Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Thanks everyone for you input,

I'll keep out of the ponds, but have just had another thought, how about oak leaf mould?............Our native oak leaves are really tough, so ones that have already half decayed naturally would definately be easier for shrimps to eat..........Or would all those fungal spores be a danger?

Thanks again.

We have members who do look for and use leaves with mold on them. They have not had any complants or problems reported so far. I look for dried brown oak leaves for my tank. It is actually the microorganism that grow on the leaves that provide shrimp with food rather than the leaves themselves.

Just my opinion, but I see my collected leaves and other natural tank decorations as a source of beneficial organisms rather than a potential source of infection.

I think our germ-o-phobic culture can make it hard to believe that the vast majority of micro-organisms are beneficial.

The closest thing to an infectious organism I have had was a very brief appearance of some hydra that went away after about a week.

YuccaPatrol wrote:
I think our germ-o-phobic culture can make it hard to believe that the vast majority of micro-organisms are beneficial.

Very true, thinking about it, as this comes naturally to our shrimps, they should have some natural immunity against these organisms anyway.

I'm not worried about disease, just other nasties like leaches, planaria, hydra, etc. Once you get them, it can take forever to get rid of them.

So I think it is best to look for dry brown leaves in an area that is known not to spray insecticides to be on the safe side.

Anyone tried maple leaves? I would think these should be pretty much the same, but less acidic. Here in the Hudson valley we have loads & loads of maples. I'll be setting up another tank shortly & give that a shot, unless someone already has an answer.

Maple leaves work great, too. Pretty much any old, brown leaf lying on the ground will do. Just make sure you soak the leaves first. There is lots of stuff in leaves that leaches into the water during the first day or so. I noticed that when I measured the conductivity of the water the leaves were soaking in and realized by how much the conductivity had risen.

I soaked about a dozen oak leaves for a few days, the water looked like very strong tea. I dropped one into the tank, but it hasn't drawn much interest yet. They seem to prefer the softer, somewhat decayed water lily leaves.

I believe that is because the decaying water lily leaves already have microorganisms for them to feed on. The oak leaves in time will have them grow on them.

I figured as much, but they eat the leaves as well.

Sure they do, it is like lettuce with the microorganisms being the oh so good dressing