View Full Version : Indian Almond Leaves
Hi there,
Does anyone know where I can get dried indian almond leaves from? :wondering:
Thanks
Es
Henk Hugo
18-02-2009, 13:15
i only have a few - sorry cant help
No local shops selling them? I've been looking, but without any luck.
There is apparently something called Atisons Betta Spa, but I also can't seem to find that in the local market.
Henk Hugo
18-02-2009, 13:31
try black water extract or sera peat granuals
No local shops selling them? I've been looking, but without any luck.
There is apparently something called Atisons Betta Spa, but I also can't seem to find that in the local market.
Atison's products aren't available anywhere here in SA. If you buy direct from her, she'll charge an arm & a leg for it.
Besides, IAL are only optional for breeding bettas, not compulsory :)
Chiao
Dale
Yip, The Atisons product are very expensive if you buy direct.
As for the Indian Almond leaves, I do breed without them, just thought I might try it to see whats the difference. But, styrofoam cup and multi-anti-fungal seems to be working just fine.
I saw on another thread that there is a product called Omega one food for fry. I must pop into the petshop soon to see if they have that. I currently have a little problem getting my oldest fry to start eating powder and flaked foods. (Guess I've been spoiling them with the BBS!!!)
And my adult bettas dosn't seem to enjoy betta bio-gold pellets. I need to try something new.
IAL in my opinion just makes the nest stickier so that it doesn't break up as easy if there's heavy tank/water movement. It also drops the pH of your water a bit.
Betta fry becomes accustomed to one food type if you continue to feed them with it. Mix the food up a bit, if they don't want to eat it, then so be it but they shouldn't be raised on the fact that they only eat one type of food....this is how they become spoilt and full of attitude when you try to give them other food at a later stage :) But don't worry, a couple of fry will eat the new food once introduce and the majority of the others that didn't want to eat it, will join in if they see their brothers/sisters having a bite.
Omega One is gr8 food, but not all my bettas want Omega One. There are some that won't even peck at it. Those oakes get fed with other foods, but majority of my fish munch away at Omega One.
Do the almond leaves specifically have to be the Indian type? Or can any almond leaf do?
I know someone who has an almond tree in his backyard, but don't know which species it is.
Henk Hugo
18-02-2009, 17:39
I would say so...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminalia_catappa
city bowl
18-02-2009, 17:58
Indian Almond is totally unrelated to Almonds as we know them. Almonds are a Prunus Indian Almonds are a Terminalia, but there are indigenous Terminalia I think...
Dirk Bellstedt
18-02-2009, 20:48
CB is perfectly correct, Indian almonds are Terminalias and we do have indigenous Terminalia species called Terminalia sericea. These are also known for their medicinal properties and are used as an indigenous medicine. Whether they are of use in fishkeeping is not tested.
What I can however suggest is that you try some rooibos tea. The killfish keepers worldwide are finding that these are good for preventing bacterial and fungal infections of the eggs.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Kind regards,
Dirk
Thanks for the info. I was wondering what I can do with the extra rooibas teabags in the cupboard :p
I will give it a try next time. So far conditions were luckily perfect for all my spawns. Didn't even need a heater!
Es
is the multi-anti-fungal a necessity? whats it do? how much do i use?
- first time breeding (not that u can call it that yet) the eggs are in the bubbles tho, hehe.
what u think?
thanx, chrz
;D
Dirk Bellstedt
22-02-2009, 20:39
Hi Chris,
I am actually glad that you ask this question. Why? Because if your tank is well prepared, and by that I mean that it is an established tank with an established filter (just a corner filter is really all you need), then medication is not necessary at all. As a matter of fact many of the anti-fungal medications such as the old Malachite green treatments, have very negative effects in the fish fry.
So, in principle, one should try to breed fishes without medication and only use it as a last resort.
