[foxbat426]

i have 5 small altum angelfish that are being shipped on here on thursday. these are true altums. any suggestions on acclimation, feeding etc etc from experianced keepers appreciated. thx, john

 

[David Hui]

Nice, where are you getting these fish from?

 

[foxbat426]

i lucked out. i'm getting them from another hobbiest who purchased 5 when they were available from a few sources about 3 months ago. he's selling them now because he's headed overseas and won't be able to care for them. i've breed and kept many discus in the past, but never had altums.

 

[DavidZ]

Very nice fish, acclimate with a drip method, low light and take your time. Ask the seller for his water parameters and see what is the difference.
Should be no big deal.
Not much different from you keeping discus.
Just watch for aggression.
What is your setup?
I would ask what they are being fed and vary the diet, use good quality food(hikari frozen and new life spectrum is my choice, maybe some kens)

 

[nikonD70s]

if your buying from a 2nd hand person local then your a step ahead as he prolly acclimated them to your area's water and are already quarintined. but you should do it again just in case. dont be surprise if they start dying.i have 1 big one. amazing fish. good luck.

 

[blackandyellow]

I had a bad experience with them so I´ll share it. I bought 4 about 5 months ago, they were dime size babies. At first they looked healthy but one died the same day I placed them in my tank. They were "supposedly" quarantined but as soon as I placed them in my tank they developed a sort of body fungus that looks like cotton / whitish things which is very common in Colombian Altums. I had to treat my whole tank and all the other fish survived except for the Altums. All the other fish I had were perfectly healthy.

They were very picky eaters, they would go after every type of food, but always spit it after trying it (everything from flake, pellets, freeze dried tubi and bloodworm to live brine shrimp).

My recomendation is to quarantine them and treat them for fungus, give them their own tank and place plant clippings for them to hide. Tank conditions should be similar to a discus tank in terms of temp and ph/hardness.

 

[kimba]

I just got 8 pcs of Altum Angels yesterday from aonther hobbiest as well after pestering him for nearly 2 weeks. I believe AA prefers softer water conditions,my tank PH is around 6.5 -6.8 These newly added AAs will have the same diet as my Cardinal Tetras - micro pellets. They love it though....
But I really don't know whether are they true altums? What does 'true' means? Wild caught from South America?

Faxbat, what is the damage for 5 pcs of AA you got? Just wanna do a comparison.

Here are some pictures I took a while ago.

 

[Green Leaf Aquariums]

Hmm, those look like P.Scalare.

Regardless, very nice fish.

 

[nikonD70s]

Hmm, those look like P.Scalare.

Regardless, very nice fish.

^this

 

[kimba]

How to differentiate Altum vs Scalare?

 

[kimba]

Hmm, those look like P.Scalare.

Regardless, very nice fish.

Indeed! They are not Altums....so embarrassed:frown: After searching/reading and found out that they are just as what Orlando had mentioned. Have called up the ex-owner and going to send those 8 P.Scalare back to him and get full refund.:angryfire

 

[DavidZ]

hard to tell from these pics
but Although wild phenotypes of P. Altum and P. Scalare sometimes share the trait of having their dorsums flecked with reddish-black dots. Only the Altum will have a second dark head bar, though faint, running down between the dark bar passing through the eye and the bar starting at the base of the first dorsal spine. The unpaired fins of the Altum do not have the light markings that are exhibited on the P. Scalare. The mouthparts of the Altum are notably extended away from the front of the head, much more than the P. Scalare. Altums have a curious habit of "yawning". If you have a chance to watch this happen, you will see that when fully opened, their mouths are much larger than they actually appear when closed.



Read more at Suite101: Altum Angelfish | Suite101.com http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tropical_fish/100992#ixzz0Z6zglPRz



http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tropical_fish/100992

 

[Green Leaf Aquariums]

Definitely P.Scalare

 

[DavidZ]

are the neons still around? You best find a new place for them.

 

[kimba]

DavidZ,thanks for the explaination. I also notice the mouth part of the Altum vs Scalare. Spend 20 minutes sitting in front of my tank to observe. Bingo!!!!!
Anyway,those 8 Scalares are pretty small, all my cardinals still happily swimming around...
Btw, does Altums cost a lot per piece at where you are? In Singapore,it's going like SGD 25 for a young one.

 

[Green Leaf Aquariums]

Thats about right I would say for juvis.

These are wild caught.

 

[DavidZ]

not easy top find, you could check with Chris at http://www.amazontropicalsonline.com/index.html

 

[DavidZ]

very nice, they need a lot of loving and a big tank!

 

[blackandyellow]

Hope you can get your refund. What the seller "could" say is that they are "peruvian" altum, which are just a close cousin to the domestic scalare. Another thing that called my attention is that they already have red eyes, which means they are not that young anymore and could be stunted.

Real Altums don´t have red eyes

 

[DavidZ]

Where did you see the red eyes?
Main thing that they are great looking fish and enjoy them.
They could be a mix, with a wild strand.
Hard to find pure Altums.