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hunterbeav
04-24-2003, 08:16 PM
You can use this to treat bacterial infections as well as using it in tanks with discus fry to keep fry death down!!!!!!!Indian Almond Leaf

Genus species - Terminalia catappa or Terminalia foetida

Family - Combretaceae

Common name: badamier, Java almond, amandier de Cayenne, tropical almond, wild almond, Indian almond, myrobalan, Malabar almond, Singapore almond, ketapang, Huu kwang, Sea almond, kobateishi, West Indian almond, amandel huu kwang.

The Tropical almond is an ornamental tree thriving in many tropical cities in the world and is a large tree originally from India, growing up to 90 feet with horizontal whorls of branches and clusters of foot long leaves that turn pink-red before falling.

Some of the pigments responsible for this are: violaxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin. Also there are flavonoids present such as quercetin and kamferol. The leaves also contain tannins (s. a. punicalin, punicalagin and tercatein). Both the female and male flowers (which are inconspicuous and not showy) are on the same tree. It has large nutty fruits that are 2 - 3 inches and tastes very much like commercially grown almonds. The color of the oval fruit is green, yellow or reddish.

Tropical almond is used by breeders of tropical aquarium fishes (which include bettas, catfishes,discus and black water tetras) to keep them healthy. Since tropical almond has antibacterial properties it is excellent in this regard.

The leaf releases an anti-bacterial substance into the water and the water gradually turns a brackish brown color. Indian Almond leaves can be used for different purposes and here are our recommendations.

Put one leaf in a 10 - 15 gallon tank to keep the bettas healthy and active. It helps to extend the water changing cycle to where we do not have to change water every other day, but instead every fourth day. You can leave the leaf in the water for up to 1 week. The less chlorine in the water, the better it works!
We also float a leaf in our breeding tanks to increase the breeding frequency in our bettas. The male likes to build his bubble nest under the dry leaf. It will also keep the fry healthy and alert and improve their vitality. Do not leave the leaf in the tank longer than a week. About once a month put a new leaf in the tank until they are about 4 months old.
We use the leaves to help cure sick bettas with any type of bacterial infections. You can get a one gallon jug and clean it out really good and place 6-7 square inches of the dry leaf in the jug. Use this water to change out the water in the cup you are housing your sick betta in. Do a complete water change every day for a week. Try to avoid any direct sun light and keep the temperature around 76-82F.
To speed up the healing process for damaged fins or bodily injuries. Put 1 dry leaf and the fish in a 1/2 - 1 gallon jar or bottle with temperature around 70 - 82 degrees F. for 2 - 3 weeks. Avoid direct sunlight and feed the fish preferably with live food such as live larvae or blood worms once a day. This will help grow the fins back faster and keep the skin and scales healthy again. If you would like to try this out I found a great site to buy from, only $19.00 for 90 to 110 leaves. This is really cheap as some places charge as much as $20 for just 15 to 20 leaves!!!! http://www.tropilab.com/terminalia-cat.html

bmrin1
04-24-2003, 09:47 PM
From my killie fish days I know a lot of guys that use this. They swear that it helps with egg fungus and has medicinal value.
Brian

seadog567
04-24-2003, 10:03 PM
i recently have purchase some and trying it.it's still too earily to tell any different effect on my discus.they all seen as happy as before. i guest it will be good to use to condition your water for the discus that will ready to breed.

jouniv
04-25-2003, 01:09 AM
German magazines are swearing by it. Surely partly for commercial reasons, but it would be nice to hear people's experiences.

