Dulce Bark ( Pithecellobium Dulce )
 
BASIC INFORMATION: 
 
Both the amateur and professional Aquarist also use Dulce Bark to mimic the natural conditions of their fish in their aquarium. By simply adding Dulce to your aquarium, will release compounds by the Indian Dulce Bark which alter the chemistry of the water, making the aquarium more similar to the habitat from which their fish hails.
 
As with our Indian Almond Leaves, if your fish comes from a habitat where leaves and other plant debris regularly falls into the water and decompose, your fish will be happier in that environment so trying to mimic it in your aquariums is strongly recommended. Leaves and Bark that fall into the water release many different compounds, from dyes to trace minerals, and animals living in the water adapt to having all those different compounds readily available. If your fish comes from the type of environment described above, Dulce Bark is one way of stimulating blackwater condition which is a natural environment for most tropical fish.
 
Our Dulce Bark can simply be placed into your aquarium, or you can make your own blackwater extract. Simply follow the instructions below.
 
Making your own Dulce Bark Blackwater Extract is pretty much straight forward :
 
1st you need a bag of Bettawan Dulce Bark (Pithecellobium Dulce)
 
Next you need a pot big enough to hold at least 1 gallon of water, but the bigger the pot the more extract you will produce. Put 25g - 75g of Bettawan Dulce Bark for each gallon of water inside the pot.
 
Fill the pot with clean water.
 
Let the Dulce Bark soak in the water for 24 hours. It's best to put some type of weight on top of the Dulce Bark to stop it floating.
 
The following day boil the pot of Dulce Bark for 15-20 minutes. Put to one side and let it cool and stew for another 24 hours. The next day boil the pot again for 10-15 minutes.
 
Once the water as cooled you will notice that the water is black with a very strong fragrance. Filter the Dulce Bark blackwater extract through a coffee paper filter or an old pair of tights. This is to stop any undesirable matter getting into the blackwater extract.

The Dulce Bark blackwater extract can now be poured into plastic or glass bottles, sealed and stored in fridge or somewhere dark and cool.
 
Gathering:
 
Occasionally, the Dulce trees around the village were we live, the people who own the land for whatever reason cut the trees down. When this happens, we usually go and strip the Dulce Bark from the trunk and branches of the felled trees before they are finally taking away to be mulched. The gathered Dulce Bark is then stored in boxes in our dry shed.
 
PREPARATION:
 
All our gathered Dulce Bark is stored in boxes in our dry shed and once we get an order the Dulce Bark is then wire brushed using a stiff wire brush, the Dulce Bark is then brushed with a soft wire brush and then finally washed and brushed with a 2" paint brush and then put in the sun to dry.