what size tank for small altums?

[falcon]

I am getting 10 small altums tomorrow. Would a 30g regular be fine as a quarantine tank? After that, they will go into 120g planted.

thank you

falcon

[N8DOGG]

the 120 will be great. anything else in the tank with them?

[falcon]

In the 120g I have harlequin rasboas, cardinals, rummy noses, clown loaches, cories, congo tetras and 3 discus. It might be getting too crowded in there once the altums grow a bit. But then again, I'm not sure if they won't reduce the population of cardinals, h.raboas, and rummy noses.

Are you suggesting to put them straight into the 120g tank without quarantine? That's asking for trouble.

falcon

[N8DOGG]

I like how we have 2 different post on the same topic. :)
I would Q them or anything of value. You don't want your discus to catch anything from them. The 30 would be ok they won't I would like to do a planted discus/angel tank in the future so if you have any pics it would be great to see them.

[SnakeIce]

Quote from angelsplus.com on recomended stocking levels for optimum growth

Nickel size bodies 1 angelfish per gallon
Quarter size bodies 1 angelfish per 2 gallons
Silver dollar size bodies 1 angelfish per 3 gallons
Stock ready to be paired 1 angelfish per 5 gallons
Full grown breeding pair 20 gallon tall

[clayt101]

I have 4 Altums and the are beaytiful fish. How large are they? If they are small, I think the 30 gallon will do. Were they previously quarintined before you got them? From what I understand, initial losses of Altums are pretty high. BTW, I think a 20 gallon is too small for a breeding pair.

[falcon]

Thanks guys for your replies.

I got a 65g just for them. It is 36x18x24, so it's pretty tall. I think this should accomodate them into adulthood, if they survive that is. They're probably silver dollar size or a bit larger.

As far as I know they were quarantined. Now, they have a tank to themselves, so this is not an issue. Someone told be not to keep altums with any domestic fish, especially discus and angels, as they will make the altums sick. So, went with that and made it an all altum tank. Will probably add 3 corries in there and 2 albino bristlenose after I convert it into a planted tank. For now, it's barebottom.

Clayt, what pH are you keeping yours in? Mine came in with a pH of 6.4. I was trying to match that, tried a bit of peat, I have some mopani wood in the tank that's leaking tannins now and it should help with the pH. I also added a little of vinegar. Checked the pH today and it's 7.6. A bit too high, but will try to bring it down over the next couple of weeks. Oh, and I also put in 8g or RO water into the tank.

What is everyone using to lower their pH?

Once it is planted, I can maintain the pH at around 6.7-6.8 with CO2 injection and maybe lower still a bit with peat moss. I will see if I like that color of water.

They went into the tank by one o'clock this morning and by 7:30 all were still swiming. That's the good news.

falcon

[N8DOGG]

good to hear you altums are in a good home. Post any pics if you can.

[falcon]

yes, will do that. The water's getting pretty murky with all the tannings leaking in so the visibility is not that great. Will see if it makes the difference with the light on. If not, will wait for the water change.

falcon

[clayt101]

Well you are going to be shocked to hear this, but mine are actually kept at a pH of about 8, and they are doing great. I got them from an awesome store in Buffalo, NY. They were acclimated there to a pH of about 7.5, so my adjustments were pretty easy (in fact, I just put them in my tap water). Now they are pretty large...I would say about 7 inches from fin to fin. I have 4 in a 110 gallon. Believe it or not, I also have discus in the aquarium. I currently have 2 discus in there, both about 50 cent size, and they are doing great. I was worried that the discus would not be able to compete for food, but they have no trouble what so ever. One thing that I do is quarintine every new fish that I get. The last thing that you want to do is introduce ick to your new expensive fish.

As far as tips to acclimating the fish, here is the link to a good angel fish forum:
http://www.angelfish.net/yabbse/index.php

Check out my website for some pics of my Altums from a few months ago.

[falcon]

Clayt, I checked out your web site. That's a nice setup you have in there.

Guys, do you find altums to be very skitish? The only time I see them is from a distance when I quietly put my head into the room. As soon as they see me, they take off like torpedos and take cover. Is this because they're wild? I hope they will come around. For now, the tank is on the floor and this might be contributing to the problem. Will be getting a stand this week, so should have them up on the stand by the weekend.

Will post some pics as soon as I do water changes and the water clears from the tannins and most importantly as soon as they come out of hiding.

falcon

[SnakeIce]

I understand that the higher your tank is the better because your head moves slower than your feet when you are walking. you are less likely to spook your fish with it up on a stand.

[DTs]

I have 4 Altums in a 90g planted tank with some cardinals. They are very shy. However, they've learned to recognize me and are no longer overly shy, although quick movements send them swimming for cover.

The back of my tank is painted black which I think they like.

I had a tough time getting Altums that were in any kind of "ok" shape after shipment. The first two shipments arrived dead. The third, only one died. I found that I had to put them directly into my planted tank because they were stressing in the barren looking 30 gallon quarantine. After a couple of days of them barely eating, I dumped them in the 90 and they did fantastic. I've had them for several months now and they continue to perfectly. Wonderful fish. Good luck with yours.

[biogirl361]

does anyone know if it is possible to buy tank bred altums yet? i just hate the thought of taking them out of the wild, especially if there is a high mortality rate from doing such.

[PumaWard]

Not sure if they're tank bred, but you might want to check out www.wilddiscus.com , Al recently put up a thread over at simply saying he had them for sale.

Check out this thread..
http://www.simplydiscus.com/forum/index.php?board=22;action=display;threadid=20659

[clayt101]

There is an article in the July 2002 issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist about breeding Altums. Its a good read. In addition, if you go to the forum I mentioned above, in the wild section, there is a thread about Altums being bred and a link to a place where you can get some captive bred ones.

[falcon]

Yes, you can get altums now tank raised. I think fourth or fifth generation. They usually come from horst linke(sorry, not sure about the name and the spelling). If really interested I can dig up the link to give you some background on them and the who is selling them.

falcon

[biogirl361]

i found that website, thanks a lot.. glad to hear you can buy them tank raised now. i am not looking into getting any anytime soon, but i just hate capturing and bringing into captivity wild fish, unless it is for breeding more so that other people don't have to take wild ones out, or to guard them against extinction, or whatever. i just feel bad for the fish. especially these beautiful ones!