# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Invertebrates >  Ketapang leave

## Noobz

Any bro got use ketapang leave for their shrimps? What is the benefit of using ketapang leave?

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## eviltrain

try this site.  :Very Happy:

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## reiner09

lower ph, simulate natural environment, release some kind of chemical that reduces stress,provide some kind of food source ..and best of it, you will get free brown water..

For more information ..please consult Mr google..

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## marimo

lowers GH, promote bacteria, shrimp feed, shelter to hide , produce tannin acid (not really good if you dont like yellowish water)

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## marimo

when 3 ppl answer at the same time, I guess its time to wait to OFF WORK !! woohoo

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## venom

you can reduce the tanning acid by soaking the leaf in hot water.

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## Noobz

So any bro used before or using?

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## stuz

Mi using.. so far so good.. lowers the ph by a little bit.. shrimps like to hide in between, they eat it too..

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## y_man

Have tried commercial ones as well as own made ketapang leaves extract. Frankly speaking not much difference provided you get from trees located in less polluted surroundings.

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## paradox

Ive been putting in about 3-4 Ketapang leaves in my 1.5 feet tank. And I change it every 3-4 days? Exactly how much do they lower your PH by? Cause i dont seem to see an effect for mine. Maybe its too negligible and my test kit only shows in 0.5 increments. But i'm curious to know if it can actually lower the PH of a tank by 1.0 or 0.5.

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## avex30

If you soak the leaf it will take sometimes. Unless you brew it ..... mean you use warm water to soak it and collect the extract. Use it as a blackwater but be sure to soak it and use cannot keep for too long. I soak 10 pcs in a cookie plastic container the ph of the extract is 4.5. But i forgotten about it left it there 6 mth later mouldy hahaha

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## gwz

I have 1 in my 4 feet tank now, but the shrimps don't look every interested in it. Boiled to soften it. 2 weeks already.

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## binniez

Then it probably means that there is something more yummy in the tank to feast on rather than the leafs. I do leave them in my tanks if I am going overseas for a week or two. Just have to estimate how many leafs to put in and how long you are going to leave the country. Hehe.

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## eviltrain

Yah. I had one piece in my age water tank. Soften liao i will put it in my main tank. My shrimps will be like frenzy and eat on the leaves



As for the ph drop. 1 piece can drop around 1, from 6.3-5.3 in my age water tank.

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## gwz

Hello evil train, ur aged water tank how big? pH Drop so much ?

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## eviltrain

> Hello evil train, ur aged water tank how big? pH Drop so much ?


My age water tank is 1 feet gex tank. Hehe

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## binniez

Haha.. Pro la.. You even have a tank for aged water. Mine only a pail.. >.<

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## eviltrain

> Haha.. Pro la.. You even have a tank for aged water. Mine only a pail.. >.<


Where got la. Just a normal gex tank nia. Hehe. 

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## Neondagger

use ketapang leave damn good. my shrimps seems to like it also. I got a spoinge filter a airstone flame moss. driftwoods minipelia on mesh. but they seems to like staying on the ketapang leave the most.

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## hyun007

Every time we add a leave, the PH goes down, the shrimps won't be affected by the PH going up and down?

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## Neondagger

to me. my crs are in good condition even if the ph decrease to 5.8 sometimes cause of some moving for things in the tank all still survive. as long as is not drastic, it's ok. dun throw the whole pack of ketapang leave into the tank and it will be fine. I added 1 leave for more than 2 weeks i never even touch it.

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## cheetf

In our context of shrimp keeping, it is mainly used to bring down the ph and also to provide a source of food. The side effect being yellow water if you use too much.

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## Neondagger

if it's only 1 leave in a 2ft tank the swing will not be a lot the shrimps will be fine. but if you throw the whole bag down of cause got problem. anything too much is not good. just be moderate and I never change my ketapang leave one le I dun think need to change. unless for my bettas everytime I change water, I put 1 New leave

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## eviltrain

I just quote an example for my case



This is what happen when the 1feet tank is filled with life distilled water (pH6.5) after i added 1 cap of liquid shizen, 1 spoon of gravidas and 1 spoonful of bt-9. 

This shows how drastic the ph swing from 6.5 to 5.5 in a 1 feet tank. 

Thats why i alway encourage newbie to use at least a 2 feet tank.

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## cheetf

> This is what happen when the 1feet tank is filled with life distilled water (pH6.5) after i added 1 cap of liquid shizen, 1 spoon of gravidas and 1 spoonful of bt-9. 
> 
> Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk


That's the evil mix right? Hahaha

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## eviltrain

> That's the evil mix right? Hahaha


Pre evil mix. Hehehehe.

