Time to head outside, northern hemisphere aquarists...

GaryE

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It's the most wonderful time of the year, lalalala.

Well it isn't, but if you're into botanicals in your tanks, it's a very good one. Now is the time to go on a good walk and try to identify oak tree locations, if you live somewhere they grow. Where I am, I have both burr oaks, and red oaks. You need low enough branches that you can pick the dry dead leaves before they fall off. Leaves on the ground can already be into the recycling process. Dried leaves can stored, and put into tanks to provide tannins, and natural looking cover for fish that live in leaf litter in the wild.

Oak leaves last a long time, but should be regularly replaced as anything breaking down in a tank can have a negative effect. It doesn't mean they will, but since the possibility exists and leaves are free, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Oaks are ideal because of their durability and high tannin content. Maples also have a lot of tannins, but the leaves decompose rapidly and make a bit of a mess. You can use them in filtration bags to treat water, but you won't get much of a leaf litter look with that - just brown stained water.

You probably can't pick them yet. My two trees are far from ready, though their colours are great. But find some now, and when they're ready, go get some, put them somewhere dry and you'll have a winter's supply for rainforest tanks. If you fail to find them, you'll have had a good healthy walk where trees grow.

I have family who live very close to Oak Island, from the TV series, and I suppose I could go there... if there are still oaks there, maybe there is a tiny bit of treasure to be found.
 
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Beech, sycamore, magnolia, elm, poplar, cottonwood, tuliptree, birch, alder, aspen, and ash are also all safe. Some last longer than others, some have nicer shapes for better aesthetics.

The dried pods are useful as well as botanicals.
Example, sycamore ball pods, if they're the hardened small pods they make for nice botanical additions. The bigger pods are nice too as long as they're firm, but they might burst in water and make a mess lol. The tiny hard ball pods are best. Last a very long time, though they also take forever to sink.
Same goes for alder cones, which are more commonly used in the hobby. If you have access to alder trees, these are great.
Dried brown acorn tops are another great one! The shells, not so much, they break down fast, but the caps do not :D
 
I have trouble with alder cones. I am surrounded by them, but I wonder if I have the wrong species here. The cones do pretty well nothing. No visible tannins. Does anyone have any advice about when to harvest, etc?
 
I have trouble with alder cones. I am surrounded by them, but I wonder if I have the wrong species here. The cones do pretty well nothing. No visible tannins. Does anyone have any advice about when to harvest, etc?
Alder isn't super common in my area unfortunately, so can't speak for personal collecting, but I've heard they're good to collect in winter, but unsure if that's just because they're easier to see lol
 

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