Topic: Question about Almond Leaf

[wendyjo]

OK I asked this in 2 other threads but no one answered so I will start a new topic and hope to get replies.

Sunday I put a piece of almond leaf in Sebastians tank for the first time.  He is normally VERY active and spends all day swimming around and patrolling his tank.

Yesterday, he was totally chillin on a rock at the bottom of the tank.  Not sick - whenever he'd see me he'd come racing over to chat, but he was not his usual lively self.

Could this be from the almond leaf?  It was almost as tho he was stoned or something.  Does the almond leaf mellow them out like that?  It wasn't a very big piece -maybe 1/5 of a leaf in a 2.5g tank.  Enough to discolor the water but only a little bit.

[DaSauce]

Actullay....its suppose to do the complete oppisite

IAL makes the fish more aggressive more active and ull start to see HUGEEEEEEEE bubblenets......IAL is normal for them because were they come from they chill in IAL.......and it makes there scales prime and gived them tannins which make them stronger and healthier


Maybe u did the IAL wrong......if u have the actually leaf like I do, you take water and boil it with 2 leaves inside till the water turns brownish, then u put it in his tank

[wendyjo]

Hmmm, I was told by a few folks to just drop a piece of leaf in his tank, which is what I did.

[Amberscotch]

yes, that's the general instruction

i've read that the leaves are antiseptic in quality, releasing tannins in the water that lower the Ph, making it more like their native habitat

could be he's experiencing mild shock from the Ph swing?


edit- being antiseptic has nothing to do with the ph drop, sorry. gah..

[Gremmy]

that sounds about right...otherwise is it possible you've had a rapid drop in temperature?

I've been thinking about trying out almond leaves, or at least having them on hand. Where do you get them?

[swhite193]

aquabid

[Squeek]

Instead of getting the leaves, try ketapang extract.  It is vitually the same thing, just in liquid form. I got mine from a fellow member of betta-australis (chapter of the IBC) My boys blow the biggest nests

[md7]

have you tried removing the IAL? you'll see your betta more active than before you put the IAL inside his tank. how about his eating habit? i'm sure he eats a lot. i think his resting himself and enjoying the IAL extract. i'm very sure he's ok. try changing the water and see how it looks....

i've heard from my heard who usually catch wild bettas in paddy fields, saying that you can catch betta easier where there's a lot of ketapang leaves. he said that betta will be much stronger, prettier but a bit slower around that area. he said that they become slower because they want to absorb the ketapang extract into their body. LOL... i don't really know the truth about his story but i still believe it because my bettas actually like to rest a lot whenever i put IAL inside their tank. but after i've removed the leaves and change the water. they'll become much more agressive.

[wendyjo]

Yeah I removed it the day after I put it in and he did seem more active yesterday, although I didn't do a water change at all.  THe ph in the tank is already low - around 6-6.2, so maybe the leaf made it too low?

Oh, and he has not blown a nest since I put the leaf in the tank even tho he is a great nest blower.