stonedaquarium Posted May 4, 2015 Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 Hi i would like to ask whats the best way to feed mulberry leaves? Fresh or dried? here is what i did. Fresh mulberry leaves plucked from my rooftop garden, i used no pesticides or fertz. Clean the leaves under running water then boil them for 5 mins then dipped in cold water to room temp then feed to my shrimp. I noticed they werent as active in picking on them should i dry them and just toss them in the tank? If so how long should i dry them for? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted May 4, 2015 Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 trying a quick flash boil to help soften them up. I like to take a glass of water with a couple leaves in it and throw it in the microwave for a couple mins. High5's 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonedaquarium Posted May 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 Boston eric how'long do u nuke them in the micro. Mine usually comes out pretty soft and sometimes break... is that 5oo much boiling?' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted May 4, 2015 Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 just enough time to soften them up. every microwave is different so hard to say. start off with like a min see how it feels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 When I feed mulberry I always boil for 5 mins and when I add it to the tank they go for it right away. After about a half hour they seem to lose interest, a couple days go by with casual grazing then usually the third day they go absolutely ballistic fighting each other over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 I wouldn't boil leaves. Treat them like tea and steep them, I heat water in a Pyrex dish in the microwave for around one min add leaves and let them sit for a few hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 You guys are missing the basic question: "Hi i would like to ask whats the best way to feed mulberry leaves?" You don't feed the leaves. They have no mouths. Instead, give them to shrimp to eat. stonedaquarium, RyeGuy411, rwong2k and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 I recently started using Shrimp Nature Mulberry Leaves. As the bag doesn't require any sort of boil treatment, I just toss them in. They absolutely love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonedaquarium Posted May 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 You guys are missing the basic question: "Hi i would like to ask whats the best way to feed mulberry leaves?" You don't feed the leaves. They have no mouths. Instead, give them to shrimp to eat. [emoji14] Good one. Guess my grammar was all messed up. After a grueling 12 hr shift lol... what i meant was whats a good way to prepare mulberry leaves as shrimp food... feed fresh leaves directly? Blanch them? Steep them for a few hour dry them for a few days before feeding them? Hehehehe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 In all seriousness, I've fed mulberry leaves fresh, blanched and broken down by freezing first. The freezing for my colonies seems to work best, but they'll take fresh as well. Freezing breaks the cell walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35ppt Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 So I guess there is a difference in sugars in leaf types? Because I thought for other leaves in particular (like oak) you were supposed to wait for them to naturally senesce (i.e fall off tree) to reduce sugars and chlorophyll. This reduces the fouling that might occur when you put leaf in tank. I will note that the mulberry leaves I picked just before my tree dropped them (still green), these leaves are still green after being dried. They do not appear to foul the water, altho I use them in very small doses just because I try not to overfeed and have to clean up uneaten stuff. From my experiment with other leaves (dandelion, arugula, etc) you can put them in fresh, but a quick hot water treatment or trip to the deep freeze makes them available to the shrimps sooner. Sometimes my shrimp won't ever get round to eating the 'fresh' leaves, tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 I toss in the dried leaves. They still seem to like them. It takes about 3 days that way for them to graze them to gone. The Amaranth leaves I zap in the microwave and squeeze the drops of water into the tank.. it starts a frenzy and they finish the leaf in a couple hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 Tantora just changed their mulberry leaves. the previous "model" was fresh hand picked leaves. now they go through a boiling process so less things for the consumer to do. now you can just drop them right in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonedaquarium Posted May 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Tantora just changed their mulberry leaves. the previous "model" was fresh hand picked leaves. now they go through a boiling process so less things for the consumer to do. now you can just drop them right in. glad to know... reason i was aking was my mulberry tree here is just going nuts and got an abundant supply of leaves... was thinking of ways to properly prep the leaves for shrimp feeding:) you guys mentioned freezing them to rupture the cell walls.... would it help if i were to pluck some fresh leaves and rinse them under tap water to rid them from any surface contaminants... place them in a ziplock bag and freeze them? then just pick out a few frozen leaves to feed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Yep. Place each leaf separated by wax paper, or they'll freeze together in one lump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiumanfu Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 As long as the leaves are completely dry and you pack them loosely, you can skip the wax paper. I do this all the time with mulberry and spinach leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 You do better than I, Chiumanfu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadO Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Tantora just changed their mulberry leaves. the previous "model" was fresh hand picked leaves. now they go through a boiling process so less things for the consumer to do. now you can just drop them right in. Is there any way to know if I have the "new" or "old" version? I suspect old since I bought my bags about 8 months ago or so, but just thought I'd ask. Ironically, I just fed some to my tanks tonight. I've always done the 5 minute boil, and never had any issues. But, it'll be nice to save that step in the future once I know I have the pre-boiled packs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Is there any way to know if I have the "new" or "old" version? I suspect old since I bought my bags about 8 months ago or so, but just thought I'd ask. Ironically, I just fed some to my tanks tonight. I've always done the 5 minute boil, and never had any issues. But, it'll be nice to save that step in the future once I know I have the pre-boiled packs. You would have the old style for sure they came out more recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maylee Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 I believe the new version is labeled as Tantora "Ready Mulberry" EricM and RyeGuy411 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 old bag is that silver bag, new style is the brown paper style bag. Ready Mulberry also includes 15 vs 10 in the old. about $1 more for new one also, but thats because you are getting 50% more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted November 13, 2023 Report Share Posted November 13, 2023 Recently, I have placed a mulberry leave in my tank. I noticed the leave has some tiny spikes growing on it. What are those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. K. Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 I have a fruitless mulberry tree. Is this an acceptable source for my creatures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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