Altum Angelfish Care
- Thread starter Crispii
- Start date
Wild Altums are one of the hardest fish to keep. They ship very poorly and are hard to acclimate. Partly, due to exporter just catching them and exporting them asap. So they die easily, so not a lot of vendors bother getting them. They are now a lot easier to keep cuz they are QT and ph adjusted for awhile before leaving south America. Once u acclimate them they are pretty easy atleast for me. I sold my adults last year
Have you had any issues with keeping your Altums and are yours wild caught?
I’m not an expert but all of the comments/suggestions I received was:
1. Keep them healthy. Once the get sick, it’s hard to get them to recover back.
2. Keep the ph constant. Doesn’t matter if it’s at 5 or 7.5...as long as it’s constant. They don’t like ph swings.
3. Keep them in big tanks and tall.
4. Keep them at a place where they can see you coming right away so they don’t get spooked. They are known to darting and hitting the glass hard and killing them.
5. Get them used to your routine. The more they get used to movements, the better to get used to people.
6. Feed multiple times a day.Don’t let uneaten food sit at the bottom of the tank too long and rot.
Goodluck!
1. Keep them healthy. Once the get sick, it’s hard to get them to recover back.
2. Keep the ph constant. Doesn’t matter if it’s at 5 or 7.5...as long as it’s constant. They don’t like ph swings.
3. Keep them in big tanks and tall.
4. Keep them at a place where they can see you coming right away so they don’t get spooked. They are known to darting and hitting the glass hard and killing them.
5. Get them used to your routine. The more they get used to movements, the better to get used to people.
6. Feed multiple times a day.Don’t let uneaten food sit at the bottom of the tank too long and rot.
Goodluck!
Would you say that a 4'x1.5'x2' is ideal for a group of Altums? Let's say if I want to do a species only tank, how many would you recommend in that size?
Agree. You will need something taller. 30” would be good. A 4-foot long tank, I would only house 2 adult altums.
Your tank would be okay for smaller ones. I had 6 altums that were 2-2.5” body size in a 55 gal and that did not work out good for the 2 angels. They were bullied, that I had to separate them. Now I only have 4 of them in the 55g...will transition to 125 g later on, then to an even taller tank.
I'd echo the sentiment above, once wilds are properly acclimated, they really are pretty tough fish. Key part of that last statement is properly acclimated.... if someone wants to sell you altum, that have been QT'd and acclimated for 10-14 days, walk away, those aren't "properly acclimated", they are packages of death and disappointment unless you're on your A game
Wilds naturally exist in very low ph waters that are basically antiseptic (pH 3-4), no bacteria. Any sudden die off, generally occurs because of pathogenic bacteria that normally exist in higher PH tap water and wilds do not have immunity to. PH swings will allow for pathogenic bacteria to grow. Then there's the higher TDS value of tap water that affects osmotic regulation of the Wilds, stressing them out.