I started using Rooibos tea when I was getting into keeping Altum angels. I got my information from an amazing source there. The wild angel site is no longer active and the forums shut a long time ago. But, there were two great assets there both on the site staff. One grew up in Altum country and visited all the rivers with them. The other was a PhD professor at a University in South Africa which is the only place in the world Rooibos grows. My gut researches potato viruses but two of his colleagues research Rooibos. This plant often grows near potato farms.
A lot of Altum keepers who wanted stained water use Rooibos. I went overbooard and bough a ton of it. I first experimented with tte bags. I
sold it as well at events. So I have a handout I used. I cannot figure out how to post a doc or pdf so the formetting and pics for the below are lost or gone. I fixed that some, Also, the pic that is missing of the plany came from the professor above and the quote at the end from the other gent mentioned above:
Rooibos Tea
-> Is beneficial for fish, 100% caffeine and tannin free and you can drink it too.
-> Will stain water like peat, almond leaves or alder cones and can be used with them.
-> Will not soften water or lower pH. It is more likely to bump pH up by 0.1.
-> Can be brewed like tea and poured into the water or can be put into a bag in one’s filter. Once brewed it can be stored refrigerated for about a week.
-> When brewing, allow it to boil for a bit after the tea is added to the hot water.
-> It is hard to overdose. Start with 1 tablespoon per 10 gal. (38 L) of water and adjust from there to find the color you like.
-> Buying Rooibos helps to support the local farmers in South Africa.
Rooibos tea (meaning red bush in Afrikaans and pronounced roy + boss) has nothing to do with traditional tea, which comes from the Chinese plant Camellia sinensis in the family Rosaceae. Rooibos comes from the plant, Aspalathus linearis, a legume in the family Fabaceae- it is related to peas and beans. The bush is more like a broom than a bush. The top of the bush is cut off, dried and oxidized before packing in tea bags or sold as loose tea.
Wikipedia (at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos) states:
“Rooibos is becoming more popular in Western countries, particularly among health-conscious consumers, due to its high level of antioxidants such as aspalathin and nothofagin, its lack of caffeine, and its low tannin levels compared to fully oxidized black tea or unoxidized green tea leaves. Rooibos also contains a number of phenolic compounds, including flavanols, flavones, flavanones, and dihydrochalcones”
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In fish keeping we are interested in the plant phenolic compounds that act as antioxidants and antibacterials (it won’t harm filters). This is similar to the humic acids found in natural tea stained water. Oak leaves contain the plant phenolic quercetin (from the Latin name for oak trees, Quercus robur). Rooibos contains some quercetin plus the compound aspalathin, closely related to quercetin.
Research at the University of Stellenbosch indicates that rooibos has natural stress relieving properties. It is safe to use and is beneficial for both keepers and fish. The "organic" label is unnecessary as rooibos is grown naturally without insecticides and herbicides, they are just simply not needed and can actually harm the plant. Here is an email I got from an Altum keeper:
“Hey Chris, just wanted to let you know that my big bag (almost gone, I guess we are using it more than my altum!) Last night I wrapped some (rooibos) with sphagnum peat moss in a fine mesh bag that my wife made for the purpose and I simply put it in one of the overflow boxes. You gotta see how nice the water and the fish look today.”
I preferred to brew The Rooibos into a tea. I did this in the microwave in a 4 cup Pyrex glass measuring cup. I added the loose tea to the water after it reached a boil and the nukes it a bit more. I batched changing water in a can adjacent to the Altum tank and poured the liquid into the can through a mesh coffee filter cone that came with my coffee make and I never use.
But I was also changing my tap parameters for the fish and also used alder cones in a bag in a filter and almond leaves. I bough both in quantity and sold some of the excess. I also used muriatic acid to help lower the pH. I would change out the leaves every other week as they made a mess. So, I was able to reduce the number of leaves by using the Rooibos. It helped greatly with the staining and with less mess and fuss and health of the fish.
I actually used the Rooibos on one occasion in another tank as a med. I was experiencing a problem I could not figure out and figured, what the heck I highly doubt it could hurt. It actually helped and the staining was completely gone after a few weekly water changes.
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