Magnolia Leaves

[MuddyWaters]

I live in a townhome complex that was built in the 70's. A lady who has lived here almost since the beginning complained to me that the builder "must have found a huge sale on magnolia trees" when he was landscaping the complex because I swear there must be 20 to 30 magnolias all around- they're all 40+ years old, so like 50 feet or higher each.

Anyway, I read somewhere that magnolia leaves make great botanical additions for aquariums. Holy cow! I have tons! So, I'm going to go round up a few leaves.

Any cautionary stories to share about them? I think I'll boil them a little just to remove anything that shouldn't be there and to soften them up a bit.

 

[FranciscoB]

No cautionary tales, other than using only dry ones. I have a tree in my yard and have been using them for 10 years. I love them and so do the fish (mostly Sout Americans).

 

[CassCats]

Magnolia is one of the best! Just be sure they're dry leaves as mentioned above. No need to boil, I just toss em on in

 

[Archerfish]

I find a few of them in my pond from time to time. No harm as far as I can tell. Somehow, they end up where I don't want them. Try to move them with a leaf blower and they hunker down like a steeply-slopped hip roof in a hurricane! I've never used any in an aquarium. You might try one dry leaf to start with and see how it goes.