However, rooibos teabags do not contain "medication" in that sense, but the tea does contain phenolics substances, which have mild antibacterial and antifungal properties. Indian almond leaves, I am sure also contain phenolic substances, but they do seem to contain some other antifungal substances, which appear to be natural components, but we do not know what sort of compounds they are and how they work.
Hope your fry grow nicely! What fish have spawned?
Kind regards,
Dirk
oh, interesting. thanx :)
so ehm, u think i should add some rooibos teabags?? used ones though, right? how many? or is it okay if my water goes all brown lol.
tank 45x22x24cm
got tank last tuesday and fish on wednesday! so it hasn't really had much time to start the nitrogen-cycle ( i'm not really sure what that is yet), but ye, they're still alive, 2 saimese fighters.
want to post pics, having trouble with uploading on photobucket though...
Got 3 neons and a plecostommer?? dunno how u spell it on fryday... but one neon died the day after and the pleco today... think water was bit cold for neon... dunno why the pleco died... i just called him the janitor... pretty sad bout losing him, he was so friendly.
they spawned at more or less 14:00 today and i removed the female when male started chasing her away. i the divided the tank in 2 using a plastic clipboard... its working okay for now, hehe...
still rather noob with this... hope the fry be okay in my new tank... hasn't really had that much time for the water to settle?
nway, keep your fingers crossed for me
thanx
Dirk Bellstedt
22-02-2009, 21:15
Chris,
In view of the fact that the tank is not really settled in at all, you are almost likely to pick up some problems. As a result two teabags wont do any harm. THey can also be completely unused ones as they contain no harmful substances. The water will discolour somewhat, but that won't matter.
Sorry to hear about the dead fish, maybe again as a result of the tank not being settled in. I would advise that you hang on a little before buying more fish, especially because of the fish fry.
KInd regards,
Dirk
Dirk,
Thanx :)
Kind regards,
Chris
nothing i can do to speed up the settling in proses?
Dirk Bellstedt
22-02-2009, 21:22
With the eggs and fry anything that you add to the tank will tend to make them rot/die so adding something now is more dangerous than beneficial.
I am not up to date on these mutis because I never need to use them, but there used to be a treatment for new tanks called "Cycle" which worked quite well for speeding up the "settling in" process, but I am pretty sure that it has been replaced with something better by now. Can anyone offer advice please?
Kind regards,
Dirk
2 bags in :) hope it helps, thanx for sharing your knowledge.
;D
city bowl
22-02-2009, 21:58
Organic Aqua's tank cycling system is an amazing product I have used it in all my tanks and my pond over the last couple of years and I do think it does genuinely cycle your tank almost instantaneously. It is a local product but does actually work as opposed to anything else I have tried. :smile1:
Nutrafin Cycle also does the job quite well
@chris - I agree with Prof...as we discussed on Saturday, get those items on the list I wrote down to get your tank lekka settled & sorted before you add any more fish.
city bowl
24-02-2009, 08:36
True I used to use Cycle before I discovered Organic aqua.
I think the difference with Organic Aqua is your tank can be stocked the next day where as with Nutrafin Cycle I personally found it only sped up the cycling process somewhat. :smile1:
True I used to use Cycle before I discovered Organic aqua.
I think the difference with Organic Aqua is your tank can be stocked the next day where as with Nutrafin Cycle I personally found it only sped up the cycling process somewhat. :smile1:
totally agreed
organic aqua is a great product made by great people!
CB when you used cycle did you only use it when setting up your tank or did you use it to do water changes also
is it necessary to use when doing water changes because it is getting expensive
city bowl
24-02-2009, 13:04
I assume your water is Teewaterkloof or Steenbras I think that's not too bad, but it depends on your water and how much your changing. In Cape Town proper I rarely add anything to a tank once it is running well. Cycle I don't use but organic aqua I may add a bit of B-Bac if I am adding extra fish to a system. Personally I think if the new water is agitated enough as it goes into a tank most chlorine etc will disperse. If you can store your water overnight before putting it in the tank that is a good thing to do.
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