Altum Angel - Great Disappointment!

[Squid]

mmmm Interesting thread btw anybody successful in raising altum in 7.5 ph? or they won't survive in 7.5? Also can they be kept at buttom tier tank with some cories?
btw are cories prone /affected by columnaris?

[^Lee^]

Originally Posted by Squid

mmmm Interesting thread btw anybody successful in raising altum in 7.5 ph? or they won't survive in 7.5? Also can they be kept at buttom tier tank with some cories?
btw are cories prone /affected by columnaris?

I am keeping my altum at bottom tier tank and together with cories and pleco as well. So far so good

[illumnae]

Originally Posted by elimmel

sad for your loss (happened to my adult discus before... found dried behind the cabinet).

1st thing to check is water condition.
followed by equipment check for any stray current.

or it could just be it got spooked by something.. maybe someone suddenly walked past the tank in the morning while the altum still dazy? it's probably an isolated incident but do monitor the behaviour of the rest.
and no, best not to add to the 6.

I doubt it's stray current as there's no equipment other than the filter inlet/outlet touching the tank. Water condition should be ok as I didn't do anything different at all yesterday, water change was 2 days back. Also, the others are behaving normally. Also can't be spook as the tank is in my bedroom...only got me inside, and by the time I woke up, it was already dried...so must have jumped not long after i slept.

I suspect it's a fight for dominance that it lost, as it was one of my biggest ones amongst the 7 Tonight I'm going to buy some eggcrate to cut to fit above the tank and weigh it down with the lighting.

I guess I'll stick with 6, and buy 1 more heckel to have 6 heckels as tankmates (heckels are being quarantined in a separate tank) instead of the originally planned 5

[elimmel]

Originally Posted by Squid

mmmm Interesting thread btw anybody successful in raising altum in 7.5 ph? or they won't survive in 7.5? Also can they be kept at buttom tier tank with some cories?
btw are cories prone /affected by columnaris?

mine are kept in 7-7.5 pH.
more impt is to slowly acclimitise them to this "higher" pH level.

[illumnae]

Mine are probably 7-7.5 as well. water from the tap is 7.6 and I have no ph lowering items like peat/ketapang/soil

[Squid]

thanks because i have a cory tank and altums might become available here, was thinking of keeping only 2-3 pcs. but worried i might not be able to keep well. since our tapwater is 7.5 and its hard to play with ph.

Originally Posted by Squid

thanks because i have a cory tank and altums might become available here, was thinking of keeping only 2-3 pcs. but worried i might not be able to keep well. since our tapwater is 7.5 and its hard to play with ph.

Hi Squid,

Good to hear that you're interested with AA. However, IMHO, if you wish to introduce them straight at pH7.5 it is quite risky. generally, AA is at home with lower pH values. Most AA keepers between pH 5.8 - pH 6.5. Perhaps elimmel & illumnae introduced them at lower pH range before slowly increasing the pH once AA stabilised. Maybe they can share their experience with you the methodology they stabilise their AA.

Then again, I heard some of LFS place their AA in pH 7.0-7.5.

[itchy]

Originally Posted by illumnae

Just a caution to everyone...get a cover for your altum tanks...i woke up this morning to find one of my happily growing altums on the floor....no idea why he jumped also

bro, if you notice my previous posting, my certain otos does chase or linger upon my altums, making them very jumpy. I got to catch him out to settle the whole group of altums, much better now. Maybe you can observe your only oto

[itchy]

Originally Posted by illumnae

now dilemma...to add more or to be content with the remaining 6

bro, just keep the 6, adding any new fish is just like adding more risk

[itchy]

Originally Posted by Squid

mmmm Interesting thread btw anybody successful in raising altum in 7.5 ph? or they won't survive in 7.5? Also can they be kept at buttom tier tank with some cories?
btw are cories prone /affected by columnaris?

Possible to raise the altums at 7.5ph. But you got to start with lower ph than slowly raise up to 7.5 over a period of time.

No problem raising them in lower tier tank with cory.

Hope this helps..