I have been told Catappa Leaves / Indian Almond Leaves are good for lowering pH, plus they have more natural properties that are good for fish.
There are a few sellers also on Aquabid, and even a breeder i talked to, uses them.
Catappa Leaves On Ebay
Has anybody else used them before ?
Catappa Leaves / Indian Almond Leaves
Hi AndrewC,
I have heard from LFS that some exporters use Almond leaves in the bags during transport, mainly for their anti bacterial/medicinal properties. This is the first time that I have heard that they are used to lower ph.
I dont think it is necessary to lower the ph artificially for zebras , as they are better in a stable environment, where the ph does not keep fluctuating.
Regards,
Des.
I have heard from LFS that some exporters use Almond leaves in the bags during transport, mainly for their anti bacterial/medicinal properties. This is the first time that I have heard that they are used to lower ph.
I dont think it is necessary to lower the ph artificially for zebras , as they are better in a stable environment, where the ph does not keep fluctuating.
Regards,
Des.
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Andrew C
- Obsessed!!
- Posts: 251
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- Location: Bridge Of Weir, Scotland, UK.
Des
I have been told, the leaves act in the same way as peat to reduce the PH & KH of the water.
The leaves are for when i do a week of water changes, i do not have a RO Unit just now, and am thinking the leaves might also help to lower the TDS of my tap water for the rainy week.
Mindy
What Apistos do you have, they are lovely fish with great character.
I am growing out 20 YellowHead Borellii fry just now.
Andrew.
I have been told, the leaves act in the same way as peat to reduce the PH & KH of the water.
The leaves are for when i do a week of water changes, i do not have a RO Unit just now, and am thinking the leaves might also help to lower the TDS of my tap water for the rainy week.
Mindy
What Apistos do you have, they are lovely fish with great character.
I am growing out 20 YellowHead Borellii fry just now.
Andrew.
Hi Andrew C,
I very much doubt that the leaves would be able to reduce the TDS of your tap water.
Buying an RO unit about a year ago ,must be overall my best investment in this hobby, and joint second place to an electronic ph meter and an electronic TDS meter.
I found it quite cumbersome to collect 5 gallon containers of RO from the LFS at weekends so decided to invest in a 35US gal per day unit. It has been running outdoors, off the garden tap every day since, apart from the few days of icy weather where I discconnected it and brought it indoors. The output does vary on the temp and pressure and at the moment get about 10 gal per day. The price has come down dramaticaly since I bought mine. You might find the attached link has some good offers.
WWW.RO-MAN.COM
Regards,
Des.
I very much doubt that the leaves would be able to reduce the TDS of your tap water.
Buying an RO unit about a year ago ,must be overall my best investment in this hobby, and joint second place to an electronic ph meter and an electronic TDS meter.
I found it quite cumbersome to collect 5 gallon containers of RO from the LFS at weekends so decided to invest in a 35US gal per day unit. It has been running outdoors, off the garden tap every day since, apart from the few days of icy weather where I discconnected it and brought it indoors. The output does vary on the temp and pressure and at the moment get about 10 gal per day. The price has come down dramaticaly since I bought mine. You might find the attached link has some good offers.
WWW.RO-MAN.COM
Regards,
Des.
Hi Andrew,
As far as I know Discus breeders use Almond Leaves(Terminalia Cattapa)
for its anti parasite/anti microbial properties. It is also used as a conditioning aid for stubborn to breed Discus. If I remember correctly it is used at the rate of 1 leaf per 15 UK gals. Perhaps Sid can comment more on their use and other effects they would have on water parameters. Sorry to labour the point but an RO unit is really the only consistent way of producing "pure" water with a low TDS. A unit with a DI cartridge can further reduce the TDS of the product water to almost zero, I added one of these to my own unit recently. Only problem is that I don't have an inline TDS meter yet in order to measure the quality of the product water. Hope you bounce back soon from that German zebra scam
.
Des that link you gave was excellent. A bare bones Ro unit for £45
. Even a six stage 100GPD unit is only £145, my LFSs top of the range 4 stage unit is priced at £250 and it doesn't come with inline TDS meter and presssure guage. I quite fancy the 6 stage 300GPD pump powered beast 
. I've ordered the electronic inline TDS meter for my RO unit, the price was less than half what my LFS wanted and this ones far better.
Adam
As far as I know Discus breeders use Almond Leaves(Terminalia Cattapa)
for its anti parasite/anti microbial properties. It is also used as a conditioning aid for stubborn to breed Discus. If I remember correctly it is used at the rate of 1 leaf per 15 UK gals. Perhaps Sid can comment more on their use and other effects they would have on water parameters. Sorry to labour the point but an RO unit is really the only consistent way of producing "pure" water with a low TDS. A unit with a DI cartridge can further reduce the TDS of the product water to almost zero, I added one of these to my own unit recently. Only problem is that I don't have an inline TDS meter yet in order to measure the quality of the product water. Hope you bounce back soon from that German zebra scam
.Des that link you gave was excellent. A bare bones Ro unit for £45
. Even a six stage 100GPD unit is only £145, my LFSs top of the range 4 stage unit is priced at £250 and it doesn't come with inline TDS meter and presssure guage. I quite fancy the 6 stage 300GPD pump powered beast . I've ordered the electronic inline TDS meter for my RO unit, the price was less than half what my LFS wanted and this ones far better.Adam
-
Andrew C
- Obsessed!!
