Gold Xback tank treated with almond leaf extract

[islandguy11]

Today I added some almond leaf extract treatment ("Wish Arowana Spa" by Medifish) to my GHXB's 325. As I've mentioned in a couple of other threads, I'm doing this (temporary) treatment mainly in the hopes it will:
1) speed up the re-growth and coloring up of a 2 lost scales.
2) with periodic treatments hopefully harden up all his scales (just as Betta fighters in Thailand do, not that I agree with that practice).
3) calm him down a bit, overall he's pretty hot-headed.

My main concern was that it would cause a drop in PH as I want to avoid any such swings. But given my water is hard with pretty high KH (~7), coupled with some additives (Sodium Chloride and Calcium Chloride) in the solution, there was no PH difference at all when tested 2 and 4 hr after adding.

But I certainly wouldn't call this even close to real black water treatment (e.g. made with peat moss, roots, etc.) -- as you can see from the pix (and I followed manufacturer's suggested dosing of 10ml per 10 gallon), it resulted in a very light brown/yellowish color.

Unsurprisingly this in turn made my GH look more gold colored, even with normal 6500k household LED lighting above. (which isn't the purpose of adding this solution; he's still young and has plenty of time to color up properly later, esp. after I change white tank treatment to blue or black).



If anyone has used similar in their Aro tank, plz let us know your experience.

 

[Chicxulub]

I ran powerful blackwater setups in the past, though for different reasons (doing experiments on color expression on tigerfish).

I got a full sized thing of peat moss from Home Depot and put as much of it into a pair of pantyhose as I could fit into it (to keep particulate matter from escaping into the tank), then stuffed the peaty pantyhose into an FX5 and an AC110 and let the filters run water through the peat, effectively making cold brew peat tea in my tanks.

The effect was staggering. The tank got so dark that even with very bright lights and a white substrate, the bottom of the tank was basically in shadow. It was as dark and opaque as a rich southern sweet tea. The fish seemed to love it. The water seemed softer and the pH dropped to I think mid sixes (don't really remember, this was years ago), but the well water I was using was so hard it buffered the pH drop and the kh was still off the charts.

I was mainly trying to see if I could turn a gatf black with this (I did), but I had a black arowana and a juruense in the tank at the time that colored up in an absolutely stunning fashion, as well as a blue cat that went from blue to a brownish color and lost a lost of the desirable aesthetic for that species.

 

[islandguy11]

I ran powerful blackwater setups in the past, though for different reasons (doing experiments on color expression on tigerfish).

I got a full sized thing of peat moss from Home Depot and put as much of it into a pair of pantyhose as I could fit into it (to keep particulate matter from escaping into the tank), then stuffed the peaty pantyhose into an FX5 and an AC110 and let the filters run water through the peat, effectively making cold brew peat tea in my tanks.

The effect was staggering. The tank got so dark that even with very bright lights and a white substrate, the bottom of the tank was basically in shadow. It was as dark and opaque as a rich southern sweet tea. The fish seemed to love it. The water seemed softer and the pH dropped to I think mid sixes (don't really remember, this was years ago), but the well water I was using was so hard it buffered the pH drop and the kh was still off the charts.

I was mainly trying to see if I could turn a gatf black with this (I did), but I had a black arowana and a juruense in the tank at the time that colored up in an absolutely stunning fashion, as well as a blue cat that went from blue to a brownish color and lost a lost of the desirable aesthetic for that species.

Interesting info, Thx for input Rob -- btw, did your experiments also incl. going from the super blackwater back to regular water, and if so I wonder what were the effects on the fishes' coloration (esp. with regards to the black arowana) after transitioning back to normal water?

 

[Chicxulub]

Interesting info, Thx for input Rob -- btw, did your experiments also incl. going from the super blackwater back to regular water, and if so I wonder what were the effects on the fishes' coloration (esp. with regards to the black arowana) after transitioning back to normal water?

I eventually did a water change and replaced the peat with carbon. The ATF and catfish went back to normal, the aro stayed looking nice but faded somewhat as well.

 

[islandguy11]

Just wondering if during your experiments Rob you noticed any correlation between the BWT and appetite?

This fish has always had a healthy appetite (twice a day, each feeding about half pellets and half frozen shrimp or whitefish) -- but I've noticed it's got even hardier in the 3 times I've fed since treating with the almond leaf extract.

And pretty easy to quantify as I always know he's getting kind of full when he starts mouthing/spitting out the pellets that I alternate with pieces of frozen food, instead of just gulping them down.This usually happens after about 10 Hikari food sticks, but since adding this almond leaf extract solution he keeps eating the food sticks until about 15 or 16.

So reason I ask if your experience was similar is that we can see quite a few Arowana owners (and Datnoids too) with problems getting their new fish to eat (or getting them onto pellets), maybe adding peat moss or cattapa leaves would be something for these folks to consider trying.

 

[Chicxulub]

I didn't notice a change in feeding behavior

 

[islandguy11]

I didn't notice a change in feeding behavior

That's interesting -- perhaps your fish were already pretty well-established in the tank, or was the tank set up for just the purpose of your experiment? In any case I think given the relaxing properties of black/brown water treatment it couldn't help but to make new fish (from those kind of waters) at least somewhat less stressed and thus more likely to eat. If I had a problem fish I would definitely consider trying it as aid. Thankfully though this isn't really an issue here in the tropics, hot temps = high metabolisms.

 

[Chicxulub]

That's interesting -- perhaps your fish were already pretty well-established in the tank, or was the tank set up for just the purpose of your experiment? In any case I think given the relaxing properties of black/brown water treatment it couldn't help but to make new fish (from those kind of waters) at least somewhat less stressed and thus more likely to eat. If I had a problem fish I would definitely consider trying it as aid. Thankfully though this isn't really an issue here in the tropics, hot temps = high metabolisms.

Correct. The tank in question, and the stock in it, had all be running and livong together for about 18 months by the time I got a hair up my rear and wanted to try the experiment.

 

[islandguy11]

As a little update regarding what I've found so far using this almond leaf 'spa' treatment:
-- I'm quite certain it has increased his already good appetite, he's definitely eating more pellets before he gets full in every feeding since adding the treatment.
-- I thought it was working to help relax him somewhat -- for the first couple of days he stopped attacking nets going into the tank. But then on the 3rd day he started again, and he's still rushing the front of the tank and gnashing his jaws (though not sure if this in hunger or anger). I think it would take a greater concentration (or something closer to a real blackwater) to really calm him down, and I just don't want to do that, so I guess I'm just going to let him be him, hopefully he'll grown out of it.
-- Whether or not it's helping his 2 lost scales color up faster is hard to say but so far I can't really see a difference. However, given Cattapa leaves have been used with betta fish for over a hundred years, and with good reason/effect, I'm confident it will help Arowana too at least to some degree if used during the healing process.

 

[Galantspeedz]

Saw a guy posted this on our version of craiglist...

Since you in Thailand maybe you can ask around the fish guys there or LFS

Can't find much info on the internet though expect a guy in Malaysia seems to be using it for his bettas