pony-tail Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 (edited) Does anybody , Aquarium Shops , local breeders etc have these in the Brisbane area ? If so how expensive are they ? Does anybody know about what water conditions they require or any info on them at all . I have a 3foot(L) X18(W) x24(H) display tank I am considering setting up for them if I can find them and I can provide suitable conditions for them ( and can actually afford them ) Any info would be appreciated . I am not looking to buy them immediately but looking for info so if I can provide the correct conditions I can setup and cycle the tank prior to chasing them up . Edited February 14, 2012 by pony-tail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__CAV__ Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Hi, i currently have one of these ( had 3, my gf managed to kill my breeding pr while i was away), and i can tell you they arent overly hard to keep, they prefer softer water and around a neutral ph - they can handle lower ph's well too, they prefer a warmer temp, i found mine seem more comfortable around the 26c mark upwards. Price wise they are fairly cheap now, you can pick wild caught juvies up from about $30 upwards, only thing i found was that they can be abit picky when it comes to foods, but once you get them eating prepared food they become pigs. Petcity had some, so pm little_goby and she might be able to help you out with them, alternatively Fishchicks has some adult Surinam "Altums" which look very similar to peruvians. your tank would be a perfect size tank for a pair or a small group (i'm asssuming its 18in wide, 24in deep) nice and tall, angels prefer this, as for scaping it i'd be looking at long reedy like plants the angels could swim through (val maybe?) with some fine twisty driftwood roots for them to swim through again. oh and they arent true Pterophyllum altum (orinoco altum) either, just a wild caught scalare strain. HTH Cav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pony-tail Posted February 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 oh and they arent true Pterophyllum altum (orinoco altum) either, just a wild caught scalare strain That much I knew ( hence "Altum" not Altum ) I am going to have a look into the Surinam ones too see which I prefer . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cram Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 (edited) pet city - from memory $60-$65 for puruvian altums - had some in there last week when I had a look. I saw on another forum that fishchicks apparently has the surinam altums $165 I think - but these are quite large/fully grown.. The surinam ones are very nice - have nice red spots/red eyes (although I haven't seen the ones that fishchicks has). Edited February 14, 2012 by gingerbeer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pony-tail Posted February 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 I want to get 1/2 dozen and try for a pair - $60 x 6 is doable $165 x6 is out of my financial capability. That said they look good though ! Do I buy Angelfish or fix the Transfer case in my car ? hmmmm . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 The true altum is kept and bred successfully very rarely, with the apparant secret being purchase all at once and don't add anything else ever. I would certainly be leaning towards the scalare 'altums' as they have a similar shape, but are not as crazy hard to keep. They are blackwater species so consider them to be discus in terms of your approach and you will be most of the way there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pony-tail Posted February 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 I had Orinoco Altums many years ago it was not that they were hard to keep , they just never ever even looked like spawning or for that matter even pairing ( I had 5 but after 2 years lost one ) I used to primarily breed discus then ( almost exclusively for 20 years ) .I have not kept any softwater fish for the last 10 years just 'bows and Tangs so I thought it about time for a change - I saw some pics of the Peruvian Angels and liked what I saw , so I started researching , that way I can have everything ready and right before I bring them home - less likely to lose any that way . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cram Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 hmmm - anyway - you know the price and where there are. I'll leave politics and sponsors and what is or isn't advertising to the mods. **I have no association (other than being a good consumer) with any of the sponsors or shops that may or may not be sponors** Anyway, they are both nice fish - hopefully peeps will breed them a bit more so they become a but more widely available - I do like the wildtype angels...(and discus for that matter) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pony-tail Posted February 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 I prefer the wild types to the artificially selected ones . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthonydeMarchi Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Hi, used to breed peruvians (f1 not wildbut knew the guy who bred them). Found them easy to keep and breed. Used normal tap water treated with thiosulphate and zeolite in half coke bottle filters. Fed ridley aquaculture feed. (north pine damn water north of brisbane). Wilds harder to keep coz of crap treatment from being caught and walked out of jungle etc etc. intestines severely stressed and damaged which means carefull care for life. getting back ino wild types again in newcastle using same filter, feed and water treatment. Got surinames wild. Bred but not mature enough yo be viable few years agomoved a couple times which they not like....1 left. Look up wild suriname and u will c one of mine on livefish forum and photobucket. Got some f1 manacaperu month ago and doin well. Used tea (dilmah to be precise) to settle them a couple of times. They like dark water and easier than peat and cheaper than new fad of almond leaves although it does lower the oxygen for a day or 2 a little but doesnt harm. My fish love it calms them right down. Now one of the manacas has paired with the suriname and had to remove coz my 5ft tank not big enough to keep 4 more angels without stressing them to sickness! They will stress enough and stop eating and it will take u time and effort to get them to eat again. Remember they r cichlids. Moral of the story...good filter with zeolite (got mine direct from werris creek), dealing with cichlids, be prepaired to take pairs out, if wild they wont be happy in a tank smaller than 3ft as a pair (mine didnt anyway and I got them at 5cm). most will say this is crazy talk but hey whos bred them like rabbits and whos bred wilds like rabbits. (mine will be mature mid 2013). If they look healthy and follow your hand looking for food they will be a good buy. Thats my rant over. Good luck Wilds have alot of potential, suriname have lots of blue, manacasa have lot of green blue to the body. Cant wait for other wilds become available here. Try and get them with known locality (at least suriname they fromsuriname and peru altum from nanay. True altum actually from several places, orinocco not only river (u have a whole bunch of tributaries and surounding rivers with size and colour variations) hence if you can buy via river system the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthonydeMarchi Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Add on: I havent used a ph, nitrate/nitrite or ammonia test kit, hardness, DO and whatever else u can think of etc for over 12 years. happy fish are happy fish ;p. How the fish r behaving is all u need to look at (sometimes food for conditioning...think out of the box for that one lol. Some things will stay a secret. U dont have to rely on ovaprim). Nutrition guys. Certain vitamins and minerals (arrr but from what food). magnets for some cats...not saying which ones sorry. Out of the box guys! Dont be affraid to experiment with a grain of salt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
