Altum fish related query

[cloud]

At present I am keeping 13pcs of 5" wild atlum in my lotus only planted tank

Can I add in another 2 or 3 pcs more of a similiar size

My tank size is a 5' x 2' x2' glass tank

My atlum feed on tetrabits regularly and if the new purchase atlum feed only on bloodworm at the LFS or farm will they be able to adapt to dried food or will they strave themselve to die

Any members had had any experience

In the LFS or farm it is always mention that atlum is wild but how can we judge eg. Mr. So and so supply of atlum can we request for clarification or the only choice is to trust them

Your comment is very much appreciated....

[Simon]

problem with adding more (supposely of the same size) is fine, but if you are introducing smaller ones, I shall advise you not to, as the bigger, more adapted ones in your tank at the current stage will bully the new comers. Altums sold normally comes from the wild, very little documentation on breeding of Altums in captivity. Heard that 1 such breeder in Taiwan and another one in German that has successful bred them. I doubt what you got are tankbreds

feeding habits need time to adapt to, having existing altums in your tank wouldnt make the task any simpler for the newcomers. try not to add any more altums

[akoh]

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At present I am keeping 13pcs of 5" wild atlum in my lotus only planted tank

Can I add in another 2 or 3 pcs more of a similiar size

My tank size is a 5' x 2' x2' glass tank

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Hi Cloud !, the general Guideline is 2 litres for 1 cm of fish ( for medium size fish ). Hence a " very rough " approx. volume of your tank is about 450 litres and that work out to about 225 cm of fish. Your current loading is already about 75% ( 5"x2.54x13=165 cm )of the spec. Reckon you shouldn't add any more fishes coz' alot of other factors have not taken into consideration such as - How often you feed your fish ? , How often you do partial water change ? , What and how efficient is your filtertaion system ?. Hope this bit of information helps ! Cheers ! []

Safe Diving !
akoh

[lsz]

I am not sure about the situation of the trade of Altums.

But one thing very common with wild south american fish is the presence of brown spots on the bodies. THey are parasites that do not affect the fish as their main hosts are actually birds that prey on the fish.

[kunner]

Hi Cloud, please take note of the potential size the altum can grow, I have just one altum in my wild disucs tank, this fellow grow to near 7" now (from head to tail) []
Altum can grow up to very big size if they are given good diet and space. Ever saw a gaint 10" Altum at Gan FF back in Old Tampines Rd day.

[kenny_G]

hi all,

Don't mind me hi-jacking this tread, is any kind soul out there kindly tell me anything they know about altum angel? things like environment, current, lighting, water parameters habits......etc... thanks

ken

[Simon]

Kenny,

they are similar to scalara, acidic and softwater is advisable, they tend to hide when there are tall plants, predators in nature, they hunt during the night when the lights goes off. (prey consist of shrimps, tetra, pencil fish or anything that looks attractive or tasty) There is a Altum saying (Anything that can fit into their mouth, will end up in there) Altum do best in a group of 5-6, in the group they will establish a hierachy. if you intend to keep them, make sure your tank is at least 2ft in depth, give enough hiding places for your other fishes and them

[ikan]

I am jealous when I read about your altums. We finally can buy altum angel here in Perth Australia. Body size 3 cm price $99 each [:0] [:0] [:0] Only 3 left from 15.

[Simon]

[:0] [:0] [:0] Fwoah... very costly to keep fishes in Aust.

[carlfsk]

Yos ikan, which part of Perth you got the altum?

Just came back from there. Didn't manage to locate any LFS except for one 'Pet City' around Joodalup area. Boy, the pricing there is a little steep. I wonder how the owner price the fish. Some are reasonable while some is illogical.

[ikan]

Joondalup is quite far North of Perth. The shop is South of Perth near the city. I don't think I have been to Pet City in Joondalup, they usually only sell commonly available fish.

Yes, fish keeping is an expensive hobby here unless you only keep guppy or goldfish. Price of discus also still expensive, I couldn't believe that $30 can buy you nice 4 - 5" discus when I went to Petmart at Clementi last time.

They think that it's difficult to keep altum alive pass the two weeks quarantine time here. It doesn't make sense since they are readily available in Singapore all year round.
How much it cost for 4 cm head to tail size altum in Singapore?

[Simon]

ikan, we dont usually get them at that size.. but should be around $25

[ikan]

It's quarter of the price here, probably still feel expensive there in comparison to other fish. I know what I like to get from Singapore: planted tank with few altums, wild heckel, zebra plecos, top quality rams and apistos.
I can just picture it in my head, it's cheaper[] []. Can be pretty expensive to turn a dream like that into reality over here.