Indian Almond Leaves Toxic?
Last week I added maybe 25 Indian Almond Leaves to my 34 gallon to turn it into a blackwater tank. There were 3 gardneri innidere killies in there already, lots of fry that had just hatched and grew in the tank too. They'd been well for a few months, no issues. Once I added the IAL, the tank water was yellow-brown tinted, lots of tannins to be honest. I liked the look.
Before I left on a short trip I noticed the male and female weren't doing too well. This was immediately after I added the IAL. I came back from my 4 day trip today to find the male gardneri gone and one of the two females gone. The tiny hatchling baby fry are great as well as the big female, so are the larger fry. Might I add the remaining female is very fat and looks especially vibrant and happy now.
I noticed too that immediately after I added the IAL, they swam up and down the sides of the tank like they were trying to get away. I thought they'd adjust, apparently not.
Is it possible the IAL did this? Are they toxic if there's too many? I just added enough to cover the substrate so their fry could hide. (The pH and ammonia didn't change during this time, normal levels for my tank)