Guess who's got more tiny altums....................

[Merrilyn]

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee


They are just gorgeous. Thanks once again Ravi (Finland Aquarium).

Cute little babies, about the size of a 10 cent piece with fins. They make my 2 year old altums look huge.

Just came out of quarantine tonight, and they are sooooooo gorgeous.

But I'm going to make you wait for photos :lol:

They've only been in the tank for a hour and they're already pigging out.

[ILLUSN]

come on merrilyn. Stop buying and start breeding :)

[Merrilyn]

Ahhhhhhh if only :roll:

[scott bowler]

well done mezz you will have to get some pics up lol

[Merrilyn]

These little guys are so cute as babies, I think I want another ten.

Taksan please talk me out of it.

You know what a sucker I am for altums.

Ohhhh what a dilema.

[the_oracle]

Where are the photos???
Can't wait to see em...........


Sanie.

[waitaki]

yeah, pics, you promised pics!!!

[Reillin]

Looks like someone may have beaten everyone to the gun.



have BREEDING PAIR of (REAL) WILD CAUGHT ALTUM ANGEL (have fry to prove)
these fish are very rare, and they bred in my tank a couple of times.


Cheers,
Vien.










ps. On a further note, the person did PM me to say that that were Pterophyllum scalare "peruvian".

[Merrilyn]

You're teasing me again Vien !!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I got really excited till I read the PS :roll:

Peruvians aren't real altums, they're just scalare, and yep I've bred them already.

But you did get the heart racing, and I was getting ready to sell the benz to buy them :wink:

[Topogigio82]

Photossss!!!!! the people want some.

[nicholas76]

BBBBBBBUUUUUUUUMP

PICS PLEASSE

[Merrilyn]

Okay, okay I hear ya.

These are pics from they first arrived. You can see how tiny they were, compared to the size of the neons. Now they are big fat piggies. More photos to come - I promise.

[ILLUSN]

look at those fins!!!!!!!!!!
I SOOOOOOOOOOO WANT!!!!!!!

[Merrilyn]

I'll have a video loaded onto utube shortly, showing them pigging out on worms. Also another video of the adults in with the wild discus which really shows off their size.

Be patient. My son is loading it on for me. Should be ready tomorrow night.

[m.ingram]

Great looking fish there Merrilyn.very cute.There is a breeding pair of altums at the cranbourne aquarium.Just thought you might want to know think there for sale.

[scott bowler]

very nice mezz you get some awesome fish

[Merrilyn]

Great looking fish there Merrilyn.very cute.There is a breeding pair of altums at the cranbourne aquarium.Just thought you might want to know think there for sale.

If they are a true breeding pair, then they'd be the first in Australia !

Peruvians look very similar, even down to the dished face, and some people do refer to them as Peruvian Altums, but they're not altums at all. They belong to the scalare group, and they're about half the size of fully grown altums.

There's some discussion about why altums are so difficult to breed. Some feel that it's to do with the depth of water where adult altums are found, around 15 to 30 feet in the wild. A very difficult thing to try to replicate in a tank.

Others think it's related to food. Either way, there's only one regular breeder of altums that I know of in the world, and he's in Germany.

I've even heard talk that he's not breeding true altums, but an altum - peruvian cross. :ug I think I'll leave that discussion up to the experts.

Maybe Heiko might be able to offer some insight into this theory.

[Merrilyn]

This is my Peruvian pair with their fry taken in February 06.

You can see how similar they look to altums.

[m.ingram]

Hi merrilyn they are very similar in look. I just seen them advertised as altums and i haven't seen them before infront of my face. I dont know the size difference between the altums and the peruvians, but the body on these is about 15cm high then add the fins does this sound like peruvians.

[ozarowana]

Merrilyn,

Does that pair have veiltails? Curious as I doubt wild caughts or F1, F2's etc would have this trait.

[Merrilyn]

Hi oz, no not veiltails. The offspring were exact replicas of the parents. Not a veiltail amongst them.

