You may want to feed your electric blue acara 3-4 times per day, as this fish tends to gulp down their food and eat very fast. As mentioned before, it can be difficult to tell the males apart from the females. These gorgeous, large cichlids are found in the South and Central areas of South America, Columbia, Trinidad, and Venezuela. Otherwise known as the Cynotilapia afra, the dogtooth cichlid is a small species native to Lake Malawi. This saves some confusion about sexing them and gives the hobbyist several pairs to choose from. They have also been documented in several other countries as nonnatives, but little documentation of their range exists. Keep in mind that a low water flow in addition to high lighting can fuel algae growth. They need a minimum of a 20-gallon tank with the usual 10 to 15 gallons extra capacity per fish. The fish are sexually mature once they grow to around two to three inches in length, although most begin breeding at four inches. Electric blues are large fish, so they need to be given plenty of space, especially if planning to keep a pair with other tank mates. The electric blue acara is not usually aggressive or territorial. This fascinating color palette also belongs to some incredible species, as you'll see here on our list of the top 12 blue . So for the 75 gallon with a pleco you would want a filter or combo of filters that turn over about 1800 gallons per hour. It all boils down to the kind of cichlids you have. Mark has been featured in two books about aquarium keeping both best sellers on Amazon. A pair thats about to mate will start to interact with each other more often than before. What Aquarium Habitats Does Electric Blue Acara Prefer? Even though theyre flexible when it comes to sharing a tank with other fish, keeping Electric Blue Acara with their own kind is probably the easiest option available to you. Although the fry is guarded by the male or female fish, during the first two weeks of their lives, the youngsters will stay close to their mother. No. Place an upturned saucer on the substrate. But there's no one rule set in stone. These cichlids grow up to 4 inches in nature, but they've been known to grow larger in captivity. Quarantine all affected fish and treat using antibiotics, such as Octozin or Metronidazole. (Cause & Prevention). The problem is that these fish regularly uproot and disturb their surroundings, so the species of plants kept must be able to tolerate some rough handling. Electric blue acaras are a colorful freshwater fish native to South America. Save. In fact, some cultures cannot even "see" bluemeaning that they cannot easily differentiate it from green! 22. The electric blue acara may not occur in the wild, but its closest relative, the blue acara, does. $18.00 shipping. Electric blue acara is low-maintenance. 7 Cory Cats. Good live plants for electric blue acaras include: These fish dont need a lot of plant coverage, but a backdrop of green will especially make their colors pop out. Though these colorful fish look best under high lighting, they prefer low to medium light settings. The females get slightly larger than the males and have short fins. If you have any rooted plants this might cause an issue because these little fish can uproot them on occasion. The general rule for this is to make sure the total number of these fish is divisible by two. Electric Blue Acara Behavior and Temperament. For perfect breeding. Lastly, external stressors such as hammering or loud noises can stress fish. The parent electric blues will be ready to mate again in a matter of weeks. However, males and females can be difficult to tell apart, especially when theyre typically sold as juveniles in aquarium stores. Care level: Easy. 5. They dont fight or bother their tank mates, and they can be bashful enough to hide among the plants. This line is also found on the back edge of their caudal fin, but its much smaller and usually very faint (you might not even notice it). The first thing you will need is at least a 75 gallon aquarium. Dempsey should have 3-4 meals a day. . Quickly catch it! Stress is extremely harmful to aquarium fish and is known to weaken the animals immune system. I also recommend that you buy the best quality food that you can find for your fish. While this might seem complicated at first, it really isnt. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The electric blue acara is a hybrid fish. That behavior in the fishes wild environment enables them to find food, but in the home aquarium, the Acaras habit of persistently disturbing the substrate can be a nuisance, especially if you have live plants in the setup. These fish are like your typical sucker fish but with more of a coolness factor, and they are smaller to boot. If the pH is slightly out of range yet the fish seems fine, you should consider that pH only. One of the best things about electric blue acara is that they eat anything you offer them! If the light fixture is too intense, then floating plants and other aquarium decorations can be used to diffuse bright areas. I don't need to stuff as many fish as possible into this tank, I would just like a balanced, fairly peaceful community tank to enjoy for the long term. If youre looking