Will My Fish Benefit From Dried Leaves?

[guppiegirlie]

Hi all for those who aren't aware my tank is a jewel rio 180 which consists of 8 guppies, 7 platys, 8 bentosi tetras, 6 neon tetras, 4 German blues, 1 dwarf gourami, 1 albino bristle nose and a little khuli loach, lots of caves and hidey holes and quite heavily planted with live plants and some floating water lettuce.

I have just changed my substrate from pea gravel to sand as I want to also add some false julii corydoras (easier to find than the true julii and also I quite like them!)

I have been doing a bit of reading up on the little Cory's and I've noticed a few people adding alder cones and dried oak and almond leaves.

I have looked into getting some but want to make sure my other residents won't be affected by adding them to the tank! The last thing I want to do is put something in that will make any of my fish ill

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Those sort of leaves are typically used with fish from blackwater environments. They will have an effect on the hardness and pH of water. You have fish that normally do not live in the same water. The guppies and platties will prefer a higher pH and hardness than the other fish you have. So while the things you mention may make some of your fish "happy" it will have the opposite effect on others.
 
Most cory species do not come from blackwater rivers although some do. However, they tend to come from soft water with a neutral to slightly acidic pH. However, Trilineatus are pretty hardy and can be OK in a fairly wide range of conditions.
 
As one who does maintain a blackwater tank using a mix of catappa leaves, alder cones and peat plus ro/di water and muriatic acid, I can tell you it is a bit of work and will turn your water tea stained. Using these things without proper testing exposes one to the risk of having one's parameters bounce around due to normal water changes. The more of these things one adds to the water, the less controlled the parameters in a tank can become.
 
One last comment, Loaches are a social fish and most species need to be kept in groups, this includes Kuhlis. The same applies to corys
 
You have made no mention of your tank size or your water parameters and these are important considerations in terms of what one may want to add to the water including fish.

 

[Goggy]

TwoTankAmin answered everything, i was gonna comment on the loaches and corys too

 

[guppiegirlie]

My tank measurements are 101 by 41 by 50cm.

Tank temp 25-26C depending on the weather, but usually sits nicely at 25.4C

My readings are all coming back normal from what I can see (I'm using a tetra test nh3 nh4 and ammonia as my api test kit is on loan to my dad, I will be able to test more accurately tomorrow with the api)

And I'm fully aware I should have more khuli, my little loner is the only one left out of a bunch of 6 and will certainly be getting him some buddies once my tank has settled after the massive substrate change.

As for the Cory's I was thinking of getting a little group of 6, as during my research it advised no less than 4 but the bigger the better group-wise but also aware of too many overcrowding my tank!

 

[Ch4rlie]

My tank measurements are 101 by 41 by 50cm.

 
This makes this tank basically 200 litres or 50 US gals.
 
 

As for the Cory's I was thinking of getting a little group of 6, as during my research it advised no less than 4 but the bigger the better group-wise but also aware of too many overcrowding my tank!

 
I'd go for 8+ personally, 6 would be absolute, absolute minimum for cories of any species imho, but must be same species groups.
 
And I concur with TTA's post about alder cones and catappa leaves (otherwise sometimes known as Indian Almond Leaves, IAL) that it will stain your tank a little, depends on how much you use but IAL do have benefits as they contain natural antioxidant properties.

 

[guppiegirlie]

Thank you Ch4rlie, I do have natural wood in my tank which taints my tank water slightly and doesn't seem to bother the fish, it's more for the little pleco suck on lol

And would 8 be OK in my tank? I'm wanting to get another 4/5 khulis too at some point, I just don't want to over crowd the tank!