M.ingram, now I'm curious. Looks like I'm going to have to make a trip down there.

I know Justin at Subscape Aquarium sold two fully grown altums that he'd had for around 4 years. He had them in a huge tank, around 6 foot deep but lost several when he renovated the shop and had to move them. I think he lost interest in them after that and sold off the surviving 2 fish. It's possible they ended up in Cranbourne, but they weren't a breeding pair, just two fish.

His adults had a body size of around 15cms.

It would be very exciting if the new owner has managed to spawn them. World breaking news in fact. I hope it's true.

[m.ingram]

Hi Merrilyn i went to cranborne aquarium today.I had a good look at the fish and i think they are altums as they look more like your new fish then the ones you bred.The pair bred in a tank with discus but eggs got eaten i was told today.I did see the pair looking after eggs so i know this isnt a storey.I will be going into cranbourne in the next few days i will take some photos of fish and post them if you would like. regards Mark

[Merrilyn]

That would be fantastic Mark.

Love to see some photos of them.

[waitaki]

very pretty Merrilyn can\t wait to see the youtube vid!!

[Tommo]

Hey Merrilyn the Altums , look sensational :)

Can not wait to see them get to full size :)

Cheers Andrew

[m.ingram]

Hi Merilyn here is a link to some photos of the altums i was talking about at cranbourne aquarium.There from my mobile phone so not the best because they dont want you to take photos of their fish.The pair that have layed eggs arent in photo but look exactley the same as these do,i couldnt get a picture of them tank was to high.They told me the pair have had 5 lots of eggs but no fry as eggs keep getting eaten after a day or two. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34016&l=0cb9c&id=524267189

[Tommo]

Hi Merilyn here is a link to some photos of the altums i was talking about at cranbourne aquarium.There from my mobile phone so not the best because they dont want you to take photos of their fish.The pair that have layed eggs arent in photo but look exactley the same as these do,i couldnt get a picture of them tank was to high.They told me the pair have had 5 lots of eggs but no fry as eggs keep getting eaten after a day or two. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34016&l=0cb9c&id=524267189

Hi , sorry to disappoint you, but they do not look like altums :(

.but they do look nice :)

[ILLUSN]

fins way too short to be an altum, if they were altums you'd expect the span from top to bottom fin to be close to 12-16 inches. to me they look like domestic silvers like the ones in my tank

[Merrilyn]

Well they're certainly good looking fish, but I'm afraid not altums. Even fish shops sometimes get them wrong. They're a fairly rare fish, so I'm not surprised they would mistake a well grown domestic for an altum.

My two year old altums have the body size of a grown discus, then add the long dorsal and anal fin, and you have an idea of the size.

I'll get some photos up over the holidays, along with my beautiful new wild discus, chrissy gift from taksan :wink:

[Tommo]

Well they're certainly good looking fish, but I'm afraid not altums. Even fish shops sometimes get them wrong. They're a fairly rare fish, so I'm not surprised they would mistake a well grown domestic for an altum.

My two year old altums have the body size of a grown discus, then add the long dorsal and anal fin, and you have an idea of the size.

I'll get some photos up over the holidays, along with my beautiful new wild discus, chrissy gift from taksan :wink:

Thats a bummer they are not Altums Red :(

Look forward to some pics though :)

Cheers Andrew

[Merrilyn]

Yeah it's a shame Tommo. I was hoping someone might have cracked the secret of breeding altums.

We've got some pretty clever fish breeders here in Aus, so fingers crossed, one day it just may happen.

[Tommo]

We've got some pretty clever fish breeders here in Aus, so fingers crossed, one day it just may happen.

LOL Red you are one of them !!!!!!

Oi

i know you breed some fish that even i have wanted for a very long time , and no one else has in AUST !!!

[m.ingram]

Oh well good to know that they werent altums as i have no idea between them.explains why they are laying all the time.Anyway MERRY XMAS hope you all have a GREAT DAY and that santa brings us all the fish,tanks and filters we always wanted.