Benefits of Alder Cones in Your Aquarium

[@thelazyfishkeeper2730]

happy new year...

[@rudybriskar5267]

Going to add a few today. I have them 30 feet from my front porch.

[@BetterBetta]

Oh sweet! I still haven't gotten into the searching for them on my own haha. Having them right in front of you has got to be very handy - and affordable!

[@ShaunShearman]

WOW ! So difficult to find a place that sells Alder Cones, The funny thing is that you probably walked past a dozen Alder trees on the way to your local pet shop, lol. C$11.95 seems a lot of money for something that you can pick up at your local park in Autumn, bring them home, dry them out, boil them for 10 minutes and then stick them in your tank, seems Canada only likes natural products if it's in hermetically sealed packets ! Go for a walk and save yourself some ca$h lady.

[@BetterBetta]

I generally stick to buying things unless they come from my own yard! Yes packets give me that added comfort level, even if it’s a false sense of security 😂

[@Beafy]

Thank you for the correction…you’re Canadian. My guess was hotanese or sexian. Canadian…noted

[@notgay5859]

Stop talking to my girlfriend

[@Beafy]

@@notgay5859 😁

[@YoungRice010]

@@notgay5859 lol 😊

[@eh.440]

Leave her alone, she should be able to talk about her hobby and share her expertise without creeps randomly commenting on her appearance.

[@corpsup8283]

A stressed fish ‘nip it’s fins’. In 20 years I’ve never seen a fish nip it’s own fins. Sound like bad information

[@BetterBetta]

I haven’t witnessed it personally either thankfully, but many others have that I’ve seen in forums/social media etc. Google “fin nipping betta”, you’d be surprised the amount of info that comes up about it. Apparently it’s a very common symptom of stress for them! I do occasionally generalize (usually intentionally, sometimes accidentally) in my videos as I know the majority of my viewers are about bettas - but yes, not all fish could even reach their own fins to bite them, so this doesn’t apply to tetras and whatnot. This only applies to the ones that physically can do that!

[@corpsup8283]

@@BetterBetta maybe best to present facts that you observe rather than things you find on Google?

[@NeXtGenGamersAsItHappens]

I see the reasoning if the fish come from the wild but most fishes come from a breeder which they are born into a tank. so all the blah blah blah about having your fish feel more like home makes no sense plus you buy the fish when it's still in a juvenile stage and not an adult so more like the fishes home is the home you give it and everything else is just a massive world marketing campaign.

[@BetterBetta]

I mean, technically, you are very much correct! It is true that a large amount of the pet trade is marketing. There's a lot of things they sell for pets that they not only don't need, but some are actually bad for them. It falls into the category of some people doing live plants, sand, and blackwater like I choose to, and some people using colorful gravel, ornaments, and plastic plants. Neither are unsafe for the fish, and I would never tell someone NOT to use colorful things in their tanks. But there are a large number of people who believe that colorful gravel and plants are inhumane. There are benefits to tannins that might span into betta genetics rather than how/where they were born I guess, as I've had bettas personalities change after using leaves if the fish are ill, so I strongly stand by them. It's a benefit I love, and doesn't harm them - but yes, a fish WOULD live perfectly fine without them.

[@rudybriskar5267]

@@BetterBetta exactly. Am I fond of the brown water from the tannins? No but I do understand the benefits to the ecosystem. I found out from actually adding a small handful of alder leaves and about 10 cones in my 29 gallon tank. I already have it set up with the deep substrate method and it's been running for a few years without water changes, just wanted to give it a try.