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Well hear are my thoughts on leaf litter.
I use to use pillow moss, but found that it needed more light then I originally planned. So it wouldn't flourish and began to look "ugly" to me. I now have more light over most of my tanks and the moss grows better, but mainly where it gets direct light. It looks really cool if it is growing well, but if not it looks bad to me. So, I started to add leaf litter (LL) to the tanks, over the moss and in other areas. Well I made a bunch of new tanks awhile back and started using more LL in them and less moss (also had to do with the fact that moss became tougher for me to get and more expensive). I am really happy with the results. The frogs love the LL, looks more natural, and is great for springtails and other micro fuana.
Ok, so how I go about LL in my tanks. I use mainly Magnolia leaves now, as they look tropical. You can also use oak leaves, and I think there are some kind of leaves Black Jungle had for sale awhile ago. Like I said, I like the Magnolia leaves more then the oak. I just place a layer of the leaves on top of my substrate and thats about it lol. I overlay them, try to make some areas for frogs to hide under and for springtails to breed... but thats about it. They will breakdown, but thats a good thing. I just add more leaves on top when they start to really look like soil. I mainly use whole leaves in the tanks, but you can also add some broken up ones under the whole leaves so they breakdown faster and the springtails should flourish in them. So some broken ones, with whole leaves on top of them. I also put leaves in my substrate mix, but thats another post for another time
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I hope I have made sense, as it is late and I didn't read it over before posting it. If anyone else has other ideas or experiences please post them, and ask any questions you may have.
I use to use pillow moss, but found that it needed more light then I originally planned. So it wouldn't flourish and began to look "ugly" to me. I now have more light over most of my tanks and the moss grows better, but mainly where it gets direct light. It looks really cool if it is growing well, but if not it looks bad to me. So, I started to add leaf litter (LL) to the tanks, over the moss and in other areas. Well I made a bunch of new tanks awhile back and started using more LL in them and less moss (also had to do with the fact that moss became tougher for me to get and more expensive). I am really happy with the results. The frogs love the LL, looks more natural, and is great for springtails and other micro fuana.
Ok, so how I go about LL in my tanks. I use mainly Magnolia leaves now, as they look tropical. You can also use oak leaves, and I think there are some kind of leaves Black Jungle had for sale awhile ago. Like I said, I like the Magnolia leaves more then the oak. I just place a layer of the leaves on top of my substrate and thats about it lol. I overlay them, try to make some areas for frogs to hide under and for springtails to breed... but thats about it. They will breakdown, but thats a good thing. I just add more leaves on top when they start to really look like soil. I mainly use whole leaves in the tanks, but you can also add some broken up ones under the whole leaves so they breakdown faster and the springtails should flourish in them. So some broken ones, with whole leaves on top of them. I also put leaves in my substrate mix, but thats another post for another time
I hope I have made sense, as it is late and I didn't read it over before posting it. If anyone else has other ideas or experiences please post them, and ask any questions you may have.