fish seemed to really appreciate them! Good luck

[a.d.wood]

Hi there,

As Tom says, take fallen brown/dried leaves for the tank. There is some discussion that Quercus rubra (the American Red Oak) is a bit better than our native Quercus robur (English Oak), primarily because of the bigger leaf size.

A bit more on this HERE (http://www.petfrd.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23078&highlight=oak).

If you are looking at making a 'blackwater extract', something else to consider would be the Alder cone from the Alder tree (Alnus spp.). Again, you'll have to wait until autumn to collect these.

Andrew

[jonnyt]

thanks guys im gonna try it this weekend im not realy after a blackwater set up just to lower ph a bit and to give a more natural look

[jonnyt]

just thinking can you use the branches trunk or roots of an oak tree

[a.d.wood]

just thinking can you use the branches trunk or roots of an oak tree

Can't see why not, I've used native Beech branches in my own tanks.

Thinking about it, I would assume that any of the native 'hard woods' would be suitable for our aquaria, I would stay well away from the 'soft woods' (pine and that ilk) though.

The one thing you need to bear in mind though is that the wood/roots will need to be well 'seasoned' before use as the sap etc in fresh wood/roots will form a horrible slime coat on the surface of the wood/roots (and probably fungus as well) if it's used fresh.

My Beech branches were left for about 15 months on top of the shed (exposed to the elements) before they were put in the tanks.

Andrew

[bruciethefish]

As another tip, avoid branches (or leaves, come to that) which have laid on the ground for any length of time, as they are more likeley to have collected fungus spores.Also, for preferece, strip the bark off, as it will peel in the end anyway. Beech & oak are probably the safest native woods in aquaria, other may potentially leach undesirable compounds into the water..