Hekel Altums

[amyers]

I got these three fishes from David of Angelfish USA last month. He said they are called Hekel Altums and are some kind of mutation of the original Altums that his supplier Tony Tan is working with. He said they are the only ones in the USA at present and has challenged me to grow them out as large as possible with the mainly live and frozen blackworm diet that I feed my fish. They are about a year old he said and are presently 6 inches tall. I thought I should share their pictures with you all and keep you updated as time goes by on their progress. I am really a discus person but there is something about these angels I like. Any technical questions on these I will have to ask David to help answer since my knowledge on these is limited.

[CrazyAngels]

Amyers, I love those and I can't wait to see them in a few months. There is something that does bother me though, in one of your pictures I see you you have a fancy goldfish with them. I would not have it with them as goldfish are notoriously dirty and I would hate to loose those angels. Also the temp in the tank of the angels is a lot warmer than that goldfish should be at I would think. I keep all my angels at same temp as discus..

Best of luck growing them out.

[amyers]

Thanks George, The goldfish is an Oranda that I bought last month also, from what I read that type can withstand high temperatures. The tank is a 75gal being kept at 84 degrees F. It's an experiment really, I've noticed that goldfish does a very good job at digging into gravel and cleaning up eaten food between the gravel, better than the Corys, which I do have also, so I put one in one of my tanks to see what happens. So far I'ts working, in this tank I don't see any bits of pellets and other uneaten food when vacuuming. I know its odd but its just an experiment, if it isn't working out he will be taken out. If it does well, the other tanks will probably see one.

[plecocicho]

They look like domesticated rio negro altum aka the real pterophyllum scalare. Our domestic angelfish come from a different, probably whitewater species,which is also smaller than the real scalare

[amyers]

They look like domesticated rio negro altum aka the real pterophyllum scalare. Our domestic angelfish come from a different, probably whitewater species,which is also smaller than the real scalare

OOOPS ! I'm stumped here, I will have to ask David to clarify this for us and tell us more about these.

[fredyx]

+1 about the pterophyllum scalare idea they miss the typical nose of the altums 100% sure

[Moon]

The notch at the nose is missing but they do have some Altum characteristics. My take is that these are hybrid Altum/Scalare

[lipadj46]

Nice fish regardless with nice dark bars and the heckel like lighter center bar

sent from an undisclosed location using morse code

[eric88]

exciting new strain for angelsB-)

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[Ryan]

The barring pattern is cool, but something is throwing me off about their body shape. They do not feel like typical angels to me. I've never known angel species to hybridize in aquariums but these do appear to be some kind of hybrid. The bars scream P. altum but the body shape and shorter profile/fins suggest otherwise.

[angelfishusa]

They look like domesticated rio negro altum aka the real pterophyllum scalare. Our domestic angelfish come from a different, probably whitewater species,which is also smaller than the real scalare

They are 100% Orinoco Altum Angelfish. Parents wild which make them F1. Tony had 4 pairs of altums which produced close to 30,000 fry in 1 1/2 years for him. 2 pairs were very productive. These 2 pairs always produced some fry missing the 3rd bar completely. And the last 2-3 spawns almost 100% were missing the 3rd bar. He has over 200 of these approaching breeding age now. And we will see what they produce. I am guessing will product normal bar altum, but Jeffrey Tan thinks it is a complex gene in the fish.

[nikond70s]

these are prolly the culls from the bunch or the undesireable ones. or the results of massive captive breeding. appearance wise. only true altum traits i see from these guys are the thick bars that only altums have and that neon blue-ish hue on their head. besides the thick bars they look like domestics. or maybe it was F1-2 altums x with domestics. thus, that domestic shape with the altum bars. and at 1 year of age these guys are small for altums. or just stunted altums. and im sure these are limited cuz nobody has the desired to import them.

[eric88]

looks altum step into discus path, getting more demostic strain now.

Tony should be written in bio history for his such contribute :thumbup:

btw: my dream right now is to get a breeding pair altums!!!

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[angelfishusa]

these are prolly the culls from the bunch or the undesireable ones. or the results of massive captive breeding. appearance wise. only true altum traits i see from these guys are the thick bars that only altums have and that neon blue-ish hue on their head. besides the thick bars they look like domestics. or maybe it was F1-2 altums x with domestics. thus, that domestic shape with the altum bars. and at 1 year of age these guys are small for altums. or just stunted altums. and im sure these are limited cuz nobody has the desired to import them.

nope not rejects. and not cross. 100% true wild altum parents.

[angelfishusa]

looks altum step into discus path, getting more demostic strain now.

Tony should be written in bio history for his such contribute :thumbup:

btw: my dream right now is to get a breeding pair altums!!!

Sent from my LT15a using Tapatalk 2

I've been waiting close to 2 1/2 years. I have 44 adults. some about 16-17" in height. 7 confirmed pairs. All tony F1 Altums. With the tropical storm off our coast, I am finally hoping for my first 2 spawns tomorrow. Last night both male and female tubes started dropping. I have my fingers crossed!