SunGrow 50 pcs Catappa Indian Almond Leaves – 2” Water Conditioner for Betta Fish Tank, Aquarium Leaf for Fish Breeding, Shrimp, Goldfish, Guppy & Frogs

Exactly as described! This was my first time using them so I feel as though they were effective and easy to use! It did not affect any of my live plants and my betta loved exploring it and hiding under it when it sank to the floor! Overall great value and will purchase again!

Good amount of leaves for the price, smaller leaves are easier to dose 10gal and lower tanks. That way you don’t need to cut leaves and try to guess measurements. I have hard water so I needed some tannins for my tank. My woods already released everything in other tanks, so the leaves are very helpful. One day in and it hasn’t turned my water brown. Could be just my tank and that could be a bad or good thing depending on the person. Ph level did go down some though which is good.

Great for naturally softening freshwater aquariums and lowering the pH without causing a drastic change. I also like the 'blackwater' effect from the tannins released - it's not too heavy but just enough to make the tank have a more natural appearance to it. The fish also love it. This has helped stimulate my fish and invertebrates to spawn.

I've just received this product and my first impression: disappointment. Let me start off by saying that when I placed my order I wasn't expecting to receive "perfect" red leaves, as shown in the default image for this product listing. I did however have a few expectations. For one, these are leaves. There is no getting around that. There is natural variation and that is to be expected. However, I did think there would be a bit more consistency from leaf to leaf, as it's advertised that they are 2" long in the pictures. This is not really detrimental as there is a range of sizes, though it's worth noting that if you're buying this product based off the pictures you will be unhappy with what you receive. The product description is also inaccurate. At least twice it is stated that these leaves are fresh, "picked hours before shipment to ensure that it gets to you in the freshest form possible". Obviously that's impossible, but the leaves I received are extremely dry and brittle with a few pieces that have crumbled off during shipment. They have clearly been in this bag at the warehouse for a really long time. I was hoping for leaves that actually still had any of their natural oils, suppleness, and nutritional value for my pets.. these leaves are dead and useless. I also did not receive 50 leaves as stated on the packaging and listing. There were 43 in the bag. This is upsetting for obvious reasons. Lastly, one leaf has some kind of insect silk on it with tiny specks hanging in it (along with crumbled leaf pieces), which could either be debris or insect eggs. Needless to say this one will be discarded and brings me down one less leaf than what I paid for. With the quality of the product I received, I am not sure it is safe to put into my tank with my inverts. I can't say for certain that this is the standard quality of this item. However, based off my experience with it so far, I cannot recommend it. Update: After speaking to the company they apologized and kindly sent a replacement with the assurance that what I received was not typical for their product. I received the new bag within a few days and have finally had the chance to take a look at it. The difference in quality was not immediately noticeable from inspecting the sealed bag; the leaves still do not look like the photos. I opened the bag and smelled the contents, just as I did with the first batch, and it was immediately clear that this is a fresher product. I saw that another reviewer complained of an incense smell, however my leaves smelled like a fresh loose leaf tea. The smell is strong, but by no means offensive or anything to worry about, as tea is mostly made up of dried leaves just like these. So this smell is a positive (my first batch was nearly scentless). I then counted the leaves and found there to be well over 50 this time; it is clear that customer satisfaction is important to them and, while not expected, I do appreciate this gesture. I also noted that the leaves have some slight reddish color to them that the previous ones did not, and they feel much sturdier in general. While handling them I noticed that my fingers became slightly oily and there is a slight sheen to the leaves. As it's winter here, my hands are very dry, so this subtle detail was not lost on me. For me this is yet another indicator of the freshness of the product. I also did not encounter any signs of insects this time around. I've adjusted my rating (+2 stars) to reflect these changes. The very friendly customer service I received while interacting with this company has earned them my respect. While I can't give this a full 5 stars because it's still dryer than what I was looking for, I think it's a decent product as long as you're aware of exactly what you're buying. **Please note: I have not updated with photos of the replacement leaves I received**

Nice leaves, clean and well packed. Looks great in tank. Will be buying more

I have a 10 gallon tank. It is well filtered and heated. I condition the water and add beneficial bacteria. I do water changes every two weeks and nearly a full change each month. I also have four different species of plants. I have a female betta and one female danio ( I had 3 danios, but the female betta killed them. She has lived peacefully with the third danio for weeks in account of the danio swims super fast, so the betta gave up. Also they are both happy and healthy.) Good, now that we have a little backstory, let me tell you my experience with these almond leaves. When I first received the package, the leaves were lovely in shape and were not too fragile. They held their form well. I put seven leaves in the tank. The package said 10 leaves for 12 gallons but I have a 10 gallon. Immediately my curious betta examined the leaves. She continues to attempt to eat the stem, possibly because it resembles her feeding tongs. My betta was glass surfing because a plant was dying in my tank and had gone unnoticed. I purchased these leaves to hopefully reduce the stress of the ammonia spike that had happened previously. Immediately after adding the leafs I see a change in attitude and she is playful and relaxed. My danio doesn't really care, but I know this meant a lot for my betta. At first, the leaves do not match the color of the leaves advertised. I wasn't very worried about what the color would be when they arrived, I was more worried about the fragility of them considering they're dried leaves coming in the mail. Like I said they arrived safely and have wonderful form. After 8 hours of them still floating at the top, I decided to flip them over. To which most of them sank within 30 seconds. The package label stated that I could use 20 to 30 leaves in a 12 gallon tank if a stronger color was desired. I was using these leaves for medicinal reasons. I had initially thought that adding too many leaves could be toxic. I will keep this in mind for the future. I took a final picture after 3 days of leaves in a ten gallon. I can see a light coloration in the water and the leaves now have a vibrant red-brown color. Great value for my money, and well worth the buy. I will be purchasing again in the future. It's unfortunate that so many people were not patient enough with the product. Many reviews that I saw on here were about how the leaves didn't match the color in the picture. Their loss!

