Altum Angels, care and housing???

[Wbrecosky]

Hi, I just wanna start off by saying I currently have a 55 gallon system with a built in sump that leaves about 50 gallons of tank space to keep fish and plants. The tank will be emptied out in the next few months and my idea was that once I move my 6 discus over to their 100 gallon planted aquarium I could order a few Altum Angels for this setup and grow them out for an even larger tank like my 180 gallon (48x36x24) that I plan to keep wild caught discus and angles in. I know the tank I have planned is big enough to house these fish but I was just wondering how long the 55 gallon would hold them before they became to large for their setup because my 180 is currently broken down in the garage. I would like to start off with about 4-6 or these fish as I read they do better in groups and I was wanting to know if my tank is large enough to support this number of angles up to let's say 5-6 inches top to bottom? I've also read these fish can be tough to keep alive and that they require filtered peat water? And a established planted aquarium? I was just wondering compared to discus how these fish do in the aquarium? Can someone debrief me on these fish and their care? I would really like to purchase some but first I'd like to hear from someone who's already kept them to tell how they have kept them alive and flourishing?

[pascal]

Hi, I just wanna start off by saying I currently have a 55 gallon system with a built in sump that leaves about 50 gallons of tank space to keep fish and plants. The tank will be emptied out in the next few months and my idea was that once I move my 6 discus over to their 100 gallon planted aquarium I could order a few Altum Angels for this setup and grow them out for an even larger tank like my 180 gallon (48x36x24) that I plan to keep wild caught discus and angles in. I know the tank I have planned is big enough to house these fish but I was just wondering how long the 55 gallon would hold them before they became to large for their setup because my 180 is currently broken down in the garage. I would like to start off with about 4-6 or these fish as I read they do better in groups and I was wanting to know if my tank is large enough to support this number of angles up to let's say 5-6 inches top to bottom? I've also read these fish can be tough to keep alive and that they require filtered peat water? And a established planted aquarium? I was just wondering compared to discus how these fish do in the aquarium? Can someone debrief me on these fish and their care? I would really like to purchase some but first I'd like to hear from someone who's already kept them to tell how they have kept them alive and flourishing?

Hello,

Pterophyllum altum are very hard to acclimatize. They live in a quite acid environment in nature, resulting in very low bacterial load. For that reason, they are particular sensible to bacterial infections when kept in captivity the first months. They will need to be kept at low pH value and treated against parasites preventively. If you intend to buy this species, I would advise you to try to find captive bred and not wilds. Last years, they become regularly available in Europe. They are more tolerant against diseases and water parameters. Altums are at least as hard to keep as Symphysodon discus. So consider this before you start.

As this forum is excellent for discus, www.finarama.com is excellent for altums and wild angels. You will find a lot of information under the section Wild Angelfish.

[nikond70s]

4-6 altums are fine in a 55g. but they prefer taller tanks. at least 24" tall. but i would recommend 30" or taller tanks. i currently have 9 one year olds one in my 135g. and wish my tank was taller. as i believe the taller the tank the higher their fin will get. but with that said. altums are def more advance then discus. if u think discus are hard then altums will be a nightmare for u. i learned the hard way wasting thousands of dollars doing it my way and failing. acclimating them is the hardest part. after that, to me they are like any other fish. read read read before getting them.

[Altum Nut]

Altum's are not any more difficult then Wild Discus. If you get them healthy, your just that further ahead to a good start.
A planted tank is not required but you can add some driftwood furniture just for comfort.
Tannins, acidic water would be a good start during their grow-out stage but honestly I had a group in plain tap for 6 years without any issues.
Their fins do not grow in relation to how tall tank is...the truth is the right pristine water conditions and good diet such as live foods will do that.
Please refer to this well documented thread which will answer all you need to know if you choose to move ahead.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?120593-Pat-s-Altums-Take-2&highlight=wild+altums

...Ralph

[DISCUS STU]

I'm not an expert but I'v always loved Altum Angles ever since I saw an incredible collection at the San Francisco Aquarium. They were huge and magnificent. Here's a link to pictures on this site of some I saw at the same place, though not quit as incredible.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/album.php?albumid=670

I keep them but it's better to buy them small, 1 1/2" or so. Someone on this Forum usually has them for sale. At this size they will acclimate to your tanks and water conditions fairly easily and won't be very picky in regard to food. I do not use Peat or any other type of water conditioner and do my water changes directly from the sink using Prime. I normally keep them either with or without Discus but they will outgrow the 55 gal. within 6-9 months or so. As they get more crowded they will get progressively more aggressive toward each other.

So under the right conditions keeping Altums is completely viable though I've never had any success keeping larger wild caught specimens as they can often be immune compromised when they're received will often break down and die within 2 weeks of having been received in my tanks. When this occurs there seems to be absolutely nothing to do nor a good med or combination of meds that will stop and reverse this. The joke I used to make with some of the people at my lfs, which was a really good lfs, is that the only way to tell that you actually have true Altums is that they die on you. All black humor aside, this is very common and the main reason that lfs's, even the very best ones, won't touch them.

I've had some luck buying them at a medium size from one lfs but I did lose one from a batch of 5-6 from what appeared to be a relatively mild skin infection.

If you're thinking of buying them from a lfs you should ask them if it's possible to keep them in qt. for a few weeks before you buy them. The better ones will, if they won't then you may be buying something that's a ticking time bomb.

Here's on of mine from my planted 55 gal. Though this was really too small a tank to successfully keep them in for very long. This was from a group of 7 or 8 that I bought as adolescents at about 2 1/2-3" in height.

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