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. 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, Indian Almond Bark is one way of simulating black water condition which is the natural environment for most tropical fish.

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Our Indian Almond Bark can simply be placed into your aquarium or you can make your own blackwater extract. Simply follow the instructions below.

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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 bark to stop it floating.
 
The following day boil the pot of Indian Almond Bark for 15 - 20 minutes. Put to oneside 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 extract through a coffee paper filter or again 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 in to plastic or glass bottles, sealed and stored in fridge or somewhere dark and cool. Recommended  Dosage : 1 ounce for 1 gallon of water.
 

Our Indian Almond Bark is ideal for bettas, discus, gouramis, killiefish, tetras, arowana’s, angelfish, South American dwarf cichlids, corys, plecos, some rasboras some cat-fishes and crustaceans. The bark is also ideal as litter in vivariums.