Jouni

hunterbeav
04-27-2003, 11:29 PM
Jouni I'v never used them before but am going to order some on Mon. will let ya all know how it goes. :)

Nigel Hay
12-08-2010, 05:32 AM
He is right when he says that these leaves are beneficial. I am a master breeder for Discus in Sri Lanka and we have a family owned ornamental fish breeding and exporting company. I have used these leaves a lot to condition my Discus. I let the tannis discolour the water as well because it helps the Discus feel more safer than in clear glass tanks. Also, the leaching organic compounds from the leaves swing the PH so I get the ideal water conditions. We bought these from a local exporter here in Sri lanka who is doing it like a cottage or village industry. Excellant quality leaves and very reasonable in pricing. They charge something like for 30 leaves US$ 8.50 / 50 leaves US$ 10.50 / 100 leaves US$ 18.50 which includes shipping and they ship worldwide. Their project is not in the city but in the forest which has a river running past it so I know that the leaves are not poluted and have all the necessary compounds i need for my Discus.. I keep the leaves in my filtered water so that the compunds dont get negated by the filtration. I pump this up to my storage tanks and bring it into to my discus project so that the water is already mixed with the extract.The leaves themselves are held in separate water tank that sits between the external filter and the overhead tank if you know what i mean. I swear by the leaf cuz I dont have to struggle with artificial chemicals and what not. The leaves work perfectly fine for me. :))

abu7rb
01-10-2011, 06:16 AM
He is right when he says that these leaves are beneficial. I am a master breeder for Discus in Sri Lanka and we have a family owned ornamental fish breeding and exporting company. I have used these leaves a lot to condition my Discus. I let the tannis discolour the water as well because it helps the Discus feel more safer than in clear glass tanks. Also, the leaching organic compounds from the leaves swing the PH so I get the ideal water conditions. We bought these from a local exporter here in Sri lanka who is doing it like a cottage or village industry. Excellant quality leaves and very reasonable in pricing. They charge something like for 30 leaves US$ 8.50 / 50 leaves US$ 10.50 / 100 leaves US$ 18.50 which includes shipping and they ship worldwide. Their project is not in the city but in the forest which has a river running past it so I know that the leaves are not poluted and have all the necessary compounds i need for my Discus.. I keep the leaves in my filtered water so that the compunds dont get negated by the filtration. I pump this up to my storage tanks and bring it into to my discus project so that the water is already mixed with the extract.The leaves themselves are held in separate water tank that sits between the external filter and the overhead tank if you know what i mean. I swear by the leaf cuz I dont have to struggle with artificial chemicals and what not. The leaves work perfectly fine for me. :))

Hello,

In my system I have one meter tank that provides all the RO water to all my tank that they already have their external 5 staged ones!!

from my understadning that I should put all the leafs inside me the storage tank which is the meter one (1000 litre ) is that right?
if so how many leaf would be enough and they are good for how long?

Cheers,

Nigel Hay
01-11-2011, 01:14 AM
Dear Abu7rb,

I use almond leaves in a progressive manner. What i mean by this is I first add 10 leaves to my store tank and leave for a day and I measure the changes such as PH and tannin build up. By the second day if my PH is swining by "x" degrees then I add a propotionate number of leaves to get more swing. Now this swing is based on the size or volume of water in the tank and the condition of the leaves which I have put in. Based on your 1000 liter tank (i'm assuming its a 3.2 x 3.2 x 3.2 foot tank) my suggestion to you is to start with 5 leaves and test after a day. If the change is minimal then add another 5 and check the next day. Remember the more leaves you add will increase the brown colour of the water but thats ok because its harmless and your fish will appreciate the natural colours instead of the usual crystal clear water we generally keep our fish in. I am assuming you have Discus but it applies in general to all trypes. Make sure you check the actual water parameters that your fish had in their natural habitat and try to get your water to match that and your fish will be happy :)

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
NIge

abu7rb
01-13-2011, 07:28 PM
Thanks for the replay man!!

Cheers

Nigel Hay
01-13-2011, 11:58 PM
My pleasure :) .. Hey i notice you are in Saudi Arabia. What types of fish do you have there.. Interesting to know. Also if you want me to organize some leaves for you I'll be glad to help.

Best regards,
Nigel

abu7rb
01-14-2011, 08:13 AM
I PWAN correct?? lol

can you please check my private message out!!
the types of fishes if we are talking about the discus we are talking about Grade B 98%
Not the real sexy Disucs!
about the leafes I actually have enough for a big farm for a very reasonable price. LOL

I still need to extract the kndowldge that you have about discus ;) if you dont mind Nigel!!
talk to you soon