[Mitu]

Hi everyone, I'm Mitali, a betta nerd from India, I was slightly pleased to know that Indian Almond leaves have a calming effect on bettas, I have access to a lot of Almond leaves, and want to give it a try, right now, I have a 7 liter bowl and another 28-30 liter tank, I just went and got some dried up almond leaves from the garden, how can I prepare them? :-D:-D:-D
Also, are there any things I should consider while using them?
What are the other benefits of using Almond leaves in a bettas tank?

 

[LittleBettaFish]

As long as you know there haven't been any pesticides/herbicides sprayed near the leaves, I'd simply rinse them off under some cold tap water and then put them into the bowl.

Most males seem to enjoy building nests under the floating leaves, and the darker water caused by the tannins in the IAL does seem to have a calming effect on bettas and other soft water fish.

 

[Mitu]

Thank you LittleBettaFish! The tree is free of any parasites or pesticides, really going to give it a try and keep a log.

 

[LittleBettaFish]

You're lucky that you are able to collect these leaves yourself. It gets expensive having to continually buy them.

 

[Tree]

You're lucky that you are able to collect these leaves yourself. It gets expensive having to continually buy them.

Agreed. =P

 

[Strawberry12]

Oh and you can either just let them break down naturally, or you can remove them whenever you'd like. My tanks are soil based with lots of plants so I just let them break down, but i'm sure if you had a brightly colored gravel or something that would look a bit weird. It's up to you!


Oh, and welcome to the forum! :wave:

 

[savagebeautymnl]

Hi, Mitu! Nice to meet another betta keeper from asia. I'm in the Philippines myself, so like you I'm lucky to have Ketapang or Indian Almond leaves available all year round. Here we call them Talisay. After washing, I boil & strain them to make an extract, since I find a whole leaf in a 2.5 gallon tank to look a bit crowded.

You might also be interested to know about these other traditional dried leaf treatments:
Banana Leaf - reduces pop-eye swelling & clears up cloudy/diamond eye
Mango Leaf - same as IAL, but milder
Papaya Leaf - promotes bone, tooth & scale strength
Turmeric Extract - stimulant, use sparingly as pre-breeding conditioner

All of these also serve to speed up recovery from injury, and soften the water. From thai forums I've read that the tint seems to make the fish more comfortable, and maintain vibrant scales as well.

 

[Mitu]

Wow! Thanks everyone, and SavageBeautymnl, thank you for the list, I will surely try them all, as they are available here for me, I've cut up the leaf and put in my two aquariums and the water became a little tainted, but the fish seem to be happy, it seems that IAL encourages nest building in bettas, since they are busy building nests since then.

I've noticed there is a fuzzy moss like thing growing on the leaf, will that be harmful for my bettas?

 

[Mitu]

LittleBettaFish, wish I could mail IAL to you there, hehe.

 

[MikeG14]

Is the white fuzz growing on the stem? That's normal and nothing to worry about.

If you have a relative in the USA you could mail them a bulk amount of IAL and they can sell it on eBay for you. You'd have a nice little side business for yourself and we would be able to get our IAL from a forum member.

 

[Mitu]

MikeG14, Oh yes, it's on the stem
And about the IAL, I'd like to send them for free too
but I'm no expert, you'll have to check the dried leaves again to see if they are proper for your aquarium or not. Will have to see how I can make it work if I do, will post on the forum for sure, because it's silly! They're just leaves, why are they so over priced, I understand a little profit and importing charges, but I guess they are making it really expensive! I could mail them, but will have to go through the rules of sending such items again. How are they priced in your country?

Also IAL betta update, the bettas are super busy building the nests and one of them even built the biggest nest I've seen since I got them under a floating leaf! It really seems like they are reminded of their home.

 

[Mitu]

Quick addition, I've heard people using mango leaves, papaya leaves and turmeric for Bettas too.