Hello all,
I recently posted a threa titled “Pterophyllum Altum with species of Loricariidae” and had people asking me to post photos once the new tank aquascape was completed.
Background information:
The tank is a 6 x 2 x 2 with a 4 Ft sump. It was previously a blackwater tank but through water changes (and a little help from some matrix carbon) I will be converting it to a clear water tank. My tap water is thankfully very good for P. Altum settling at pH: 5 - 6 , kH: 0 - 1 and gH: 3. I will mostly likely buffer this a little to get a constant pH of around 6. About a week before the aquascape was completed (when I only had 5 Altums in the tank) two of them seemed to be pairing off, defending a corner of the tank, extending their fins fully and displaying to each other with full colour, as well as having their genital papilla starting to drop. I have included two videos if you are interested in seeing this. (They are not the greatest as I’m not a photographer / videographer.
Now onto the Aquascape.
Stage 1 of the aquascape has been completed. There is still more aquatic plants and emersed plants to be added to the wood above the water. There will also be an extra piece of driftwood added above the right hand side of the aquarium with more species of plants. The goal for this tank was to have the altums are the majority display fish, and then have smaller species as I believe it will be amazing to watch the zip around the tank, between the driftwood/ plants and when you actually spot them it will be exciting!
Current tank stocking:
8 x Pterophyllum Altum - 5 X F1 Rio Atabapo, 1 x WC Rio Atabapo, 2 x Wild Caught Rio Orinoco ( In the future I might replace the F1 group with more wild caught as I am much more a fan of the wild caught P. Altum
9 x Hemigrammus Bleheri
I have had fish in quarantine for the past two months that I wanted to add to this tank once it was completed. They will be added in small numbers at a time and I will asses how I feel about the tank once they are added. They are:
20 x Hemigrammus Bleheri will most likely only add 10 or 11 more to get me 20 in total.
20 x Corydoras Sterbai - May only add 15 or so
4 x Farlowella Vittata
6 x Dicrossus Filamentosus - Sold as 2 Males and 4 Females, so far seeing 4 displaying characteristic male lyretail. If all turn out to be males I will just add a few and possibly pick up a small group of Dicrossus Maculatus to add as well ( Maculatus was my first preference)
2 x Apistogramma Agassizii ‘Tefe Blue’ - 1 Male / 1 Female, I might not decide to add the female and instead add another 2 or so male apistogramma or another species.
The only other species I am still on the fence about adding is a small species of pleco (leaning towards L134)
The two fish that are on the right most side of the image are the two that were displaying pairing behaviours in the video above. As soon as they have been added back into the aquarium they have begun to display these behaviours again. When the 3 wild caught Altums were added as well the tank became a bit of a war zone (they have been in the tank for 36 hours) with everyone establishing their place in the hierarchy. Hopefully over the next few days this will settle down. As stated above please forgive the slight yellow colour of the water this was originally a blackwater tank and I am in the process of changing it to clear water. Also the “white River rocks“ in the middle of the tank will not be staying in the tank. They are just being used to hold the driftwood in place. We will remove them in around two weeks when we add some more aquatic plants / mosses.
I would love to hear your opinions on the “pairing Altums” as well as the new tank aquascape and any suggestions you guys have!
I recently posted a threa titled “Pterophyllum Altum with species of Loricariidae” and had people asking me to post photos once the new tank aquascape was completed.
Background information:
The tank is a 6 x 2 x 2 with a 4 Ft sump. It was previously a blackwater tank but through water changes (and a little help from some matrix carbon) I will be converting it to a clear water tank. My tap water is thankfully very good for P. Altum settling at pH: 5 - 6 , kH: 0 - 1 and gH: 3. I will mostly likely buffer this a little to get a constant pH of around 6. About a week before the aquascape was completed (when I only had 5 Altums in the tank) two of them seemed to be pairing off, defending a corner of the tank, extending their fins fully and displaying to each other with full colour, as well as having their genital papilla starting to drop. I have included two videos if you are interested in seeing this. (They are not the greatest as I’m not a photographer / videographer.
Now onto the Aquascape.
Stage 1 of the aquascape has been completed. There is still more aquatic plants and emersed plants to be added to the wood above the water. There will also be an extra piece of driftwood added above the right hand side of the aquarium with more species of plants. The goal for this tank was to have the altums are the majority display fish, and then have smaller species as I believe it will be amazing to watch the zip around the tank, between the driftwood/ plants and when you actually spot them it will be exciting!
Current tank stocking:
8 x Pterophyllum Altum - 5 X F1 Rio Atabapo, 1 x WC Rio Atabapo, 2 x Wild Caught Rio Orinoco ( In the future I might replace the F1 group with more wild caught as I am much more a fan of the wild caught P. Altum
9 x Hemigrammus Bleheri
I have had fish in quarantine for the past two months that I wanted to add to this tank once it was completed. They will be added in small numbers at a time and I will asses how I feel about the tank once they are added. They are:
20 x Hemigrammus Bleheri will most likely only add 10 or 11 more to get me 20 in total.
20 x Corydoras Sterbai - May only add 15 or so
4 x Farlowella Vittata
6 x Dicrossus Filamentosus - Sold as 2 Males and 4 Females, so far seeing 4 displaying characteristic male lyretail. If all turn out to be males I will just add a few and possibly pick up a small group of Dicrossus Maculatus to add as well ( Maculatus was my first preference)
2 x Apistogramma Agassizii ‘Tefe Blue’ - 1 Male / 1 Female, I might not decide to add the female and instead add another 2 or so male apistogramma or another species.
The only other species I am still on the fence about adding is a small species of pleco (leaning towards L134)
The two fish that are on the right most side of the image are the two that were displaying pairing behaviours in the video above. As soon as they have been added back into the aquarium they have begun to display these behaviours again. When the 3 wild caught Altums were added as well the tank became a bit of a war zone (they have been in the tank for 36 hours) with everyone establishing their place in the hierarchy. Hopefully over the next few days this will settle down. As stated above please forgive the slight yellow colour of the water this was originally a blackwater tank and I am in the process of changing it to clear water. Also the “white River rocks“ in the middle of the tank will not be staying in the tank. They are just being used to hold the driftwood in place. We will remove them in around two weeks when we add some more aquatic plants / mosses.
I would love to hear your opinions on the “pairing Altums” as well as the new tank aquascape and any suggestions you guys have!
