Altums - My First Attempt At A Biotope.

[TwoTankAmin]

This is the final phase of a long term plan. It began when I started to research fish as a new fishkeeper. Back then I picked my fish based on what looked nice to me. I would look through books and sites and when I saw a picture of something I liked, I began to dig out the facts to see if i could keep it. most of the time the answer was no. And sometimes yes was not the right answer either.
 
Angel fish always appealed to me, but only two varieties- double dark blacks that looked like velvet and Altums. So the former I kept for a number of years and even raised a few from spawns.the other angel I coveted were Altums, a fish I felt I could not keep alive, so I never tried to keep them.
 
A couple of years ago I decided I was ready to give it a shot. My first 6 died teaching me I wasn't so smart. The I found a more mature pair somebody had kept and acclimated to water like mine for almost 2 years, so I pounced. They did well in my planted 45 until I shifted the heater and it was into where they over nighted. One got badly burned, I did not catch it until it was infected and lost it. The other followed a few weeks later. I think it gave up when the other went as the 2nddied without a mark on it.
 
But now I had the bug. These are incredible looking fish, I had seen some live in my water. So I plowed on. of the next batch i have 4 that remain after 2+ years. I have another 14 I managed to bring from about 6 weeks out of Venezuela and Colombia to doing fine 8 months later.
 
All they need is a proper tank.
 
Last summer I accumulated the sand and the manzanita part of the wood. I found a used 150 gal. tank, a couple of used  Rena XP3s with a bunch of other things. I built the stands last fall (unfinished but able to hold the tanks). And then circumstances put things on hold. The tank sat empty.
 
I have finally been able to resume work. Tonight I ordered an in-tank slimline background and soon I will do the tank cleaning to get it ready. I will buy more wood and scour the local rock and gravel yards for things as well.
 
Tank 150 gal. 72x18x27inch. Internal dimensions: 71.25x17x26.625inch.
Actual max capacity of water 135 gal. Anticipated volume after substrate, decor etc. 115-120 gal.
 
Target pH- 6.0. TDS in the low 70 ppms. Approx mix of ro/di and tap (pH 7.1-.2 and TDS 83 ppm or lower) will be 20/80. Any pH lowering needed will be achieved via the addition of muriatic acid.
Water will be stained using catappa leaves, alder cones and rooibos tea.
 
Substrate is CaribSea Torpedo beach sand to a depth of approximately 2 inches.
Wood a mix of manzanita and bogwood. Rocks some slate and other to be determined.
 
In addition to Altums from the Rios Atabapo and Inirida I have imported rummy nose tetras (H. bleheri) and will add more to get the school to closer to 35-40. I have a few Hypancistrus contradens. The final fish will be some geos to be chosen and perhaps something in the way of a top swimming cichlidm maybe flags.
 
Much as it will pain me. I will likely have to sell off 5-6 of the Altums.
 
I will post a few pics of the tanks on the stands going in last fall, soon. I will do my best to document the process with pics along the way.
 
I have never done anything like this before.
 
Here is a video of the fish in the Atabapo. Please play it in Hi Def, and full screen for the full effect;
[media]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=duvFEPwabng&list=UUZHuEhmXzuA1iT-zGgKdPKg&index=7[/media]
 

 

[Livewire88]

I have to say I do love Altums so will be watching this thread closely 

 

[DrRob]

I'll be keeping tabs on this one, a lovely selection of fish you're looking at so far and I'm looking forward to seeing it develop.

 

[Chad]

Excellent! I have only seen a couple of black-water biotopes but both were stunning. Great video to set the whole thing up as well. It alone gives many clues to their environment and what conditions you must try to match! This may be one we end up highlighting down the road...

 

[fluttermoth]

Another altum fan here, although I'll probably never own any!
 
I do love looking at vids of fish in their natural environments; it's such a great thing to be able to do (probably the most useful thing about YouTube too!)

 

[Wills]

Just joining the list of mods that love your tank plans
 
Looking forward to seeing some pics
 
Wils

 

[TwoTankAmin]

As promised pictures for the initial post.
 
The 150 came in 1st-

 
Then came the 125

 
Both in place

 
Here are the new small Altums from last August- no staining yet for the pH 4.2 water. The odd looking sponge and power head are powering a small UV unit which hangs on the back of the tank like a filter.

 
The older Altums- I am down to 4 now

 

[stanleo]

I love this and will be watching closely. I have always wanted to see my fish in their natural environment but never see those vids. Awesome tank. Can't wait to see what becomes of them. I am now a fan of altum-angels.

 

[Chad]

Do you find the spong filtration is best for them? I noticed two canisters sitting on the floor in the photo so was wondering if you were going to use that or the sponges. I'm a big fan of simple sponge filters myself.

 

[DrRob]

Sponge filters are amazing. I like the mattenfilters, but there's a lot to be said for the simple sponge for sheer biological bang for buck.

 

[Chad]

For me they come close to the marine method (Berlin Method) of biological filtration. A large enough or dense enough sponge could replicate the anoxic zones as well which would provide denitrification. They could invent a sponge that was more dense toward the core and thus have a flexible, cheap, and artificial version of liverock. I'm officially claiming the idea!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I use sponges in non-display tanks. That tank is actually uncycled- the Poret on the left and the ATI Pro Sponge on the right were there for aeration and mech. filtration at that stage. I was cycling replacement sponges in a seperate tank for that purpose. The plan was to bring the angels up to 8.0 and the filter down to be working at 6.0 and then swap in the cycled for the uncyled sponges. Mother nature fooled me and somehow cycled that tank by the time it was at 6.0 and I never used the 3 cycled Porets that were working fine at that pH.
 
Those two canisters will be on the 150 and set up to create a river flow- both intakes on one end and both returns on the other. I am still wrestling with how to hide the spraybars and intakes, especially since I prefer to prefilter intakes. I have Hydor inline heaters to go on the XPs. Will set up the hoses with quick disconnects.
 
The 125 will house clown loaches, redline barbs, SAEs and not sure what else if anything. It will have a 40 gal long as a sump, part of which uses a Poret foam.

 

[Chad]

Too bad the angel tank can't have a sump as well. They really allow for hiding of equipment and increase in oxygen flow.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The angel tank will be fine with the canisters, I think. I did not want to drill it. I would have preferred a 24 inch wide tank- but had to buy what was there. With Altums depth is important. If I come up short in terms of O levels, I can add an air pump as that room is not for sleeping so the hum is acceptable there. However, my plan is to have one spraybar at surface level to maximize agitation and the second one about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. I toyed with the idea of an elaborate system for hiding the whole intake setup behind a 3d background piece on one end. But I did not want to give up any more gallons.
 
I needed the sump on the 125 to get the total gallons up to 150. I don't want to drill that either and am using an overflow box.
 
I am still keeping my eyes open for a drilled180. If I can find one, I might take it even though its a couple of inches shorter than I prefer. I have a bit of wiggle room left.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Looking forward to following this.