# What Autumn stuff can I add to my shrimp tank



## RolyMo (10 Oct 2013)

Now Autumn appears to be upon us. I wondered if there were certain leaves and other tree based seed type things that I could take advantage of in my local surroundings for my shrimp and fish tanks.

BTW I live in England.

I was swear I have several Adler trees nearby me. Or should I say to the little cones that are on the tree look remarkably familiar to the ones I got from one of the sponsors.

Are there other leaves and bark I can utilise in my shrimp tank?

What do you use or recommend and why?

Cheers
Roland


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## Andy D (10 Oct 2013)

I use Alder cones, oak leaves and beech leaves.

Oak leaves take a while to break down which is nice and the shrimp seem to enjoy them.


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## Alastair (10 Oct 2013)

Andy D said:


> I use Alder cones, oak leaves and beech leaves.
> 
> Oak leaves take a while to break down which is nice and the shrimp seem to enjoy them.


Same here too. Beech leaves take even longer but they add character to certain tank layouts too


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## squid102 (11 Oct 2013)

I use oak and beech leaves, as I have both in my garden. I would use alder cones if I had them too.


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## aliclarke86 (11 Oct 2013)

How do you prepair fallen leaves?

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## Alastair (11 Oct 2013)

aliclarke86 said:


> How do you prepair fallen leaves?
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4



As long as there not from near roadsides etc just give them a quick rinse mate and plonk them in


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (11 Oct 2013)

Alastair said:


> As long as there not from near roadsides etc just give them a quick rinse mate and plonk them in





aliclarke86 said:


> How do you prepair fallen leaves?
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4




Large cup or bowl.

 Boiling water from kettle.

Leave stand for 10 mins.

Leaves will be as clean as possible and should readily sink rather than floating for days - a week (dependant on leaf).


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## basil (11 Oct 2013)

When selecting leaves make sure that:-


They are harvested away from towns, roads etc otherwise they may have a layer of pollutants. Also avoid selecting from areas close to farmers fields as they may have pesticide on.
Make sure that they are naturally fallen ie fully depleted from chlorophyll, saps, sugars etc otherwise they will continue to rot in your tank and cause water quality issues.
My wife wrote quite a nice document on leaf litter use, including some detail on which native leaves can be used and how best to select and prepare them. I'll try and get it uploaded later


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## aliclarke86 (11 Oct 2013)

That would be great thanks 

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## Fern (11 Oct 2013)

I have just started keeping shrimp, so will use oak leaves
I live on the edge of a forest, miles and miles from any sort of polution, and have 5 oak trees in my garden, enough supply to last a life time I think!  anyone want some leaves?


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## RolyMo (12 Oct 2013)

Really appreciate the discussion on this subject, especially how to prepare the leaves them.
Basil - Looking forward to seeing that document
As with Catappa leaves and banana leaves are their any health properties that Oak and Beech leaves have?


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (12 Oct 2013)

RolyMo said:


> Really appreciate the discussion on this subject, especially how to prepare the leaves them.
> Basil - Looking forward to seeing that document
> As with Catappa leaves and banana leaves are their any health properties that Oak and Beech leaves have?



I, although never used oak and beech, would say they would act in A very similar way. Releasing tannins into the water, lowering Ph and providing some antibacterial qualities.

I would be more inclined to use oak leaves, than beech, though, as they will probably have better results.


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## DTL (18 Oct 2013)

Just tried my shrimp on one of the fallen leaves from my red Japanese maple.(Acer)



 
Verdict? They like it!!


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## basil (18 Oct 2013)

I can't figure out how to upload the document sorry. Will try to have another crack over the weekend.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (18 Oct 2013)

basil said:


> I can't figure out how to upload the document sorry. Will try to have another crack over the weekend.



Interested!


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## aliclarke86 (18 Oct 2013)

basil said:


> I can't figure out how to upload the document sorry. Will try to have another crack over the weekend.


Could you not upload to Google docs then post a link? Or drop box or well any cloud service and make it public? 

You could email it to me if you like and I will sort it.

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## RolyMo (19 Oct 2013)

Are pine needles ok?


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (19 Oct 2013)

RolyMo said:


> Are pine needles ok?


 
I'd Sway more towards Hardwoods than softwood trees. I dont know if its logical.
Hardwoods Release Tannins as oppose to Sap. Which is the course of Redmoor going nasty when fist put in water.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (19 Oct 2013)

How do fallen leaves get on with Purigen, out of curiosity? I have some Almond leaves in both my shrimp and main tank. I guess the leaf breaking down in the tank is in effect adding some amount of bio-load. Would the Purigen be trying to strip this out as well as the tannins? If so I guess that would speed up the amount of times the Purigen would need re-activating!
Other than that I suppose the leaf is still acting as a food source for the young shrimp.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (19 Oct 2013)

Yeah Purigen removes the tannins from the water. I dont want to put some Regenerated purigen in the filter. Im scared


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## Iain Sutherland (19 Oct 2013)

Purigen never works the same after regeneration. Keep the tank clean and it lasts long enough to make it disposable anyway.

Oak leaves have just started dropping round my way no nows the time to get out and about.


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## RolyMo (19 Oct 2013)

Horse chestnut leaves?


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## RolyMo (19 Oct 2013)

Thankfully due to some shipping errors, I have approx 3litres of purigen so I can afford to be extravagant. But if it is going to be removing good stuff from the water column I might reconsider. Although shrimp all seem good to date. 
R


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## RolyMo (19 Oct 2013)

Iain agreed. Leaves have all started to change colour and drop in Southern Hampshire. The Meon valley is a picture.

Took the girls to the forest for a play and forage, and had a wide range of trees to harvest from. Picked up leaves from beech, horse chestnut, and pine needles.

Will throw the pine needles away.

Have had the beech trees in boiling water for the last 3 hours and have removed to dry.

Not sure on the horse chestnut leaves. Plus we managed to get lots of the horse chestnuts themselves so will be looking devour those over the coming weeks. 

A truly picturesque time of year. 

Let's hope the shrimp manage to take advantage of it too.

R


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (19 Oct 2013)

RolyMo said:


> Thankfully due to some shipping errors, I have approx 3litres of purigen so I can afford to be extravagant. But if it is going to be removing good stuff from the water column I might reconsider. Although shrimp all seem good to date.
> R


 

Lol. I need some, So if your looking to shift, give me a shout


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## RolyMo (20 Oct 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Yeah Purigen removes the tannins from the water. I dont want to put some Regenerated purigen in the filter. Im scared



I have regenerated purigen a few times in the fish tank. As per the directions and using seachem dechlorinator. Everything fine. Not a problem.


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