Oak leaves

[klc]

I saw a thread on Plecofanatics that some breeders add almond leaves to their tanks to soften water. Someone else replied that oak leaves do the same. Supposedly, plecos also seem to enjoy playing in the leaves (just like kids). The leaves need to be boiled a bit to get them to sink. Has anyone here tried this? I'm wondering what this does to filter intakes.

[Zebrapl3co]

Oak leaves are actually better than indian almond leaves in my personal oppinion.
You'll probably need a lot of oak leaves to make a difference in the pH. If you do regular water change, you'll probably see a minor shift in pH.
I think it's the tanins that causes the pH to shift. The tanins also hampers algae growth.
When they decompose, they release some kind to methane/ethenol (not sure what it's call), that causes fishes and invertebrate to be horny. And hence encourage spawning.
The difference between oak leaves and indian almond leaves is that oak leaves takes 4 times as long to decompose and leech 4 times as slow as almond leaves.
And that is why indian almond leaves are more popular than oak leaves because you see results almost instantly while oak leaves takes a long time to come into effect. Add that to the regular water change and you'll start to wonder if the oak leaves does anything at all.
I don't boil my oak leaves, I just soak them for a day to drain out any pesticides and then add them to my tank. I find that boiling takes out most the tanins and you can forget about pH change.
As for filter intakes. It will take 1.5 to 2 months before your oak leaves decompose, while it takes around 2 - 3 weeks for almond leaves to fall apart. But either way, they will clog up your filter intake.

[klc]

Do you put the leaves in green or brown and dried up a bit? I guess that a screen around the filter intake would help reduce blockages. I'm not really to concerned with the softening ability of the tannins or the aphrodisiac qualities (though interesting). I thought it might add some interesting structure to the tanks. Do you use the leaves in bare tanks, or in planted/ structured tanks? I imagine they'd play proper hell with tank cleanup or pythoning.

[Zebrapl3co]

I pick the leaves when they are brown and dried in Fall. Then I store them in a dry place and use them all year round until next fall. Don't put green leaves in your tank. I've heard that oak leaves when green leech some kind of chemical that might be toxic. I think it's chlorophil related.
But never tried it.
As for my tank, I use them in bare bottom. They are perfect for all kinds of fresh water shrimps and baby shrimps eat off the bacteria/algae the grows on the leaves. It's possible that the might be eating the leaves too (although it could've been the snail that was eating the leaves).
On my planted tanks, I put them as the first layer before my sponge filters. I've never have a clog before. Hope I never do.
But basically, if you have currents in your tank, it's a pain as then get blown around and gets everywhere. But luckly, my shrimps tanks are air sponge filter only. And it sits very quitely on the bottom of the tank.
As for pythoning, it does get it the way. So you have to avoid sucking them up.

[Bwhiskered]

Oak Leaves, Almond Leaves or Black Alder Cones do not make water softer only acidic. You do not have to boil the oak leaves to make them sink. Do not use new leaves only the old dry ones in the fall. They sink in a couple of days. If you want water softer buy an RO unit the come under $150.00

[klc]

Thanks for the info folks. I guess I'll collect some leaves in the fall and give it a try. Play toys for the plecos. I've never used RO water but may also give it a whirl at some point. Another reason to spend money.