Magnolia leaves instead of IAL

[eklikewhoa]

Been reading back and forth the benefits of using IAL and I ran across a lot of discussion about using other dried leaves found in the yard. Today while outside I noticed that we have a giant Magnolia tree in the yard and the leaves are really similar in shape of IAL.

So I hopped on the net and did some searching and found that Magnolia leaves have also been used in place of IAL.

Anyone try different leaves in their tank? I remember reading that Mark uses tea bags but I'm asking more for the purpose of having something for shrimp to feed off of.



If anyone cares to try I have a whole yard full! No worries about pesticides or the like cause we don't even cut the grass when it needs to be cut moreless plant anything.

[76dragon]

IAL ??

Let me guess. Indian almond leaves. I just ordered 200 from online supplier. That's before I read that shrimps like boiled spinich.

Any pros or cons on either. I know that the IAL will add tannins to the water but is there any thing else??

Phung

[eklikewhoa]

Honestly, I haven't notice any difference, supposedly it helps calm the inhabitants with natural powers or something. I hardly notice the tannins either but I have a bag of purigen in my filter.

On occasion I see some of the shrimp graze on it after it's been in the tank for a little while but other than that nada.

I crushed some up and scattered it on the foreground of my tank for aesthetics and for the idea that the shrimp will graze/feed on it.

[76dragon]

What else are you feeding the shrimps? I'm doing spirulina flakes and algae wafers. always worried if i am feeding them enough. But they seem to be ok and i see some berried so i think all is well

[eklikewhoa]

I bought a bunch of stuff to try out and let myself get suckered into the gimmicks but....

Hikari shrimp cuisine
Azoo Max growth
Azoo Max breed
Omega one shrimp pellets
NLS H20 wafers
NLS cichlid formula
NLS thera+a
Tetra color flakes

They don't seem to be particular to any one of them so that probably goes to show how well these ornamental foods are marketed.

[eklikewhoa]

I usually overfeed my tanks, I like watching the fish eat and with all the fish,snails and shrimp I'm not too worried about overfeeding.

[madehtsobi]

Ill try some leaves and see what if it does anything? Mine stay hidden in between the rocks.

I think all these foods are gimmicks. I only see my yellow shrimp go towards any of the Ada bee shrimp, mosura specialty food. The crs/cbs just crosses over it.

[eklikewhoa]

thread I found with discussion about leaves

[eklikewhoa]

I'll gather some tomorrow, probably toss some in a bucket too and see what it does.

I agree about the food, everyone goes apeshlt about copper being in the foods but I honestly think the single shrimp would have to ingest the whole container before it died of copper but by then it would have died from several other reasons first.

[madehtsobi]

Good read!

Seems like it leaches and keep ph stable?

I would test it with rcs than crs first.

[eklikewhoa]

Like driftwood or peat the leaves break down and release tanins which is what does the pH altering. To what extent the leaves work is questionable and probably not as stable as one might like.

I read that the alder cones work better for this purpose and are round/smaller so it's easier to manage

[eklikewhoa]

http://www.aldercones.com/

[madehtsobi]

Damn that's a lot of leechin!!

Crazy how low it made the PH!!




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[Totenkampf]

you need to grab the new amazonas issue EK! The german breeders are big on dried thistle leaves, oak, beech, and black walnut. THere were others but I dont recall them all right off hand. One guy hangs them by the stem from a sting until theres just a skeleton remaining. He also noted that he thinks it helps with supplying biorganisms. I think if you go to the amazonas website you can view some of the articles from the current issue.

Do the magnolia leaves need to be dried? They are pretty meaty but that would be cool because I do have access to those (when my neighbor goes to sleep)

[eklikewhoa]

Yeah I would imagine it needs to be dried, I have a yard full of dried leaves right now.