Which Angelfish Variety?

[Vic]

Hi

Looking to overhaul my tank setup.and want to add a group of angelfish but can't decide which. I'm ideally looking for a larger, taller than average angelfish but not altum.

I think I've narrowed it down to dantum (not albino) vs manacapuru but reliable info is scarce on the dantum. Does anyone have any first hand experience on which on the two is taller and also whether the blue on the dantum requires specific lighting to be seen?

Thanks, Vic

[Bluetaurus]

Hi Vic
I think they will need a little more info on your set up, size of tank, the filters running, existing lighting etc. water parameters, hard or soft water etc.
Other tank mates?
Pictures of what you have already will help the kind folk on here.

[Vic]

Thanks Bluetaurus

Its a 1.5m (5ft) tank, quite heavily planted and a bit taller than standard (0.7m)
Mix of T5 and LEDs on timers with a fluval fx6
Currently a mix of juvenile rainbowfish and tetras

The water itself in the area is hard hence staying away from altums but I have kept various scalares over the years successfully including Peruvian.
Unfortunately I don't have a test kit to give exact parameters currently.

[plankton]

Welcome to the forum.
I've not kept either, but, according to all the info I've been able to glean, they appear to both be about the same size of 6" body and 8" height.

[LookoutTrout]

Unknown to me my wife picked 3 altums in the fish shop recently, so I had a read up as I really didn't want those.
The upshot was you can't trust shop labeling and it's (thankfully) highly unlikely I have P.Altum. Unless you pay a lot to a specialist then you'll get a Scalar hybrid.
Mine are still juveniles so I can't tell yet how big they will get.

[black ghost]

Unknown to me my wife picked 3 altums in the fish shop recently, so I had a read up as I really didn't want those.
The upshot was you can't trust shop labeling and it's (thankfully) highly unlikely I have P.Altum. Unless you pay a lot to a specialist then you'll get a Scalar hybrid.
Mine are still juveniles so I can't tell yet how big they will get.

“Peruvian Altums” ?

[LookoutTrout]

Unknown to me my wife picked 3 altums in the fish shop recently, so I had a read up as I really didn't want those.
The upshot was you can't trust shop labeling and it's (thankfully) highly unlikely I have P.Altum. Unless you pay a lot to a specialist then you'll get a Scalar hybrid.
Mine are still juveniles so I can't tell yet how big they will get.

“Peruvian Altums” ?

I did read about those but gather they are another Scalar hybrid. It seems like a name designed to deceive buyers.

[black ghost]

Unknown to me my wife picked 3 altums in the fish shop recently, so I had a read up as I really didn't want those.
The upshot was you can't trust shop labeling and it's (thankfully) highly unlikely I have P.Altum. Unless you pay a lot to a specialist then you'll get a Scalar hybrid.
Mine are still juveniles so I can't tell yet how big they will get.

“Peruvian Altums” ?

I did read about those but gather they are another Scalar hybrid. It seems like a name designed to deceive buyers.

They’re not a hybrid, they’re a wild scalare from Peru that looks a bit like an altum. They’re often sold as true altums.

[Vic]

I think that's what I had last time - only bought the 1 to go with 5 other random angels but was definitely my favourite. It was part of the reason I want to go for a shoal of a single species this time but with the same tall regal look. The flash of red on the manacapuru interested me but size is the main thing when picking a strain.

[black ghost]

The domestic strains are smaller. If you can see a tank full you should be able to pick out some good ones, but the shape and fins vary a lot with the domestic strains.