Altum vs manacapura red shoulder angel fish

[ganesan]

It is tempting to keep angel fish with discus. I saw few altum in a local pet shop and was told by the shop keeper that they are f1 altum. They have been for about 7 days in the shop. My question is are altum good tank mates for discus and secondly which is better to keep with discus altum or manacapura red shoulder.

[brewmaster15]

At the end of the day , an Altum is a big Angelfish. They share the same behaviors. My experience with both Altums and P. scalares is the scalares are more aggressive. Probably because they are more likely to bred in captivity so you get the related pairing aggression in groups of them.

I did have a tank of Heckels with Altums and honestly did not like interactions in that tank.. young altums are food mongers like their scalare cousins.. Mature altums, seem more relaxed than the juveniles.

Behavior aside .. I really did not like the look of Altums and Heckels together in the tank. Its obviously subjective but the bars clash.... may just be because of my photography back ground but Looking at that tank bothered me.. whereas. Looking at a tank with either species alone was always soothing.
Al

[Willie]

I keep both altums and manacapurus currently, but keep them in separate tanks. These two types do not interact at all. While trivial, they also don't look good together. Altums are black/white/grey fish and look best in a tank with a black background and black substrate. High quality manacapurus need a nice warm light source and light color tank to show off their beautiful shoulder pigmentation.

Neither fish have been particularly aggressive in my tanks. In fact, my most aggressive angels are tank raised P. scalare. Altums are rather sedate, even compared to discus. I have discus and manacapurus together and the discus usually get to the food first.

[brewmaster15]

Willie, Thanks for sharing your experiences here also.

Al