for a cichlid-tank setup, then here are the best compatible cichlid species for your electric blue acara: Though they are labeled as semi-aggressive fish, electric blues can be both ends of the spectrum when needed. Their caudal fin is symmetrical and about as tall from top to bottom as their body. In their natural environment, the fish are predatory, eating crustaceans, insects, and worms. The first tank has two huge fancy goldfish who are almost ten years old and still looking as good as ever. Some fish will become anxious and begin to hide. Fishs body swells up, loss of appetite, stringy, discolored feces, rapid breathing, lesions and ulcers appear on the body. Water hardness: The ideal degree of water hardness ranges between 3Dh-20Dh. When choosing ready-made feeds, it is recommended to pay attention to specially developed mixtures for cichlids. Aqadvisor calculates that in a 75g with two Aquaclear 110 filters, the tank is stocked by 85% with the rest of the stock with five boesemani rainbowfish and 85% with two angelfish. Cichlids are somewhat aggressive when put in a tank with other fish, but the electric blue acara despite being a cichlid. During this time, males will become especially aggressive towards other tank mates, though wont usually injure or kill them. Each year, he continues to help his readers and clients with knowledge, professional builds, and troubleshooting. All in all, the electric blue acara has very basic cichlid care requirements. Being able to care for a stunning fish like the electric blue acara is a great way to gain confidence as a hobby aquarist, so make sure you have a tank that is not too small, a stable water temperature, an appropriate tank mate, and nutritious fish food.You can soon witness it swimming happily in the tank. The female will spawn the eggs and the male will fertilize them (usually shortly after). Ich parasite lives in tank water, so quarantining individuals is ineffective. Fortunately, Acaras are pretty robust and rarely develop severe diseases. Some great options for this are bloodworms, brine shrimp, small insects, and earthworms. Min Tank Size: 30 Gallons. How to Know If It Happens, Why Did My Ghost Shrimp Die? #32. Having an electric blue acara is a big responsibility, and you should always make sure you are willing to care for it throughout its life, as many pet stores are reluctant to accept fully grown fish back. The cory catfish is a shoaling fish that cleans the bottom. In fact, Electric Blue Acara care is something that pretty much anyone can manage. In the Blue Acaras natural habitat, the substrate is often covered with leaf litter. The blue acara originates from South America, mainly throughout parts of mainland Venezuela and off the coast in Trinidad and Tobago. When the electric blue acara is between 8 and 10 months, it is considered mature enough to breed, and they will usually find their ideal pair in the tank on their own. They are quiet and hang out towards the aquariums bottom. Privacy Policy. If you can find a dark-colored substrate, that will help to really show off the fishes stunning, metallic coloration to the best effect. Because these are bigger fish, theyll eat bigger foods that cause a lot more nutrients to enter the water column if left to rot. Over the next two months, the baby fish will continue to develop. Electric blue acaras are relatively large fish that enjoy their swimming space. With the knowledge drops Ill offer today, you will be ready to embark on keeping these unique fish in your aquarium. Use an aquarium gravel vacuum cleaner to remove fish waste, uneaten food, and plant debris from the substrate. Electric Blue Acaras are omnivorous, although most of their wild diet is made up of meaty protein. Their lifespan can be impacted by the usual factors that affect any fish. Let them pr off and then separate the prs into their own tanks or keep 1pr and get rid of the rest. That being said, they cannot tolerate ammonia or nitrite and breeding will demand more specific parameters. I have 12 of various varieties in my 75 gallon aquarium and wanted some to enjoy in my 20 gallon. Substrate Allow 15 gallons of water per additional Acara that you add. Fill your aquarium with untreated tap water, pouring it over the saucer so that the flow doesnt dislodge the substrate. This means they do well with a wide variety of tank mates (more on that in the section below) and will rarely cause any disturbances in your aquarium. Temperature and water quality are far more important to angels than the electric blue acara. Temperature around 75-76F is also optimal. Do note that you should only interfere and alter the pH of the water if your fish is in distress. Mark is the founder of Aquarium Store Depot. Silver dollars have an iridescent shine across their silver bodies like the electric blue acara. Dont feed them an entirely protein-based diet simply because they seem to enjoy it. Currently Alison has two large freshwater tanks. Home Realizacje i porady Bez kategorii oscar tank mates 125 gallon. Their bodies are long, and about average in terms of thickness. These fish originate from South and Central America and can be found in slow-moving waters just like a lot of their relatives in the cichlid family. How many per gallon? Theyre found in tanks, The Dojo Loach (aka Weather Loach or Pond Loach) is one of our all-time favorite freshwater species. Electric Blue Acara are easily one of our favorite species of fish. Hey everyone, I have a 75 gallon with 2 EBA's and one L200 at the moment. However, as a digger, Acaras do tend to uproot plants, so I suggest using potted plants that are not easily dislodged. Add some oxygen to the mix. