August 21, 2015

Thoughts on creating a "leaf litter zone" in your aquarium

I admit, we're probably the loudest proponents of playing around with leaves and such in your aquariums. When we studied this diverse tropical stream ecosystem, we were blown away by the complexity of the biotope. It was also surprising to find that this zone is home to hundreds of species of fishes, who inhabit it for all or part of their lives. As a dedicated biotope aquarist, I thought it only fitting to develop aquariums featuring this seemingly neglected portion of the tropical aquatic environment.

Part of the reason that no one has really played with it much is that there really hasn't been a definitive source of natural material with which to replicate this unique niche. With the creation of Tannin, I aimed to change that. Leaf litter can be incorporated into a wide variety of aquatic setups, or even utilized as the primary focus for a dedicated biotope aquarium. No matter how you choose to incorporate a leaf litter zone into your aquarium, you'll be provided with a fascinating, ever evolving microhabitat that your fishes will love!

If you're creating a "leaf litter" section for your aquarium, consider that, in nature, there are a wide variety of materials that comprise this complex matrix.

In the aquarium, consider both practicality AND aesthetics when replicating this biotope. Much like in nature, you also want a diverse mixture of botanicals, some which may decompose rather quickly (such as Catappa leaves and Guava Leaves), and others which have "duration" and last much, much longer (like "Frita Pods", "Mariposa Pods", "Terra Sorrindo" Pods, "Encontro Pods", etc.).

You should also include some pods that last indefinitely, such as the "Tapete Pod", Coco Curls, and perhaps some "Lampada Pods" for good measure, to serve as permanent "anchor pieces" for your litter zone.

This is such a cool biotope to recreate- and that's why we have the widest selection of aquatic botanicals in one place- to help you replicate and appreciate it's natural beauty and fascination!

Scott Fellman

Author

8 Responses

Eddy Maddox

May 02, 2020

I have a 55 gallon tank with goldfish but I would like to try this leaf litter project.im living in the Philippines at the moment and there are plenty of bannana leave and guava and others I would like to try. Thank you very much for the idea but I know there are some good and bad points to this.if you have the info on them let me know as far as ph change and stuff and is it worth it.thanks again.

Eddy Maddox

May 02, 2020

Eddy Maddox

May 02, 2020

Scott Fellman

April 20, 2020

Hi Sarah,

Maintaining a leaf litter zone in an aquarium is no more difficult than managing any other type of tank. The key is to maintain water quality via regular water exchanges, to feed your fishes carefully, and not to over-stock your tank. In my experience, I have never had excesses of nitrate or phosphate accumulating in my aquariums with abundant leaf litter. TBH, this is one of our older blog posts on this subject…If you search the blog using the key words “leaf litter”, you’ll find man more which have more detailed and updated information on the ins and outs of maintaining a leaf litter-based system. Hope this helps! -Scott

Sarah

April 18, 2020

I am kind of new to aquariums, only having fish for about 6 months. I want to do a semi cold tank, running at around 68 -70°F for some Florida Flag Fish in a 29 gallon. I really like the thought of doing this leaf litter substrate for this. Is it very hard to maintain and balance this kind of substrate?

Scott Fellman

May 22, 2019

Mi Michael,

Thanks for the kind words! You’re actually reading the blog (“The Tint”), which we update pretty much daily! You can also be a part of our community on Facebook and on Instagram…and debuting soon- YouTube!

-Scott

Scott Fellman

May 22, 2019

Mi Michael,

-Scott

michael jensen

May 21, 2019

I stumbled onto your site searching for leaf litter information. This is by far the most extensive source I’ve found so far. Do you have a newsletter/blog? I’ve been keeping biotope style aquaria for over 40 years and leaf litter is something I have just played with on occasion with Amazonian biotopes. Would like to expand my knowledge. Thanks.