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Amy's 200 grms Gr C+ INDIAN ALMOND LEAVES -P&H inc

Item #1283874606

Current Auction Time: Thu May 9 22:17:58 2024

		Final:	$13.00		First Bid	$12.50
		Time left	00:00		# of Bids	1 (bid history)
		Started	Aug 31 2010 - 10:50:06 AM		Location	Singapore Singapore 650286 Singapore
		Ended	Sep 7 2010 - 10:50:06 AM Auction Closed
		Seller	Amylim (539/540)
			(View seller's feedback) (view seller's current auctions) (ask seller a question)
		High Bidder	Elpmet (9/9)
		Payment	Visa/Mastercard, American Express See Item Description, PayPal
		Shipping	Will Ship Internationally Buyer Pays Fixed Amount, See Item Description

Seller assumes all responsibility for listing this item. You should contact the seller to resolve any questions before bidding. Currency is U.S. dollars (US$) unless otherwise noted.

Description

Amy's Ketapang Inc

You are buying 200 grams (about 100 pieces) of Grade C - mixed size Indian Almond Leaves. These leaves have larger tears and holes unlike my Grade A or Grade B leaves, but they are no less efficacious and are indeed still good very quality leaves. In fact, because of my quality control processes, I usually would have several thousand grade C leaves in stock. Which means that I can choose the best leaves for you. So most of your leaves will be thick and red (or at least dark coloured). That's why, I label it as C+ leaves.

The following are some feedbacks we received on Ebay for this item:

Ak***:Great deal on this large, great smelling bunch of leaves. I'll be back for more
Ha***:Super Great the Best Leaves and Service on EBay A+++++++
Ni***:Awesome product !!!! Amy is a pleasure to deal with!!! I will be back!!! AAA+++
Jt***:Excellent quality leaves, and arrived sooner than expected.
Wa***: Huge bag of leaves FantasticQuality came under 2weeks AmazingPeople to deal with
Oz***: A++++++++++++++++ Amazing leaves THANK U!!!!! Fast delivery too!
Pa***: Excellent transaction, product. Everything received as promised. Fast shipper.
La***:Very pleased. Truly excellent communication and service. Thank you.
Pe***:Wonderful! More than I was expecting! thank you thank you and my fish thank you!
Ga***: Great product and quick shipping. A+
Mo***: The best almond leaves!!! Will buy from again and again.
Ba***:PERFECT. FAST. GREAT ITEM. MANY THANKS. MERCI +++++
Sn***:very friendly courteous response and service my shrimp love them!!!!
Pet***:Great product, great price, very fast delivery. Top e-bayer. Thank you.
Ol***:Fast Delivery, Great quality, mellow aroma, will buy again!!! Bettas loved it..


Your leaves will be packed into a ziploc bag and will be shipped out to you in an envelope by the next working day of receiving payment by Paypal (you will find my Paypal account in the notification of Purchase from Aquabid. If not, be sure that you will receive an email from me).

About Me

I am actually a homemaker... who has become quite an expert on Terminalia catappa leaves, having sold more than 500,000 leaves to satisfied customers mostly through Aquabid & Ebay (read testimonials below). I started picking and selling Ketapang leaves initially as a project for my children. You see, we want them to be responsible for their own pets (fish and hamster etc). So we thought of a way for them to earn their own pocket money to buy their pet supplies (of course we do not require them to pay for anything else -- we just want them to learn responsibility in regard to their pets).

Since my husband occasionally collects the Ketapang leaves for breeding his bettas and shrimps; we decided to collect more to sell. Not realising that there were others selling the leaves at much higher price, we began to sell it at a price we thought to be reasonable. We did not increase the price a lot even when we knew about other suppliers. So our price is extremely competitive for such good quality leaves-- regardless of whether you are buying a few or in bulk.

Today my children still collect some of the leaves whenever they can, and my retired father has also joined in the effort. I reimburse them for whatever they collect. But I now do all the quality control... rejecting sometimes up to 80% of the leaves collected. These leaves that are rejected are thrown away if they are too bleached (and therefore thin and useless and will not tan the water) or too green (and therefore will pollute the water if used, or will become mouldy in transit). If the leaves are torn but still thick and useable, they are set aside for sale as Grade C leaves (sold by weight).

