Altum angelfish and discus

[vera]

Vera,

I have 2 of 6 original Altums that are 7 yrs old but starting to show thier age. The biggest one that died was 12" tall. Trying to find a photo.
The other group of 6 (dime size body) I got last Aug /09 from Oliver(Belowwater).
They are now 3"-4" body and 9" tall with fins.

...Ralph

OMG , must be stunners in reall life!! would love to c their pcs

[mathao]

I have a 55gal tank with a sand bottom. My temp is 84. I would like to keep some altums. Will they work with discus if so where can I buy some?

just make sure you put the discus in first before you put in the altums, the altums get territorial if they pair up, i have a pair that will attack anything that moves to thier side of the tank,and i put them in last, so noe they are living in a 29g which is kinda small for them because they are getting bigger, they are now at 4.5in and still growing.

[rocco]

My tank 150 gal has been up and running for a week now no fish yet was thinking,discus,cardinal tetras and altum angels, decided I will do discus only,I love these fish I had discus before for about 18 months doing great added some new fish and it messed everything up.

[tbone83]

yes can be done,
but make sure to quarentine the altums with 50/50 pima-melafix and fluke and tape worm tabs before adding them or else they will carry parasites to your discus and then DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hoboken Ed]

Is there anyone that will ship Altums to North Jersey?

[Jennie]

houston aquarium expecting some in and will ship

[hironobu]

You're gonna love the combination. I do enjoy watching my Altums swimming with my wild RSGs in a 120G. Like everyone else said both discus and altums will grow to be big fish but unless there are pairs formed they should all be fine. I also have cardinal tetras, silver tip tetras, cories, and plecos in the tank. Everyone is happy. (8 discus and 4 Altums)

[Hoboken Ed]

houston aquarium expecting some in and will ship

Thanks,

Would you have the contact info?

[Jennie]

sorry my bad, it was gulf coast discus
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumd...-Houston-Texas

[Hoboken Ed]

Thanks, I just sent him an email.

[Jennie]

Be warned, it can take some time for him to respond

[Hoboken Ed]

He answered my email today. He's got some in stock.

[Jennie]

well, I'll let you be the guinea pig! If they Live for awhile post in livestock review. No One ever posts on the altum angels so???

[inmisawa]

So is everyone recommending wild discus with Altums? Or can you mix them with all discus? Thanks.

[JeffreyRichard]

So is everyone recommending wild discus with Altums? Or can you mix them with all discus? Thanks.

Wild TRUE Altums come from the Orinoco River system in Columbia and Venezuela ... there are no native discus found in this region. A truer companion from a biotope perspective would be scalare or leopoldi. In Peru, RSGs and Peruvian Scalare (sometimes SOLD erroneously as Peruvian Altums) cohabitate. Certainly Rio Negro Scalare (Santa Isabella, for instance) can be found with certain discus.

That said, Altums can make perfectly good companions with discus. However, you should be aware that wild Altums are "china dolls" compared with a wild discus ... they are extremely intolerant of anything less than pristine water conditions, and will break down quickly. The going advice is to keep altums at 84-85 degrees, use RO (minimal hardness) and a pH below 6.

I have purchased 4 groups of altums over the past 3 years, and I have 3 remaining to show for it ... out of 50. I've bred angelfish commercially for over 10 years, and kept angels and discus since 1985, so I'm somewhat knowledgable about the subject. I suggest if you are looking to keep altums, you spend some time at The Angelfish Study Group forum (http://www.finarama.com/forum/) as there are several experts on Altums there with some excellent recommendations on acclimating altums.

And whoever posted the nonsense about the mysterious "angelfish parasite" that kills discus doesn't know what they are talking about ... any un-quarantined wild fish is capable of spreading disease to established fish in an aquarium, not just angelfish.