Merrilyn's Altums - new photos.

[Merrilyn]

I know I've been promising photos for a long time, well here they are

I have two groups, the first lot are ten I got from Ravi (Finland Aquarium) two years ago, when they were the size of a 5 cent coin plus fins. The largest of these now has a body size of around 4 inches plus fins. All ten are still thriving. No losses.











This next group are three years old, so I guess fully grown. The body size is larger than the wild caught heckels they are housed with.

An yes, I know there's algae on the glass

[Merrilyn]

Sorry about the quality of the photos. These were taken with my 'point and shoot' Panasonic.

I promise I'll get better pics once Taksan gets here with his super duper camera

Hey Taksan ---------- where are ya

[goodoo]

My local fish shop reckon they can get altums. I think they are ignorant or lying . What questions should I ask to find out if they are really altums.

[Merrilyn]

You need to ask if they're Orinico Altums or Peruvian Altums.

There is only one real altum and that's the Orinoco. The Peruvian is actually a scalare and not an altum at all.

Altums are being imported into Australia, although it is nearing the end of the catching season. Problem is they tend to be horribly expensive (think around $150 for a tiny fish) because the losses are so high. For every 100 fish imported into Australia, only around 20 survive quarantine. A lot of importers refuse to import them because of the high losses.

[goodoo]

Thats really sad. Thanks for the info. I will ask.

[nicholas76]

AWSUM PICS MEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hot!

[finlandaq]

Hay Merrilyn,

Great looking fish. I still remember how small they were when I got them in.

You really have done a great job growing them to this size.

Rav

[Merrilyn]

Remember this Ravi? This is the size they were 2 years ago.

[the_oracle]

Handsome batch you got there, Merrilyn.....
Too bad, I lost all my Altums a couple of months ago......
Keep the pics coming....


Sanie.

[Mr Wild]

I love the red in their fins when they are small - do they keep that? I couldn't see it on the adults but it may be the light.