# Pine cone



## dan4x4 (4 Jan 2018)

Happy new year everybody.

I add tannins into my aquarium every week when i do a water change. Primarily I use oak and beech leaves. I normally boil for 15-20 mins then add them to the tank. The shrimp seem to like them after they have sat there for a while and everything is normally fine.

However I recently got a new batch. I go to Hamsterley its forestry commission site pretty far out the way and is countryside so way less pollution. I added a pine cone which I have done in the past with success however within an hour of adding the cone and some leaves the fish didn't look good at all.

When I say they didn't look good..
They seemed to be breathing really quickly
Most of them went into hiding
The shrimp I have wouldn't keep still one of them is still swimming round now
When I open the lid they normally swim to the top expecting to be fed but they are not doing this anymore they seem uninterested
They are not at the surface of the water they are towards the mid or lower sections and although they are moving more than they where last night they are still lethargic.
The fish are tiger barbs and the shrimp are amano shrimp.
I have altered the powerhead so to get more oxygen in the water just incase.
Some of the fish where really pale last night and looked like certain death as they where resting on plants possible exhaustion or suffocation? I dont know. they have got colour back now.

After altering the powerhead to favour better aeration I also put the light on for an hour and a half longer than usual and I changed approx 90% of the water.

I assume there must of been something on the leaves or cone which i have removed now. I had already done a water change same day but they didn't show any signs of distress on the morning or afternoon. 

Do you think I'm right to assume that it was to do with the boiled up leaves and cone I added? I add sachem equilibrium every now and then and I had added this with the water change on the morning but I would of thought if that was the problem it would of happened sooner? or not?

if they are still not 100% I will do a water change when I return from work later today.


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## Edvet (4 Jan 2018)

Don't use pine cones. Elder cones are safe, pine contains all kind of stuf not suited. Don't use pine branches either.
Oak, beech etc are fine


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## dan4x4 (4 Jan 2018)

OK great thanks


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## dw1305 (4 Jan 2018)

Hi all, 





dan4x4 said:


> I added a pine cone


It probably still had a of resins and oils in it. <"Turpentine"> was originally obtained from Pine trees. 





Edvet said:


> (A)Elder cones are safe


Alder (_Alnus_) cones are safe, they look like little pine cones, but the trees aren't related. I use Alder Cones a lot.

cheers Darrel


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## sparkyweasel (5 Jan 2018)

Coniferous trees generally have lots of resin, not good for our tanks. Alder is not actually a conifer, what we call its cones  are dried catkins.


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