oak leaves

buuoo · Post by **buuoo** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:07 am

Hello

Can anyone give me the botanic name of the oak, witch the leaves are suitbul bor srimps.
Whith the botanic name of the tree it is esier for me to make no mistakes

thanks

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:05 am

There are several hundred species of oak trees in the family Quercus. I do not know of any reason that one could not use leaves from any member of this family.

There are over 15 species in my state of Alabama. I have Quercus rubra (red oak) on my property, although I have not tried adding oak leaves to my shrimp tanks.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:53 am

In the articles section of this site you can read "How to keep dwarf shrimp -- An Introduction" were Mustafa discusses how to prepair oak leaves. I do not know the botanic name of the oak.

Post by **Mustafa** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:53 am

As YuccaPatrol already indicated, any oak leaves are fine in my experience. Just make sure that you only pick dry, brown oak leaves from the ground and not fresh, green ones.

Gregor Samsa Mendel · Post by **Gregor Samsa Mendel** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:43 am

The portuguese word for oak is "carvalho." Pick up dry, brown carvalho leaves off the ground, soak them in water for two or three days, and put them in your shrimp tank. The shrimp seem to like it.

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:51 am

They should be common just about anywhere in the US, as the vast majority of oak trees are natives to North America. There are a few European species as well as some Asian species.

If you are having a hard time finding them, I would be happy to send an envelope stuffed with them to you. There are plenty of aged leaves on my property from last fall and I use no pesticides or herbicides that could contaminate them.

buuoo · Post by **buuoo** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 3:27 am

Thanks for all your awsers, we have to native espicies of quercus,
Quercus ilex
quercus suber

I will try them in a smoll aquarium whith 1 or 2 sherimps to see what apends

I have a Bonsai quercus rubra but he only produce few leavs a year

thanks to you all

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:14 am

Hope the two species of leaves work out for you. Please keep us updated as this has been a helpful topic for us

Thanks!

buuoo · Post by **buuoo** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:47 am

hello

Can anyone tell me if theres a way to identify the tannins in wather?

thanks

Shrimp&Snails · Post by **Shrimp&Snails** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:54 am

Tannins make the water appear brown....they can also reduce PH.

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:43 am

Just soak the leaves in water for a few days to remove the tannins from the leaves. It won't remove them completely, but a LOT of them will come out in just a few days.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 1:18 pm

I collect the leaves after they have been through the winter. No need to soak.