Oak leaves

[Speedy1985]

I've read about many using oak leaves in their tanks, and I have quite a bit around here. But I swore that somewhere I read something about black oak being no good. Does anyone know if that's the case? Also, what about silver Maple leaves, yea or nay? Sycamore?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I've read about many using oak leaves in their tanks, and I have quite a bit around here. But I swore that somewhere I read something about black oak being no good. Does anyone know if that's the case? Also, what about silver Maple leaves, yea or nay? Sycamore?

I don't know about the Black Oak (Quercus velutina), it isn't a tree I've ever seen in the UK, but you have a lot more Oaks in the USA.

Looking at Wikipedia it says it is Red Oak group, and I've used Red Oak (Quercus rubra) leaves and they were OK (and a gorgeous colour), but didn't last as long as the leaves of the other Oaks I've tried, which are Q. robur, Q. cerris, Q. ilex & Q. x hispanica.

Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) leaves also decay quickly. There are a few options for "Sycamore", if it is Acer pseudoplatanus, same applies as for Silver Maple. If it is Platanus occidentalis I've used the leaves (actually of the very similar P. orientalis) and these are much more persistent.

cheers Darrel

[Speedy1985]

Hi all, I don't know about the Black Oak (Quercus velutina), it isn't a tree I've ever seen in the UK, but you have a lot more Oaks in the USA.

Looking at Wikipedia it says it is Red Oak group, and I've used Red Oak (Quercus rubra) leaves and they were OK (and a gorgeous colour), but didn't last as long as the leaves of the other Oaks I've tried, which are Q. robur, Q. cerris, Q. ilex & Q. x hispanica.

Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) leaves also decay quickly. There are a few options for "Sycamore", if it is Acer pseudoplatanus, same applies as for Silver Maple. If it is Platanus occidentalis I've used the leaves (actually of the very similar P. orientalis) and these are much more persistent.

cheers Darrel

Thank you for the info Darrel. I'll have to look more into comparing the leaves I have with some of your suggestions that are more hearty in the tank and see if I have any of those.

[Speedy1985]

I found the thread where I saw the reference to black oak. It's the last post.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=38691&p=264628&hili ... es#p264628