FYI: Indian almond leaves

[michael]

This is my burns my but topic for the day.
A person I sold some expensive salamanders to used indian almond leaves in their setup. Evidently they are being advocated as a prophylactic and for disease treatment for many salamanders. Her salamanders were Neurergus kaiseri. Neurergus kaiseri and axolotls both do best in hard water. Indian almond leaves soften water.

 

[Dyelon]

I've heard as well that they are great for disease treatment etc. Almost like they're marketed as some sort of "magic" leaf. But as far as I know there is no hard evidence to support their pharmaceutical properties. Do you know anything about that?

Also I can only imagine that they would cause more disease than they would cure for hard water specimens.

 

[Sweetie]

The proponents of the use of Indian almond leaves claim the tannins are good for treating bacterial and fungal infection on a topical level but they do 'tighten' the skin and close pores, so treatment is meant to cease before any other treatments are then used. I have heard that these leaves are used for Siamese fighting fish before a fight, as a preventative, and after, as a treatment. They apparently also soothe the skin. It should be possible to achieve these benefits with a short-term treatment (one to two weeks) rather than leaving the leaves permanently in the tank, especially for species that prefer harder water.