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## globalcookie

> Where got la. Just a normal gex tank nia. Hehe.


Really? 1 feet GEX tank only? Not those big blue drum that can be bought in Sungei Road? Hehe 

Anyway, ketapang leave is said to help bettas to recover when they are unwell, fight bacterials. Can it also help shrimps?

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## Neondagger

well, if the condition is good. shrimp dun get sick as often as betta. thats what I think. but ketapang leave will help them in a way. because it has good bacteria in it

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## eviltrain

> Really? 1 feet GEX tank only? Not those big blue drum that can be bought in Sungei Road? Hehe 
> 
> Anyway, ketapang leave is said to help bettas to recover when they are unwell, fight bacterials. Can it also help shrimps?


Real la. I only waterchange around 5% each week nia. 

Ketapang is not call miracla leaf for nothing. Hehe.


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## Noobz

> I just quote an example for my case
> 
> 
> 
> This is what happen when the 1feet tank is filled with life distilled water (pH6.5) after i added 1 cap of liquid shizen, 1 spoon of gravidas and 1 spoonful of bt-9. 
> 
> This shows how drastic the ph swing from 6.5 to 5.5 in a 1 feet tank. 
> 
> Thats why i alway encourage newbie to use at least a 2 feet tank.
> ...


Wah bro such a big drop in PH. Ur shrimps can take it when u water change?

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## eviltrain

> Wah bro such a big drop in PH. Ur shrimps can take it when u water change?


oh, i forgot about the second part.

the next day (24 hours later ). the pH will climb back to 6.5. 

i water change out 5% and slowly drip ( 2 drop per second ) from my age water tank into my main tank.

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## Noobz

> oh, i forgot about the second part.
> 
> the next day (24 hours later ). the pH will climb back to 6.5. 
> 
> i water change out 5% and slowly drip ( 2 drop per second ) from my age water tank into my main tank.


Bro how u slowly drip the water in? Can teach?

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## Neondagger

I not sure about the other. But I poke a hole in a 1.5lr bottle and add a plastic valve to control the flow. Add silcon to seal it. And use a tube to transfer the water. I put the bottle on top my tank and let the water slowly drip in. I believe for 1 photo of the fullview of my tank(under water perimeters problem), got show the bottle 

learning the hard way!!!

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## AlexHcp

Bro, sorry to be so noob, got to ask a question - may i know where can i get ketapang leaves? do LFS normally sells them? Might consider getting 1 or a few for my shrimp tank.... (also may i know whats the cost?)

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## Neondagger

I bought my from c328 for 1dollar for a big package

learning the hard way!!!

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## AlexHcp

Oh ok ok... other than C328 any idea if got any LFS selling? - i stay at tiong bahru, wonder if wuhu got sell. By the way, how long can you keep the ketapang leaves before "expiry"?

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## wenjun

> Oh ok ok... other than C328 any idea if got any LFS selling? - i stay at tiong bahru, wonder if wuhu got sell. By the way, how long can you keep the ketapang leaves before "expiry"?


I don't think WuHu Sells it. KTP leaves? Expiry date? There isn't any! Cause its dried leaves, so as long as you leave it dry. It will be fine. I bought abt 30packets previously from C328 last year and i'm still using them till date.

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## AlexHcp

Oh okok... that means i would have to drop by c328 some time soon....

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## magpie

Petmart also got

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## hyun007

How long does a ketapang leave last ---> for PH purposes.
How often do we changed or add them?

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## AhVy

> How long does a ketapang leave last ---> for PH purposes.
> How often do we changed or add them?


Sorry to dig up this old thread...but I didn't see an answer to the above question..and I would like to also find out the answer. Can anyone help?

Also, another question...
Ketapang Leaves will make the PH drop...but soften the water right?
I have a cichlid tank that has very hard water and PH is just okay (around 7).
So my question is...if I put some ketapang leaves in to soften the water, and some African Cichlids Filter Media (that will raise the PH to about  :Cool: . Is this contradicting, or unnecessary?

Thanks!

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## Noobz

Bro what is the end result that you want to achieve? To soften the water and decrease the PH?

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## Navanod

Ketapang will lower pH but should not soften water by much. To soften water, you'll need peat or some kind of ion exchange/removal methods.

How long they last is depending on alot of factors (eg. things trying to eat the leaf, temperature, bacteria etc), but they will slowly disintegrate until only the leaf skeletons are left, so its quite easy to determine visually.

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## argv1900

When should i remove the leaf if my shrimp never eat it ?

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