Pneumonic Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 So I just realized that mulberry trees grow wild where I live in Michigan and also that are many other native trees that could possibly be food sources for shrimp. Here's a list of native fruit trees in the upper midwest that "could" also be possibilities? http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/files/e2747.pdfWhat about a blackberry bush in my garden? Also one other thing, if I know of mulberry leaves at a park near my house can I go collect the leaves right now? Are these supposed to be dried fresh leaves? or naturally fallen brown leaves like oak or IAL? ibebian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Life Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 Mulberry leaves should be green/fresh picked then dried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 Mulberry leaves should be green/fresh picked then dried.So that is not what I've been told elsewhere (shrimp tank subreddit). So you want all the sugars and other chemicals to be at higher concentrations in the leaf? If so I guess I'll be waiting until next summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Life Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 Anytime I have bought dried Mulberry for Shrimp use- its been green . Mulberry is brown once dead/falling off tree. If someone here uses brown dead mulberry collected in the fall I hope they can comment on it. Pneumonic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted December 3, 2016 Report Share Posted December 3, 2016 Huh. I also read that they should be dried, brown and naturally fallen, or about to. Makes sense to me as that's the way it happens in nature. The leaves dry up and fall off the trees in the autumn and fall into the water. If you pick them when they're green they haven't gone through the natural biological processes and still have all their chlorophyll, sugars, sap and such that can foul the water. That being said, it's only what I've read and I haven't actually tried using dried fresh green leaves. And a lot of the descriptions of IAL that I've bought off the internet mention that they "are dried in the sun", which to me suggests that they were picked fresh.... I use oak from the woods, away from where any pesticides or road chemicals may have been used. I always boil them before use to kill any unwanted guests. Oak takes longer to break down than other leaves. I also use IAL but I buy them. They break down quicker. Some leaves keep their green color even when they've dried. Dazalea, did you buy the mulberry or pick it yourself? I should try beech or apple leaves.... We have a lot around here and I'll bet they'd break down faster than oak. So maybe it doesn't make a difference, or that some leaves work better one way or another. For example, I'll bet sugar maple leaves have a lot of sugars in them when they're fresh.... Pneumonic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Life Posted December 4, 2016 Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 I pick my mulberry off my tree. I feed it green, fresh or dry -the shrimp love it. They actually eat the leaf. Whereas with Indian almond leaf they are not eating the leaf they are eating the biofilm that grows on the leaf. TheGlassBox and Pneumonic 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted December 4, 2016 Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 With IAL, my BMs actually eat the whole leaf after its softened enough. Everything but the stem and veins.... I got some PRLs (WOOT!) and a piece of cholla wood came with them. I boiled it first, as I do pretty much anything I put in a tank and I noticed right away that they started eating the outer layer of the wood that had softened up from the boiling. So they'll eat some pretty woody stuff if it's soft enough... You know, it probably doesn't matter in the long run, as long as the tank is cleaned up regularly. I mean, we feed them vegetables, right? (spinach, zuchini etc...) And those have sugars and starches and such in them. So in the long run, it probably doesn't matter.... Pneumonic and Mr. F 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Life Posted December 4, 2016 Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 4 minutes ago, TheGlassBox said: With IAL, my BMs actually eat the whole leaf after its softened enough. Everything but the stem and veins.... I got some PRLs (WOOT!) and a piece of cholla wood came with them. I boiled it first, as I do pretty much anything I put in a tank and I noticed right away that they started eating the outer layer of the wood that had softened up from the boiling. So they'll eat some pretty woody stuff if it's soft enough... You know, it probably doesn't matter in the long run, as long as the tank is cleaned up regularly. I mean, we feed them vegetables, right? (spinach, zuchini etc...) And those have sugars and starches and such in them. So in the long run, it probably doesn't matter.... I didn't realize that shrimp actually eat the indian almond leaf... My leaves always last forever and they don't swarm on IAL like they do with Mulberry. They treat the mulberry like they do the actual food pellets. I think your right about it not mattering. I just thought because all of the mulberry I've bought was green that there was a prefernce to the green leaves then brown/dead ones. I do feed mine zuchinni to and they love it. Glad this convo is up though people can put in what they know from their own experiences! TheGlassBox 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 I might start experimenting with other leaves that are around me, like my blackberry bush and others. I agree this is great to have for the future. TheGlassBox 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted December 4, 2016 Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 Dazalea, maybe the mulberry leaves taste better LOL! You'll have to let me know how the BMs act towards them. If they ignore the IAL and just go for the mulberry then we have definitely found a taste preference! In my tank, they definitely preferred the IAL over the oak. But hey, oak is tough! Right? I mainly use 'em for the tannins. Next spring, when there are some fresh leaves around here (in Maine) I'll have to try it. Maybe the sugar maples wouldn't be such a bad thing to try after all... Who knows, maybe they have a sweet tooth! LOL! One of these days I'm going to try and tap those trees. It's on my bucket list anyway... But we should probably research the leaves to see if anyone else has tried them first... because some things could be poisonous to them. Pneumonic - I wonder how they'd react to the blackberries as opposed to the leaves. Maybe you have a secret treat growing in your garden... Pneumonic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimple minded Posted December 4, 2016 Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 Pneumonic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Indian Almond or Catalpa leaves are usually sold on line and are a good place to start because pretty much all shrimp like them. I found this list at: http://scapeclub.org/forum/archive/index.php?t-7744.html " Alder Almond Apple Apricot Ash Banana Beech Cherry Crabapple Guava Hibiscus Indian Almond Leaves (aka Catappa, Ketapang) Madrona Maple Mulberry Oak Peach Plum Poplar Schefflera" The rest of the thread is a good read... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Awesome list! I should never have to leave my neighborhood to feed my shrimp [emoji33] TheGlassBox and sparky4056 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 Anyone know off hand what this monstrosity is? Scavenging oak leaves and I saw these Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 And these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Blue Frog Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 The second pix is Oak,probably black or red; hard to tell without more info, but either is a good source of tannins and food.These are the kind I use. Dont know what the first pix is. BBF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 The second pix is Oak,probably black or red; hard to tell without more info, but either is a good source of tannins and food.These are the kind I use. Dont know what the first pix is. BBFYeah we have a lot more pin oak around here than red. Yeah the first one are these massive leaves from trees around my park that tend to be much shorter than the oaks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Yeah, second one is an oak. That first one though.... What State do you live in? Almost looks like some variety of a tulip tree... any one else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Yeah, second one is an oak. That first one though.... What State do you live in? Almost looks like some variety of a tulip tree... any one else?Oh I thought I posted that. My apologies: Michigan. Yeah it definitely comes off of some sort of small tree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coryjames Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Red oak has pointed lobes and white oak has round. I use both in my tanks as an alternative to buy ial. I like to DIY as much as I can. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk TheGlassBox and Pneumonic 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coryjames Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Red oak has pointed lobes and white oak has round. I use both in my tanks as an alternative to buy ial. I like to DIY as much as I can. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk TheGlassBox 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Saves money!!! Hey Coryjames, is that a Shadow Panda? It's the most beautiful blue I've ever seen! You must be proud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coryjames Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 It's a bluebolt not a panda Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coryjames Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Here's a better quality version Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk TropicalAquarist, TheGlassBox and mayphly 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Red oak has pointed lobes and white oak has round. I use both in my tanks as an alternative to buy ial. I like to DIY as much as I can. Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkSo..... any idea on the other leaf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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