Altum or Long Nose Angel

[vinccc2003]

Hi,
Anyone has any idea where I can get the above?
Not a lot of shop selling as the owner told me that the fatality rate very high for Altum.
Any advise?

[joydiv]

The shop at blangah rise has the long nose angel the last time i visited. Fairly big specimen and healthy.

[vinccc2003]

Yes. My long nose is from there. But i am searching whether are there any others around the west...

[zenscape]

Altums are wild caught and they are vulunerable during and after long transportation and that is why most LFS are unwilling to take risk. Also, they are not that cheap.

Gan Aquarium of Neo Tiew is one of the bigger suppliers of Altums. But do give Mr Gan a call before you go there as Altums come with seasons.

[blim]

You can try calling Sea View. They import altums and distribute to LFS and they also keep some for retail sale. I got 6 juvenile altums from them in July. I took extra effort to minimise the ph shock when I got them. Now, they are healthy and are growing very fast in my tank.
This is what I have gone through: I asked sea view to pack the fish with extra water from their holding tank. The ph was below 6. They told me ph was below 6 when they received the fish from the exporter. I prepared a quarantine tank and adjusted the ph to 6 while the altums were left in the bag for 24 hours, I put in an airstone and kept the rate low so that not to stress the fish. After 1 day, I transfered the altums from the bag to the quarantine tank. I did partial water change (with overnight tap water and ph adjusted) every other day for the next 3 weeks. I fed them with small amount of frozened bloodworms. My quarantine tank was put in a quiet corner with dim light so that they were not disturbed. During the 3 weeks quaranine, I slowly adjusted the ph towards 6.5.

This is the success story. But I was not successful with 2 altums I bought later from another LFS. When I picked up the 2 altums from their so called seasoned tank, I asked for more water from the tank. But to my disappointment when I measured the ph, it was 7. The LFS brought in the altums just a day before I bought them, so you can imagine these altums had gone through a ph shock. Actually most of the altums in the LFS were showing sign of fins rot. I had to maintain the ph at slightly below 7 to avoid another shock. One week later, the 2 altums died although I had been extra careful with them.

My premature conclusion is: The high fatality rate could be due to the failure to maintain ph during the process - from the river to the exporter to the importer to the LFS.

[vinccc2003]

Very good and detail advise. Thanks very much.
I will visit one of this shop to take a look.
Yes, I saw a lot of the LFS having their Altum half dead or fin rot, very heart ache. Such a nice fish and was not properly cared of.

By the way, long nose is more adaptive right?
Any picture of your Altum?

[blim]

I posted 2 pictures a month ago when they were in the quarantine tank in the following thread

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...t=22280&page=2

[tjh1995]

I saw sea view in seletar fish farm selling.

[vinccc2003]

Hi,
I saw that in the paper. But no time to go there.
Did you go? How's it?

[blim]

I went on sunday. The altums are not in the tanks in their retail shop. They were kept in the holding tanks at the back of the shop. Normally the back are out of bound to retail customers but they allowed me to go in. There are more than five tanks and each are holding maybe 50 altums or more. The size is about 20cent coin, I did not stay long to examine the altums, they look ok but appear frightened. I understand the altums arrived only a few days ago. Sea View sells altums in a pack of six as they want to avoid frightening the fish if customers pick and choose.

[vinccc2003]

thanks for your detail reply.
I think I will go this weekend. At least more stablise after shipping to their place.

[Simon]

IMO, Altums are hardy, I personally have kept them and they are so much easy than many fishes. Climatization for all fishes is important, since the water from the source is different. Usually over a period of 2 hours for climatizing is good for me. Gan's altums are one of the better ones around, although I got mine from the taiwanese shop in serangoon north

[blim]

I am new to altums and I have never seen any Gan's or the Serangoon taiwanese shop's altums before. However the altums I saw recently at some LFSs were miserable. All with rotted fins and looked half dead. Maybe they were the leftover. So, I think it is safer to buy from the importer. I understand Gan imports altums, has anyone seen them lately?

[Simon]

no, it is not altum season now, best to do more research before taking the plunge. I also recommend feeding them with variation of feeds, I give them flakes, frozen bloodworms and beefheart, the biggest one I had was 17inches, measured from the tip of the anal to the dorsal fin

[vinccc2003]

IMO, when you want to go to Gan's, which is way deep into the neo tiew lane, give them a call to check their stock. You never wish to make an empty trip.

However, they may have others which may burn your pocket too. Since you are way deep into the jungle..8-)

[blim]

no, it is not altum season now, best to do more research before taking the plunge. I also recommend feeding them with variation of feeds, I give them flakes, frozen bloodworms and beefheart, the biggest one I had was 17inches, measured from the tip of the anal to the dorsal fin

I thought the altum season started in July and will end around september or october?

How I wish my altums take interest in other foods. They are only interested in the frozen bloodworms at the moment.

[Simon]

you need to give them time to get use to the food