The whole process of picking, washing, quality control and packing involves quite a lot of work and time. But it supplements our modest family income.

Product

Ketapang or Sea Almond or Indian Almond or Terminalia catappa leaves are known to most, if not all Asian breeders of blackwater tropical fishes, to be one of the best water conditioners to promote healing and breeding. They are known to have antibacteria and antifungal properties. Bettas are known to be induced to spawn by just putting a few of the leaves into their tank. Fish suffering finrot or injuries (such as spawning injuries) will definitely benefit from having the leaves in their quarantine tub. But they can be used for the usual aquariums too.

When soaked in water these leaves will leach a strong brown dye that is full of organic acids like humic acids and tannic acids. These may be useful for inhibiting many types of bacteria as well as to detoxify harmful heavy metals found in the aquarium. But that is not all!

Referring to leaves from the Terminalia catappa tree, Dr Robert J. Goldstein (not the podiatrist- wannabe terrorist of Florida; but the aquarist and environmental consultant of North Carolina who wrote numerous book on fish-keepings), writes in his 2002 paper entitled 'Water Conditioners and Additives':

The large, leathery leaves are used in folk medicine to treat infections, indigestion, and other medical conditions. The water extract makes a pharmacologically powerful tea… In southeast Asia, betta breeders add a dried leaf to provide a surface for the bubblenest and to leach substances that protect the fry from diseases. As the leaves decay, they also provide detritus to grow extract-resistant infusoria for the babies. Of 35 aromatic (ring structure) substances identified from these leaves, noteworthy were benzene-acetaldehyde, acetones, and sabinen-hydrate. The first is strongly antimicrobial, and several of the 35 others destroy microbial cell membranes.

And he adds:

"So these leaves are not simply sources of stains and tannins and other acids as we would get from oak or hickory, but rich in many other kinds of complex and highly effective chemicals with a wide range of physiological and antimicrobial effects."

Most of your leaves will be between 7-10" (and sometimes reaching up to 12"). They are selectively collected from leaves that have naturally fallen and of good quality. See my introduction above, and see photo for indication of quality (colour hue may vary from batch to batch, but all leaves that are greenish or smell green are rejected). And yes, in case you are wondering, the leaves in the photo are crispy dry.

You may wish to note that our leaves are selective picked from those that have naturally fallen from the trees after turning red in a natural chemical/biological process. These are the leaves that tan the blackwater streams in the forest where bettas and arowanas are found. We do not harvest fresh leaves from the trees and dry them. If we do that, the leaves will look very nice and indeed easier to obtain; but we doubt their efficacy for aquatic use. My husband will never use such leaves; and we do not know of any tropical fish breeder who will. All the breeders we know who use Ketapang Leaves will only use naturally fallen and dried ones. Indeed, if you try these naturally fallen leaves once, you will probably never go back to freshly harvested leaves! They have an aromatic smell that freshly harvested leaves do not have (it was this sweet smell that first led breeders and herbalists to suspect that they have beneficial properties), and they have a reddish tinge absent from freshly harvested leaves.

Dosage

For bettas, put a 1-2 sq inch piece (or a quarter of a leaf) into each 1 gallons (4 litre) jar. For usual aquarium (with tetras, gouramis, arrowanas, apistos etc), put 2-3 leaves per 25 gallons (100 litres) of water for 14-21 days. Simply put the leaves into the aquarium. After 1-2 days the leaves will be water-logged and sink. Apart from their beneficial effects on the water, they will tan the water slightly (to a clear amber) and provide a very natural stream-bottom look to your aquarium. Alternatively, you can boil the leaves to make blackwater extract and dose when you need. Soaking the leaves in a bucket for a week will produce a similar result.

Quality Assurance

All our leaves goes through a four-level quality control: first at picking. We only pick leaves that are not green and not too bleached, whole, and not torn or have large holes (Indian Almond is one of the most delicious trees, so they very likely to get infested by caterpillars -- which in itself is a good indication that the tree is not covered with toxic substances). Our second level occurs at the washing and drying process. Some leaves are thrown away at these stage (e.g. leaves that are too dirty, or looks/smells bad). Our third level occurs at grade sorting. We are using a 3 grade system: Large quality (7"+), tiny quality (7"-) and lower grade. Lower grade leaves are those that are still usable but have tears from washing or have too many holes. These are sold at half price. Our fourth level quality control occurs at packing. As each leave is packed into the ziploc bag, some leaves which passed through the third level are downgraded.

