Adding leaves for feeding....

JimH · Post by **JimH** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 5:13 am

Hi All,
Am brand new to keeping shrimp and am enjoying my cherries immensely. I want to add some soaked oak leaves (as per suggested in the Articles section), and my question is: how many leaves should I add? I have a 10 gal with about 20 cherries in it. Some java moss with 1 small java fern and black gravel as the only things in the tank. Can I lay a layer of oak leaves or should I just add 1? Am concernec about upsetting the water chemistry with adding too many leaves.
Best....
Jim

Newjohn · Post by **Newjohn** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 6:07 am

Hi JimH
And welcome to the Forum.

I would start out with 1 or 2 leaves and add more as needed.

Just remember that plants will compete with the Bio-Film that is growing on the Leaves.
If you keep plants and Leaf Litter in the same tank, it is a balancing act between having to many plants and over feeding.

Good Luck
John

pixl8r · Post by **pixl8r** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 6:12 am

I'm not an expert on these things, but if I had to guess, I would say that I generally add the equivolent of three to four large leaves per 10g. I try to space them out to avoid over crowding.

In my ~45g tank they don't last very long, my crayfish likes to drag them into his various dens and munch on them.

In my shrimp only tanks they last a long time.

masni · Post by **masni** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:21 pm

hi all,

this is my first post here too

I put 1 to 4 cattapa leaves in my 5 gallon shrimp only tanks, depending on the shrimp population, and they dont last that long! In 2 to 3 weeks there is nothing left of them excepted the "hard part" (sorry my englilsh isnt that good, and I miss some vocabulary). The water parameters dont vary that much du essentially to the fact that I do a lot of water changes.

hope this helps.

Lilian

JimH · Post by **JimH** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:42 pm

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I ended up placing 2 pin oak leaves in the tank and within 10 minutes I had 12 shrimp skittering all over them. Can't wait to see how long it takes them to devour these 4 inch long leaves!
Best....
Jim

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 4:27 pm

I've been running an experment for about 3 months now. I have a tank that is fed only with soaked oak leaves. I put in a large amount so that there is about a 1/2 inch fluffed up layer on the bottom. I've done no feeding and no water changes. I've just added water t make up for evaporation. Cherries, amanos and green shrimp are doing fine and the cherries and greens are multiplying, although not as quickly as in a fed tank.

Sure is simple. Add 2-3 leaves every other week and add water every week. Nitrates remain un-measurable.

pixl8r · Post by **pixl8r** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 6:24 pm

Hey Badflash,

Do you remove the skeletal remains of leaves?

zapisto · Post by **zapisto** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 7:08 pm

hello,
i have almost same setup as badflash.

Bare bottom tank with oak leave only and Tiger shrimp.
the tiger doing well and breed.
almost every 2 month i have to put back some other leaves.
and no i dont remove skeletal of the leaves.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 5:38 am

I remove nothing. They go away ontheir own.