Altums Aggressive?

[renrub]

Got 6 altums recently, 1 died with no reason (this is not the issue).

I originally have 15 cardinals and 10+ yamatos, 20 mixed blue, bee and tiger shrimps in the tank. When i introduced the altums, my cardinal population was reduced to 9 and my yamatos left with 5 and no more blue, bee and tiger shrimps.

Do altums attack the fishes? How can i stop them from being so aggressive. Please advice.

[Simon]

[quote:36a9544188="renrub"]Got 6 altums recently, 1 died with no reason (this is not the issue).

I originally have 15 cardinals and 10+ yamatos, 20 mixed blue, bee and tiger shrimps in the tank. When i introduced the altums, my cardinal population was reduced to 9 and my yamatos left with 5 and no more blue, bee and tiger shrimps.

Do altums attack the fishes? How can i stop them from being so aggressive. Please advice.[/quote:36a9544188]

Its their predator nature to hunt for their food.. especially shrimps and other tetra.. these are their diet.. you can add more hiding places for them.. but from what i observed, the hunting of fishes are sometimes out of curious rather than hunger

[msmurf]

sori renrub long pang ur post hope u dun mind. was abt to post n coincidencely saw ur post first in e list. hee.....

hi simon,

just come home with a altum abt 5'' top fin to bottom. after addin to my 5ft tank then start to wory cos i hav tetra, yamato etc. hence hav some quries.

1, havin on 1 altum will make it more aggressive?
2,
3,
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qn 2 onward has been anwsered. tks.

[Simon]

for SA cichids, its better to have them in groups of 5 or more... having just 1 would be too stressful and not having the numbers will too... In a group of cichlids, they have establish the hierachy order or what most people call the 'Pecking order'. The more aggressive fish (usually the males will fight for position in the group) when this happens, the weaker ones will get bullied and if there isn't enough numbers in the pack, the same weak fish will be bullied everytime... eventually stressing it to death (at times)

One thing I observed from Altums are, they are having timid when the lights are on... once the lights goes off, they become stalkers and prey on fishes... They have the instinct of a wolf, hunting in packs and cornering their prey... though most of the time, fishes are simply killed for fun.. can't say the same to shrimps :P

My previous batch of altums (sizes on an average of around 17 inches) were great hunters and they do not appear timid like some I saw.. The first time I added some new pencilfishes into the tank during lights on, the moment, the fishes went in.. I witnessed one of my Altums has already snapped a pencil fish in half. So from that day on, I added new fishes only when the lights are off. One very distinct hunting technique is the 45 degree attack.. everytime, I see an attack, they usually displaying that pose

Altums are well known for their aggression and 'Anything that is everything that fits into their mouth, prolly ends there'

If you want your Altums to grow up big and pretty, feed them stuff like beefheart. I feed mine an assorted array of food (beefheart, bloodworm, flakes and of cause, the occasionally snack from my tetra collection)

[budak]

Why don't people learn? Find out about the fish's habits and requirements before you even consider buying it....... if you buy an aggresive or predatory fish, nothing in the world can make it change its genetically-encoded behaviour or become vegetarian.......

[msmurf]

tks simon.

haa.. budak i actually got it by impulse despite knowing thier aggressiveness. besides, i used to hav them. just overlook at tt moment. think will transfer them to my 4ft once tank is ready. btw tks for ur soil.