Grade C Leaves are leaves that are still usable (in fact, we us! e these leaves ourselves), but have larger holes and tears. Most times you will find the quality of the leaves to be better than what you see in my photo.

Handling & Shipping

The leaves have been washed and dried and are ready for delivery. They should arrive in about 2 weeks for most destinations in US, UK and Europe. They may be used immediately upon arrival.

Utmost care is taken to ensure that your leaves arrive in a good condition. But since these leaves have cracks and tears anyway, and these cracks and tears do not affect the efficacy of the leaves, we will ship them in an envelop (unlike for Grade A leaves which are shipped in a box).

Shipping Cost

Airmail postage for this package will cost be about US$6.50, but this is included in the price for this package. Shipping is guaranteed through re-shipments at not extra cost to you. I have had customers who ended up with 2 packages at the price of 1 due to postage delays. My postage fee may appear to be little higher because of LARGER and thicker leaves as well as proper packaging. I don't earn anything from postage (everything you pay goes to the post-office), but I try to keep the price of my leaves low to make it affordable to you.

Price Guarantee

I keep my price low as a principle (For the LORD our Creator provides the leaves freely, and all I do is select, wash, dry, sort, pack and send!). I can guarantee that you cannot find the same quantity of similar quality leaves at a price (including Postage) that is lower than my Start Bid Price + Postage Fee.

Why Buy in Bulk (100+)?

Not only is it cheaper and you do not need to keep buying, but the leaves can be kept for many months without losing their beneficial properties. Ask me for reseller's discount if you would like to buy for resale. So I would encourage you to buy smaller quantities if you are new to the leaves and would like to try them out for yourself.

Testimonials

(These are unsolicited comments that came through the email when my customers received the leaves. They are used here with their permission... though I have kept their name anonymous for privacy sake except for one who urged me to go ahead to use his name)

A customer from Italy wrote:

"As I'm writing, I have the two ziplock bags with the leaves in front of me. The leaves appear to be in perfect condition. The colour and scent are lovely, I'm amazed by the quality and the sheer size of these leaves...I think I now have enough ketapang to last for a lifetime! I want to congratulate you on your excellent job in selecting and packing the leaves. I am totally pleased with this transaction."

An Australian customer (of Melbourne) wrote:

"I just want to let you know that the leaves are fantastic. The smell and quality is unbelieveable."

A US customer (Aquabid id: Shanna) wrote:

"I got them!... They are PERFECT!! Exactly what I wanted. I am SOOOOOO happy with the leaves!... I will be buying more as soon as these are gone. I will NEVER buy from anyone else ever again! ... The last person who sent me leaves sent TINY leaves that were still green!! What a waste of money..... the leaves weren't even mature! By buying from you I am assured that i am getting leaves that are MATURE, which have fallen from the tree naturally."

Another US customer (of Phoenix, Arizona) wrote:

"I just received your almond leaves... The size and quality of the leaves are excellent and my Bettas love them. I had two pair just spawn this morning after I put them in the spawning tank last night with a nice chunk of leaf. .... They really are the best I have seen -- rich and dark in color. Even the smell is a lot stronger than ones I have used previously. The other ones I have used never tinted the water but these do just like the Atison's Betta Spa I used to use."

Yet another US customer (of Naperville, Illinois) wrote:

"I recieved the Indian Almond Leaves, yesterday. They are some of the best quaility I've ever purchased. When I am running low, I will be purchasing more from you, every time!"

A customer from Ireland wrote:

"Just to let you know the leaves arrived today and I'm over the moon with them, the quality is great and they're a lovely big size - thanks so much! Very well packed too. I'll be sure to buy from you again when these run out... I really am happy with the quality of the leaves (and of course, the price!) - I bought some a while back from someone else on eBay and they were awful little things."

Thank you for reading.

Thank you in advance for your business and your confidence.

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Bid History:

Bidders		Bid Time		Bid		Comments
Elpmet (9/9)		Sep 6 2010 - 02:42:40 AM		$13.00

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