Meanwhile, the trees grow wild along our tropical coast. We collect them by hand, cure them in a climate-controlled facility, and ship them fresh from Far North Queensland.
Shredded Terminalia catappa leaves in reusable cotton bags
Hand-harvested & climate-cured
in Far North Queensland
Trees grown in tropical Cairns, harvested at peak tannin content.
Sealed facility, controlled humidity. Consistent quality year-round.
Zero chemical residue. Reverts to plain oxygen. Aquarium safe.
Every pack traceable. Ask us anything about your batch.
Fresh Australian tannin in the format that works for your setup.
10-15cm hand-graded leaves for community and betta tanks.
15-25cm+ premium leaves for discus, aquascaping and biotope.
Shredded Catappa in reusable muslin. No mess, precise dosing.
Almost every Catappa leaf sold in Australia is imported. Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand. The leaves travel weeks in shipping containers, sit in warehouses, and reach hobbyists months after they fell from the tree.
Tannin content degrades with age. Colour fades. Freshness matters.
Our leaves are harvested fresh, processed within days, and shipped direct from where the trees actually grow.
Best colour I've seen on Catappa leaves in ten years of keeping Caridina. Water tints immediately.
Finally an Aussie-made tea bag option. Convenience of Seachem at half the imported price.
The large leaves are actually large. Not the runty imports every shop sells and calls XL.
Every month a curated pack of fresh-season botanicals lands at your door. Skip any time. Cancel any time. Never run out again.
Four tiers based on tank count and hobby depth. Every one saves you money vs one-off ordering, and every one arrives fresh.
For 1-3 small tanks
For multi-tank hobbyists
Serious breeder volume
Premium curated
Match the pack size to how many tanks you keep and how much you dose.
Within 3-5 business days from Cairns. Batch fresh, ozone-sterilised, batch-dated.
Auto-shipped every 30 days. Never think about running out again.
Skip, pause, swap or cancel from your account anytime — no phone calls, no forms.
Yes, one click from your account dashboard. Going on holiday? Have too much stock? Just skip. We'll ship the next one on schedule.
Yes — swap any tea bags for extra whole leaves, or vice versa, up to your tier's total value. Adjust every month if you want.
Absolutely, any time. Upgrade or downgrade from your account. Takes effect from your next delivery.
One click, no questions asked. No lock-in contracts, no minimum term, no cancellation fees. Ever.
Yes — every state and territory, free shipping included in the subscription price. Regional and remote all covered.
Eight products across three ranges. All hand-harvested, all Australian, all batch-dated.
Subscribe and save up to 21% off retail. Fresh monthly delivery. Skip anytime.
See subscription tiers →Meanwhile, Australia's aquarium hobby imports the same leaves from the other side of the world. We started FNQ Botanicals because that made no sense.
Terminalia catappa — the tropical almond tree — thrives in the coastal climate of Far North Queensland. The trees drop their leaves twice a year, right on cue, exactly as they've done for millions of years.
We collect them by hand from mature trees across the Cairns region. Fallen leaves only, at peak tannin content — never green leaves, never anything sprayed or contaminated.
Every batch goes through a genuine four-stage process, unlike the ambient shed-drying most sellers use:
We're aquarium keepers ourselves. Our leaves go into our own shrimp and betta tanks. If we wouldn't dose our own fish with it, we won't sell it to you.
Ask us about your batch — we can tell you which weeks it was collected and how it was processed. We actually reply.
A look at how every leaf gets from a Cairns treeline into an aquarium anywhere in Australia.
Fallen leaves collected by hand at peak seasonal drop. Only fully senesced leaves — deep red, gold, or brown — enter our supply. Never green, never wind-damaged, never contaminated.
Leaves lay flat on insect-proofed screen frames inside our sealed coldroom facility. Temperature holds at 22°C, humidity below 55%. Consistent results year-round, not weather-dependent.
Every batch runs through a controlled ozone cycle. Kills mould spores, bacteria, and insect eggs — the same standard used by food processors and pharmaceutical producers. Ozone reverts to plain oxygen with zero residue. Nothing chemical touches your tank.
Every pack carries a batch number, harvest date, and pack date. Nothing sits in inventory long enough to lose potency. Ask us about your batch — we can tell you exactly what week it came from and what its journey looked like.
We supply LFS, distributors, breeders and aquascape studios across Australia and New Zealand. Consistent monthly stock, reliable freshness, proper shelf-ready packaging.
Stock the only Australian-made Catappa tea bag range on the market, alongside premium whole-leaf SKUs your customers can't find elsewhere.
Add Australia's premier locally-produced aquarium botanicals brand to your catalogue. Perfect fit alongside imported premium hardware and treatments.
Every other Catappa brand on the market is imported from Asia. We're the only genuine domestic producer at commercial scale. That story sells at retail.
Our shredded tea bag SKU is the only Australian-made version of the format. Imports retail at $25-30. Our RRP undercuts them meaningfully.
Year-round production from climate-controlled facility. No weather-dependent seasonal gaps. Monthly restocking guaranteed.
We'll respond within 48 hours with wholesale pricing, sample options, and lead times.