Need Someone Familiar With Indian Almond Leaves

[ianeberle]

I just ordered some Indian almond leaves for my 10 gallon shrimp tank and I was wondering how brown they are going to make the water. I know this is the betta section, but I know a lot more people use these leaves in their betta tanks, so I felt I would get some better answers here.

My pH is 7.6 and I'm trying to lower it to 6.5-ish. Would these leaves be able to do that and how brown will they make the water? Some say river-level brown, some say a slight amber color.

Opinions and pictures are appreciated!

 

[Crossfire]

One almond leaf in my Fluval Chi 5g gives it a noticeably heavy brown tint. Two in my 20g makes is slightly brown. Just some clippings in a 2.5g made it as brown as tea. Depending on how dark you like it, I'd put in two for the 10g.

Remember that carbon, Seachem Purigen, or any other organic absorbing resin will render all benefits of the almond leaf ineffective.

 

[ianeberle]

Do you have any photos?

 

[Crossfire]

Not of the water, but I have pictures of the leaves themselves

 

[ianeberle]

I was wondering what the water color looked like. But nice pictures!

 

[Crossfire]

I can guarantee that two leaves will leave a noticeable brown stain. It also helps if you add some liquid tannins like Tetra Amazon Extract or Marc Weiss Instant Amazon

 

[RichardA]

Unbroken leaves will tint the water far less then broken ones. I use them in almost all my tanks and unbroken leaves in a 10 gallon will give it the color of apple juice. Broken pieces will make it tea-like.

 

[ianeberle]

Mine is kinda like apple juice now, but the pH hasn't changed. I need it to drop from 7.6 to 6.8 or so by the time my OEBT shrimp get here on like Wednesday.

 

[ianeberle]

I feel so stupid... I forgot to take the carbon out of my filter! No wonder it wasn't working... I just replaced my carbon with a second crushed up leaf in my filter. So now we will see what happens!

 

[snazy]

Almond leaves in my tank don't change the Ph one bit. They may make it softer but I wonder how long and how many leaves would that take. What type of shrimp are you getting? The Neocaridina heteropoda species will be fine in your Ph. They are kind of messy too if you've got a tank with higher flow, when breaking up bit's and peaces go all over the place including brown dust like debris but the shrimp will certainly love eating that.

 

[ianeberle]

I have cherry shrimp right now, but I ordered OEBT shrimp Friday. They will be shipped Monday.

 

[snazy]

What is OEBT?

What is OEBT?

I googled Orange eyed blue tiger shrimp.....

 

[Crossfire]

Orange Eyed Blue Tiger Shrimp

 

[snazy]

From what I read, almond leaves alone won't get the water the way these shrimp like it. Your best bet is setup a tank with Aquasoil Amazonia which keeps the water acidic from what I read and is used in shrimp tanks a lot. It does leach ammonia in the beginning so in case you decide for it, make sure large water changes are in order the first few weeks. Good luck with it and keep us posted. If they do fine, I'll get some myself.

 

[RichardA]

Filter over peat and your pH will drop quickly.