Are These Altum Angels?

[simonas]

I bought 4 of these the other week as Altums
Having seen a tank with adult altums years ago I;ve always wanted them. I;m amazed at how well these have settled so greedy and active

 

[KittyKat]

They looks like P. scalare to me.

 

[markandhisfish]

i would say nope they dont look like altums

 

[simonas]

bummer bought them as altums were £8 each as well as juvis

 

[kizno1]

They dont look like altums to me but still nice angels anyway.

 

[markandhisfish]

took this from fishchanel

n 1903, Pellegrin first described P. altum as a distinct species, and to date it has been found only in the waters of the Rio Orinoco in Venezuela. P. altum differs physiologically from P. scalare in a number of ways — most obiously, the higher count of soft dorsal and anal fin rays. In addition, its long dorsal and anal fins, more vertical form and strongly concaved forehead area give it an unmistakably regal appearance. P. altum has very rarely been spawned in captivity. As a result, all specimens that you chance to see in retailers' aquariums have been imported.Although wild P. altum and P. scalare sometimes share the trait of having their dorsums flecked with reddish-black dots, only the altum will have a second dark head bar slightly indicated, running down between the dark bar passing though the eye and the bar starting at the base of the first dorsal spines. The unpaired fins of the altum do not have the light markings that P. scalare exhibits on its unpaired fins. The mouth parts of P. altum are notably extended away from the front of the head, much more than P. scalare. You will also notice that altums have a curious habit of "yawning." If you have a chance to watch this happen, you will see that when fully opened, their mouths are much larger than they actually appear when closed.

 

[snowflake311]

Sorry I'm going to have to say not real Altums. The real ones have more of a brown color to them and very dark even lines. I saw some adults at a public aquariums they were amazing.

Yours are very nice still. Could be am Altum domestic mix...

 

[Euston]

I cant comment on the angels but I do spy a discus in that pic.

Have I missed a thread full of pics showing them off somewhere?

 

[mattlee]

nice angels simon but im affraid they arent altums

 

[the biffster]

need a better shot of the mouth
to tell you

 

[simonas]

I cant comment on the angels but I do spy a discus in that pic.

Have I missed a thread full of pics showing them off somewhere?

I;ve done a journal in the new world cichlids section mate
Its very much a work in progress though will get some more discus in couple of weeks

 

[Carlovel1]

These look like a cross-breed between Altums and Scalare. The physical features and the behaviour (scalare are usually very tame and greedy, altums are shy and timid) tell me its a Scalare but the pattern tells me its an Altum. I can guarantee you will never find pure Scalare Angels wth that pattern. The closest you see Scalare to Altms are Zebra Scalares, and those have 3 black stripes vertically on their body

 

[markandhisfish]

looking again i think you could be onto something there carl . in 1 pic they do look to have a slightly indented mouth . which is much more pronounced in altums , but there to a lesser degree in altum/scalare crosses. which are often sold as " orinoco altums"

 

[AmazonFTW]

As said they could be an Altum/Scalare cross - an easy way to tell is by looking at the eye, the eye of a scalare is red whereas altum eyes are plain (although not in all cases when the eye colour has been bred out of scalare).

AmazonFTW