Angels - PageSuite

AMAZONAS
46
Above: The young are fed four to
five times per day to guarantee
optimal growth.
Captivebred
pair of
Pterophyllum
altum of the
so-called
Siegrist strain
from the Río
Inirida.
is covered with a .75-inch (2-cm) layer of quartz
sand. The benefit of this is that on hatching, the
larvae don’t fall straight onto the bottom glass,
which could be coated with bacterial slime that
might have a negative effect on the development
of the larvae. I practice artificial rearing. This has
the advantage that I never have problems with
gill-worms or flagellates.
Even if the clutch looks good and contains
600–800 eggs, it remains to be seen how the eggs
will develop and how many larvae actually hatch
after 60 hours at 86°F (30°C). Initially I had a
lot of problems with this. Naturally, there should
also be an airstone about 2 inches (5 cm) from
the cone, to supply the larvae with the necessary
oxygen and provide water movement.
Rearing in deep tanks
If the brood develops well, around 500 larvae
hatch and swim free after eight days. I feed the
fry freshly hatched Artemia nauplii four times a
day. In addition I change around 20 percent of
the water every day in order to remove uneaten
food, as this rapidly pollutes the water.
After around three weeks I transfer the young
Altum Angels to larger tanks, about 100 youngsters
to 114 gallons (430 L) or 200 fry to 190 gallons
(720 L). This is necessary for the young angels
to grow and develop long fins. It is inevitable
that some poorly developed youngsters have to be
culled. Only thus can I rear high quality fishes.
A twice-weekly 50 percent water change
B. KAHL