Dried Banana leaves are used by many betta breeders as an alternative to Indian Almond Leaves. While I am not aware of any pharmacological studies into the efficacy of the leaves for aquatic use, many Thai breeders believe that they are better than Indian Almond Leaves. They are said to enhance colouration and general health of bettas. They will not tan the water unlike Indian Almond Leaves, so they will be good for those who would like to have the water conditioning properties of the leaves without having to bear with dark colour water. It is also said that such leaves have the following effect:

* Reduce PH of water
* Anti-Bacteria
* Stimulate betta colour

LINK

Where would you get these leaves from!

Where I live they are readily available as they require tropical temperatures. They are from the common banana plants

BJHillson wrote:
Where would you get these leaves from!

Amy on eBay sells them, see

cgi.ebay.co.uk/50-bunches-of-DRIED-BANAN...sidZp1742.m153.l1262

She is an excellent eBay seller, I have bought the Almond leaves many times. I never tried banana leaves so I will have to give them a go too, thanks for the tip Niko.

Daragh

I found that if the leaves are green and left to dry they produce more tannins when compared to the dried leaves which die off from the plant. I will try to post some pictures of the green leaves.

I have a bannana tree at home in my front roo.m always ready to give dried ones over.let me know.

Daragh_Owens wrote:
BJHillson wrote:
Where would you get these leaves from!

Amy on eBay sells them, see

cgi.ebay.co.uk/50-bunches-of-DRIED-BANAN...sidZp1742.m153.l1262

She is an excellent eBay seller, I have bought the Almond leaves many times. I never tried banana leaves so I will have to give them a go too, thanks for the tip Niko.

Daragh

As a follow-up to this I received an email this morning to say that Amy will shortly be taking a break from her ebay activities until mid-December so if you were thinking of buying any leaves from her I would suggest you order very quickly. I can agree with Daragh in saying that the quality of her goods are first class and could also heartily recommend her also.

John