Ketapang Leaves – An Alternative to Peat Based Blackwater Extracts
Ketapang Leaf - the so called “Asian Breeding Secret Recipe” is otherwise known as TERMINALIA CATAPPA (or commonly called tropical almond, badamier, Java almond, amandier de Cayenne, wild almond, Indian almond, myrobalan, Malabar almond, Singapore almond, Huu kwang, Sea almond, kobateishi). The tree is known to produce a poison in its leaves and sap to defend against insect parasites. When the dried leaves falls into the river, a strong brown dye is given off. The dye is full of organic acids like humic and tannins. These lower the pH of the water, absorb harmful chemicals and help create a soothing and calm environment for the fish. They also have anti-bacterial properties.
The ketapang tree is a big 'pagoda-shaped' tree with distinctly tiered branching. The origin of the tree is in Malaya. A noted peculiarity of this species is the tendency for its leaves to turn bright red and fall - a rarity in the tropics where most trees remain evergreen throughout the year. The bark, fruit and leaves of the tree have traditionally been used to treat various ailments ranging from skin disease, dysentery, headaches and colic in children. Research has identified properties that could be used in treating hypertension.
For most of the tropical fish that live in the rivers and lakes, their natural and best environment is Black Water. Black water has a distinctive brownish tea like colour and contains many dissolved organic materials. It was first noticed that fishes living around the water where the ketapang trees grew were found to be much more vibrant in colour, beautiful and healthy. Thus started the practice of putting in ketapang leaves into aquariums to try and achieve the same condition as those found in their natural environment.
Breeders in Asia have used them as a conditioning agent for their aquarium fish, to spur breeding behaviour as well as an add-on for fishes packaged for shipment.
Ketapang Leaf Extract contains the same benefits while eliminating the fuss of leaf collection and processing for you. All Ketapang leaves are cleaned and heat-treated to obtain the resulting concentrated extract.
Use 2 – 3 drops per litre of water for Bettas For crowntails, it is recommended to increase this to 3 to 4 drops per litre of water. Shake well before use. Occasional streaks of darker liquid may be seen in droplets but this is normal and harmless. This occurs solely due to the inherent properties of the leaf.
Ketapang Extract can also be used for a variety of tropical fish that take to blackwater extracts like Arowanas, South American Cichlids, Discus, tetras etc. Ketapang is especially useful in treating “hole-in-the-head” disease. (Ref Andrew Soh “Discus, The Naked Truth” pg 131)