Indian almond leaves tannins?

[Phil Fish]

So put an Indian Almond leaves in my Betta tank with an HOB filter. I am wondering if this filter will remove the tannins produced by the decomposing leaves? I don't mind the water colour changing. I am just curious.

 

[David1978]

If there is carbon in the filter it will remove some.

 

[Phil Fish]

If there is carbon in the filter it will remove some.

That's what I thought. The filter cartridge has carbon in it. I can also makes an extract as well I suppose.

 

[Ch4rlie]

The filter will not really remove much in terms of the water colour or tannins either to be entirely honest.

The only way to reduce the colouring is to do large water changes but then doing that would sort of defy the point of putting in catappa leaves in the first place.

Regularly putting in catappa leaves has the benefit of tannins and other natural antitoxants these leaves naturally gives off does give health benefit to pretty much all the livestock in the tanks be it fish, shrimps or snails etc

And I actually like the discolouring of the water as it’s is much more natural, especially if you are trying for a more blackwater type of biotope which covers many of the common species of livestock we buy in LFS.

If you want a even darker water look, for more wild type of biotope for fish such as Altums for example there are a few options you can try and one method that I have had used in the past with great success is to actually use a natural loose tea called Rooibos tea (must be natural loose leaf and no added chemicals at all), this has many extra benefits for livestock than catappa tbh. Simply brew this Rooibos tea as you would a normal cup of tea but letting it cool completely before adding to the tank to the desired colour you want the tank water to look.

Though some folk dislike the darker water that either of these methods gives out so I guess it’s up to the keeper wether it’s worth keeping these leaves in or not if they want completely crystal clear water. But I for one am a fan of this.

 

[Phil Fish]

The filter will not really remove much in terms of the water colour or tannins either to be entirely honest.

The only way to reduce the colouring is to do large water changes but then doing that would sort of defy the point of putting in catappa leaves in the first place.

Regularly putting in catappa leaves has the benefit of tannins and other natural antitoxants these leaves naturally gives off does give health benefit to pretty much all the livestock in the tanks be it fish, shrimps or snails etc

And I actually like the discolouring of the water as it’s is much more natural, especially if you are trying for a more blackwater type of biotope which covers many of the common species of livestock we buy in LFS.

If you want a even darker water look, for more wild type of biotope for fish such as Altums for example there are a few options you can try and one method that I have had used in the past with great success is to actually use a natural loose tea called Rooibos tea (must be natural loose leaf and no added chemicals at all), this has many extra benefits for livestock than catappa tbh. Simply brew this Rooibos tea as you would a normal cup of tea but letting it cool completely before adding to the tank to the desired colour you want the tank water to look.

Though some folk dislike the darker water that either of these methods gives out so I guess it’s up to the keeper wether it’s worth keeping these leaves in or not if they want completely crystal clear water. But I for one am a fan of this.

Oh I want the dark colour from the tannins, I don't want to remove it. It's for my Betta fish and I understand that the dark colour mimics their natural environment. Not to mention the good properties it contains. Thanks for the great advice!

 

[Alliesten]

You can make a slit in the filter cartridge and remove the carbon. It is optional anyways. I would slowly replace your filter media with reuseable media anyways. Ceramic rings and sponges are more efficient.

 

[Phil Fish]

You can make a slit in the filter cartridge and remove the carbon. It is optional anyways. I would slowly replace your filter media with reuseable media anyways. Ceramic rings and sponges are more efficient.

Yes that's the plan. Right now I have had a Fluval pre-filter sponge on the HOB filter"s intake tube as well as the filter cartridge and a plastic "bio filter". Eventually I will just do like you suggest.

On another note. I broke up an almond leaf and dropped it in my 2.5 gallon Betta tank with a DIY sponge filter. The water started to change colour and darken in less than 24 hours.