Indian Almond Bark ( Terminalia Catappa )

BASIC INFORMATION: 
 
Both the amateur and professional Aquarist also use Indian Almond Bark to mimic the natural conditions of their fish in their aquarium. By simply adding Indian Almond Bark (IAB) to your aquarium, will release compounds by the Indian Almond Bark which alter the chemistry of the water, making the aquarium more similar to the habitat from which their fish hails.
 
As with 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. Indian Almond Leaves and Indian Almond 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, Indian Almond Bark is one way of stimulating blackwater condition which is a natural environment for most tropical fish.
 
Our Indian almond Bark can simply be placed into your aquarium, or you can make your own blackwater extract. Simply follow the instructions below.
 
Making your own Indian Almond Bark Blackwater Extract is pretty much straight forward :
 
1st you need a bag of Bettawan Indian Almond Bark (Terminalia Catappa)
 
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 Indian Almond Bark for each gallon of water inside the pot.
 
Fill the pot with clean water.
 
Let the Indian Almond Bark soak in the water for 24 hours. It's best to put some type of weight on top of the Indian Almond Bark to stop it floating.
 
The following day boil the pot of Indian Almond 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 Indian Almond 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 Indian Almond 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 Indian Almond trees where we gather the Indian Almond leaves from the people who own the land for whatever reason cut the trees down. When this happens, we usually go and strip the Indian Almond Bark from the trunk and branches of the felled trees before they are finally taking away to be mulched. The gathered Indian Almond Bark is then stored in boxes in our dry shed.
 
PREPARATION:
 
All our gathered Indian Almond Bark is stored in boxes in our dry shed and once we get an order the Indian Almond Bark is then wire brushed using a stiff wire brush, the Indian Almond 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.