Didnt realize they were mini BUT boiling did a wonderful job at extracting tannins for my 5 gal hospital tank, added the boiled leaves too and they released so much more while the liquid was cooling

I'm not certain that I rate them a 3 even.. which means they could be a 2, however I won't know until I make tea from them. I am not accustomed to buying from any other source than the Lady I have been dealing with for several years, she has recently been forced to put her business on hiatus due to health issue, thus I began seeking another source to purchase these leaves. The "mini" leaves I have been buying from her were slightly smaller than my hand, which I sort of feel like this photo also implied. They are not (this may indeed be a normal industry standard of course) the leaves are each MAYBE the size of my thumb. The Catappa leaves are not just intended as a water conditioner. Bettas use the floating leaf to build their nests under, this keeps the leaf afloat for several more days, and provides a food source for the newly free swimming fry. These leaves, while I might be able to make tea from them, are useless to me for what I needed them for. Not to mention, with the size being, if lucky, 1/10th of a leaf I normally use, it is going to take all 50 leaves in just one of my tanks. They are approx. 3in. L x 1in. W and since they are really baby leaves, they are also much thinner, containing much less of the needed tannin. (THIS PART IS ONLY A GUESS UNTIL TESTED) If you have a small bowl or tank for your betta, then these leaves would very likely be the perfect thing. My guess is 4-5 leaves per gallon currently. I sat up a 1.1 gal cube this evening, and used 5 leaves. I will only update this post if they turn out NOT to be enough. Most betta bowls are 1gal and below, so with that in mind you could still consider these leave as a viable conditioner, possibly even cleaner than their larger counterparts. In closing, with the leaves being baby leaves, I have one major concern. Picked too soon, Indian Almond (Catappa) Leaves are toxic, and pulled too late the tree has absorbed nearly all of their tannins. I choose to trust that they knew what they were doing, since I am using one of my fish.

Avertissement préalable : je ne suis pas botaniste et je ne suis pas en mesure de garantir que c'est bien de la catappa. Ceci dit, je n'a aucune raison de douter du contraire. Pour ma part j'apprécie ce produit car il permet d'obtenir tous les avantages de la catappa dans un format pratique et à un bon rapport qualité prix. Les feuilles sont correctes et bien emballées (voir photo). Dans l'eau, les feuilles sont "dures" et se dégradent très lentement. Dans 60l j'ai créé un petite "litière" de feuille, dans un coin (8 feuilles). La coloration est légère. Les occupants ont l'air détendus (impression ?) et ça fait un terrain de jeu pour les crevettes. Je le conseillerais pour "recharger" un petit bac, ou créer une petite litière de feuille dans un bac plus grand, le tout à petit prix. Avantage de la catappa : - a un certain effet "médical" sur les poissons : antistress, antifongique - donne une couleur ambrée et naturelle à l'eau - aide à acidifier l'eau grâce au tanin - offre un environnement adapté aux crustacés et à la micro faune - libère des nutriments utiles aux plantes Avertissement sur la catappa : c'est une plante qui contient naturellement des substances actives et doit être considérée comme un médicament. Il faut donc rester dans une consommation raisonnable et ne pas bourrer un bac avec. Dans le cas d'une litière, vous pouvez mélanger avec d'autres feuilles adaptées. Il faut également respecter les usages d'entretien normaux avec des changements d'eau réguliers (20%/semaine). Rappelons que la plupart des poissons vendus dans le commerce sont des poissons de rivière où l'eau se renouvelle constamment. Ils ne sont donc pas faits pour subir une sur concentration x ou y. Vérifiez les espèces que vous maintenez pour leur apporter un environnement adapté. Si vous avez des questions, n'hésitez pas à vous rapprocher d'un forum spécialisé Et si mon commentaire vous a aidé, merci de cliquer sur "utile", ça fait toujours plaisir :)

I bought this as I wanted to add leaf litter to my aquarium, I added 5 or 6 leaves once a month with no issues, these are quite small maybe no bigger then 2 50pence coins put together, but they did exactly what I wanted them to, I believe they are good value for money and they didn't change the colour of my water.

Doesn’t do anything. It only makes my aquarium looks like dirty

brillant for my black water tank!

This leaves are amazing. My Betta wasn’t feeling well. We went out of town and when we came back he was looking extremely lethargic, not swimming and staying in his rock at the bottom of the tank. He would only come up for air and had stopped eating. He even looked bloated and pale around his face. I thought he was going to die. I already had a bag of these on hand that I purchased last year, so I immediately changed his water and added 5 leaves to his 5 gallon tank. Within a few days he was looking better and started swimming around and making bubble nests again. It took him almost 2 weeks to start eating again but he is finally back to his happy, healthy self. I change his water once a week and have been placing 5 fresh leaves in each time. I didn’t but them for nesting purposes because he makes bubble nests regardless. They will turn the water almost a tea like color after a few days so don’t be alarmed when it does. It’s normal. Bettas release ammonia every time they exhale which pollutes the water. The smaller the tank the more frequently water changes are needed. I highly recommend these leaves to help keep your betta happy & healthy.