- Posts: 251
- Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 8:52 pm
- Location: Bridge Of Weir, Scotland, UK.
Dietmar (the con man) liked talking about keeping and breeding Zebras.
He said that, he and other breeders he knew in Germany, use the leaves as a spawning aid, when doing a week of water changes with RO Water, after a period of stability for the fish.
He puts a few leaves in the water as well as doing daily water changes for a week, to get the PH down as low as possible.
The water can become a bit unstable during this week, but that they are used to that in the wild and it also helps them spawn.
I have been tempted to try a couple of leaves in the 26G tank my Zebras are in, when i do their period of daily water changes.
But, i'll just save my money and get an RO Unit instead
He said that, he and other breeders he knew in Germany, use the leaves as a spawning aid, when doing a week of water changes with RO Water, after a period of stability for the fish.
He puts a few leaves in the water as well as doing daily water changes for a week, to get the PH down as low as possible.
The water can become a bit unstable during this week, but that they are used to that in the wild and it also helps them spawn.
I have been tempted to try a couple of leaves in the 26G tank my Zebras are in, when i do their period of daily water changes.
But, i'll just save my money and get an RO Unit instead
Check out Ebay for RO Units. I got a very good one, including the resin filter, for £65 including a hefty P&P charge (as I had the units shipped full of water so the filters wouldn't perish - but they were heavy). It's a Kent unit too, good name. I think if I'd bought it new, it would have been nearer £300. You might get a bargain if you're prepared to play the game...
You might get a bargain if you're prepared to play the game...My first spawn came just after my tapwater suddenly dropped in PH. It was down to 5.5 when I checked it. I don't check the water every day, even though I probably should... Then upon investigating what had happend I learned that the PH had dropped in the tapwater in Oslo - trying to remember how many days - guestimate 4 days prior to my checking, 5 days before they spawned for the first time.Andrew C wrote: He puts a few leaves in the water as well as doing daily water changes for a week, to get the PH down as low as possible.
It might have been coincidental, and the PH is normal in the tank now. They spawned yesterday, so they are not dependant on the low PH to spawn.
Love the picture btw
Adam/Andrew C,
I think the 50 gal per day @ £70 which is a 4 stage unit (including di) ,also comes with inbuilt flushing unit ,which I think is the best value for money and is half the price I paid for my 3 stage 35 gal/day ( without the di and flushing unit) about a year ago.
The cheaper 2 stage ones do not have the carbon filter for removing chlorine/chloromine etc or the di unit and flushing unit,which increases the life of the membrane.They just have the fibre filter and RO membrane .
Adam ,
I'm glad you found the website useful, I will buy my next one from them when the time comes.
I dont think an inline TDS meter is necessary as the RO unit once settled never varies (for me). A pen type is much more useful and can be used in the tank. Can also soon identify when the water changes are not being done !!!!!!!eg if TDS of 50/50 tap and RO is 250 and your tank shows eg 900 weeks later in a heavily stocked tank ,the difference is due to fish wastes in the water.
Andrew ,
the ph meter I bought is a pen type to 2 decimal places and cost in the region of 60 to £70 . I had bought one ,to only one decimal place (approx £30 )but which went wrong and had to be continually calibrated, so took it back under warranty and asked for the next version up, and paid the difference.
Regards,
Des.
I think the 50 gal per day @ £70 which is a 4 stage unit (including di) ,also comes with inbuilt flushing unit ,which I think is the best value for money and is half the price I paid for my 3 stage 35 gal/day ( without the di and flushing unit) about a year ago.
The cheaper 2 stage ones do not have the carbon filter for removing chlorine/chloromine etc or the di unit and flushing unit,which increases the life of the membrane.They just have the fibre filter and RO membrane .
Adam ,
I'm glad you found the website useful, I will buy my next one from them when the time comes.
I dont think an inline TDS meter is necessary as the RO unit once settled never varies (for me). A pen type is much more useful and can be used in the tank. Can also soon identify when the water changes are not being done !!!!!!!eg if TDS of 50/50 tap and RO is 250 and your tank shows eg 900 weeks later in a heavily stocked tank ,the difference is due to fish wastes in the water.
Andrew ,
the ph meter I bought is a pen type to 2 decimal places and cost in the region of 60 to £70 . I had bought one ,to only one decimal place (approx £30 )but which went wrong and had to be continually calibrated, so took it back under warranty and asked for the next version up, and paid the difference.
Regards,
Des.
Andrew - mine have not spawned yet. They are still quite young. Though I'm told that if they're happy enough, they will spawn, even when you think they're still too small. I'd say mine are around 1/2 their adult size. Here's a couple pics - oak leaves and all!
Male
Female - she looks like she's missing a bit of her tail, but she's mid-swish. Honest!
Male
Female - she looks like she's missing a bit of her tail, but she's mid-swish. Honest!
