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Can tea be used to add tannins and colour to tank?

Hi all,
mort said:
Alder cones are my go to for tannins as well. The trees near me have very small cones, so they don't stain the water much on their own making it easy to control and I simply chuck a cone in when it looks a bit clear.
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I do that as well. I add some leaves for <"structural leaf litter">, but for water colour Alder (Alnus spp.) "cones" <"are non-problematic">.

I don't have any shrimps at the moment, but when I do I'm going to try feeding them fresh green Alder (Alnus pp.) leaves, because they are the leaves that freshwater biologists use for studies into invertebrate leaf shreddders, due to their <"high palatibility">. Because the leaves stay green on the trees for such a long time (and they are early to leaf) there would only be a short window when fresh leaves weren't available.

cheers Darrel
 
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Thanks for the link zozo love those cup pods on there, i actually collected some palm pods and dried flowers, date stalks, and a couple fronds today as you all got me in the spirit. 🙂

Part of me wonders if the suitability of alder for feeding shrimp is in any way related to the trees love of flowing rivers, lakes and wetland, what came first, the alder or the shrimp?
 
Angus said:
what came first, the alder or the shrimp?
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Who knows? It might be the alder / humic substances was the natural stressor that played a major role in the development of higher lifeforms beside plants.

Even tho all the recent studies revealing that its significance can no longer be neglected nor denied the role of HS is still inadequately understood

www.researchgate.net

(PDF) Humic substances - Part 2: Interactions with organisms

PDF | Freshwater bodies which chemistry is dominated by dissolved humic substances (HS) seem to be the major type on Earth, due to huge non-calcareous... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
www.researchgate.net www.researchgate.net

link.springer.com

Ecology of Humic Substances in Freshwaters

link.springer.com link.springer.com

If you like to get deeper into it search for Dr C. Steinberg and or Stress Ecology
 
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Hi all,
Oldguy said:
Not surprised that cadis fly larva came out as winners,
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From Table 1 a Caddis (Lepidostoma hirtum) looks to be the most specialized leaf shredder, followed by <"Crangonyx pseudogracilis">.
Angus said:
Part of me wonders if the suitability of alder for feeding shrimp is in any way related to the trees love of flowing rivers, lakes and wetland, what came first, the alder or the shrimp?
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I haven't found the original paper, but it looks like Alnus glutinosa has been the favoured species for these studies for a long time. I'd guess that people used it initially because it oftens grows by lakes and streams etc. and then subsequent studies found that it was the preferred food item for many detrivores.

One of the most cited paper seems to be Graca, M. et al. (2001) "Food quality, feeding preferences, survival and growth of shredders from temperate and tropical streams" Freshwater Biology 46:7, pp 947-957., but there are much older references. I'm trying to get full-text of this <"review paper">.

edit: Got it, I'll have a look through it, but probably not before next week.

cheers Darrel
 
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dw1305 said:
One of the most cited paper seems to be Graca, M. et al. (2001) "Food quality, feeding preferences, survival and growth of shredders from temperate and tropical streams" Freshwater Biology 46:7, pp 947-957., but there are much older references. I'm trying to get full-text of this <"review paper">.
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That Graca M. study seems to suggest it's less about the species of leaf and more about what organisms are living on and digesting the leaf... i also found this interesting study on biofilms in macrophyte plants in flow vs static waters, it seems the colonies are extremely diverse i don't understand half the data as i'm not a scientist that knows how to use this instrumentation but it's fascinating nonetheless. Effects of water flow on submerged macrophyte-biofilm systems in constructed wetlands - Scientific Reports
 
Robbie X said:
Would probably taste a bit bitter 😹
I have bought some almond leaves to use as decoration and to add tannins but did not consider boiling a load. They are quite expensive, how many would I need to boil for a 60L tank, and how long does the colour last?
Cheers
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Don’t know if someone has already mentioned but if you want larger leaves you can use Katappa leaves and they are also reputed to have anti microbial qualities (don’t quote me on that but I’m sure I read it somewhere).
 
CJM70 said:
Don’t know if someone has already mentioned but if you want larger leaves you can use Katappa leaves and they are also reputed to have anti microbial qualities (don’t quote me on that but I’m sure I read it somewhere).
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Yep, Catappa leaves - also known as Indian Almond Leaves. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties are widely cited as benefits, besides providing a good source of biofilm for shrimps to munch on, and good hiding places for shrimplets 🙂

Cheers,
Michael
 
MichaelJ said:
Yep, Catappa leaves - also known as Indian Almond Leaves. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties are widely cited as benefits, besides providing a good source of biofilm for shrimps etc.

Cheers,
Michael
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Ah cheers Michael, but didn’t realise they were also called that. Seems everything has so many nicknames, which is why I prefer using proper names as much as possible (although I don’t know all of them by a long shot 😎).
 
Hi all,
Angus said:
less about the species of leaf and more about what organisms are living on and digesting the leaf.
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Yes, a lot of studies used "conditioned" leaves, that is leaves that have been in water for several days before the experiment starts. I think that Alnus leaves "condition" (develop an extensive biofilm) more quickly than other leaves, presumably because of their higher sugar and protein content.

cheers Darrel
 
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Robbie X said:
Hi all.
I recently watched a YouTube vid were a chap was using tea in a hang on tea infuser to add tannins and colour to his blackwater tank.
Is this a legitimate method?
I know that botanicals and certain types of wood leach tannins and I’m curious what other methods I could use when setting up a blackwater tank?
Cheers
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As others have said, the tea you need to use is Rooibos tea, it contains no caffeine and release much the same things as botanicals.
 
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