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. These conditions range from murky, standstill waters to clear and running rivers. The electric blue acara is known for burrowing and digging in the material at the bottom of the aquarium, which can be quite entertaining to watch! Some fish stores may label this species as blue acara or simply acara, which can be confusing. They are playful and like engaging with one another and their tankmates. Another vibrant tank partner for electric blue acara is the moga cichlid. Use antibiotics such as metronidazole, octozin, and others as the best treatment. They thrive in fast-moving currents, swimming for most of the day and resting among plants and other decorations at night. In male specimens, the fins are longer than the females, and the rays of the anal and dorsal fins typically arch around the caudal fin. They spend time with one another and create lifelong bonds with their partners. Correct tank water parameters, relieve overcrowding, treat with an over-the-counter drug as directed. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. But I would go with 4-5 electric blue acaras in a 55. with 2 plecos? Luckily, electric blue acaras are monogamous fish that mate for life. ), Why Is My Ghost Shrimp Turning White? These swimmers are not new in the aquarium world, and they have been used in aquarium tanks for many years now. It would be optimal to have a temperature range of 68-82 F but keep it at around 75-76 F. . Skin and gill flukes are tiny parasites that embed themselves into the fishs body or gills. The leaves give the setup a natural vibe, as well as offering a platform for colonies of naturally occurring microbes to grow on. . You dont want to match them with much larger fish as they could become prey, and aggressive fish will cause anxiety and disruption in the tank. Wed love to know what you think, so please tell us in the comments box below. Stress is something that fish, like people, must cope with regularly. When selecting fish for a home aquarium, factors like tank size, water conditions and the temperament of your fish come into play. In these countries, the blue acara can be found in a variety of ecosystems. Electric Blue Acara are omnivores but eat a lot of live critters in the wild. The proud mother of blood parrots, firemouths, convicts, red zebras, electric yellows, a jewel, a chocolate, a severum, an EBJD, a blue acara, a . They do not have any special filtration needs other than regular maintenance. Below is a list of good things to feed your electric blue acara, other than flakes (but it should not make up their whole diet): No cichlid benefits from being overfed, so monitor how much food you feed every day to prevent your cichlid fish from overeating, as this could lead to a wide range of health problems. pH range: 6 to 8. They are rambunctious and may prey on electric blue acara if bored. They accept a wide variety of foods and are considered a great option for cichlid novices because they are very hardy. The water conditions should be as follows: Temperature: 72-86F; pH: 6-7.5; . This allows for ASD to promote items that are more effective to promote via Amazon versus selling on this site due to shipping costs, the vendor's choice to only carry through Amazon, or order minimums. . Once this is over the parents will watch over their eggs while they grow. Blue fish are unique and special-looking since blue is found in nature much more rarely than other colors. There arent any diseases that are exclusive to this species of fish. Though some hobbyists may try to tie or glue these plants down, your fish will rearrange the tank to its liking eventually. Size matters, in this scenario, for the fish to live peacefully together. Fish can quickly succumb to shock. It has orange, brown, black, and gray stripes on its body. Electric blue acaras do best in a slow to medium flow, though they can adapt to higher water currents as long as there are areas of lower flow throughout the aquarium. On the flip side, I dont recommend very large or aggressive species either, as they may harass and stress the Acaras. The electric blue acara is similar to other cichlids, such as thegreen terror cichlid, but is at the same time very unique in its color. Poor tank mates are ones that can easily fit in an electric blues mouth or ones that are overly aggressive or that try to fight back! In the bodies of water Electric Blue Acara occupy, there are usually plants and vegetation floating on the surface. The best tank shape to choose for the Blue Acara is long rather than tall. If you have three youll need 60 (and so on). Weve heard of people putting them in slightly smaller tanks, but we strongly discourage that. You can add any floating plant, for example, hornwort, which will comfort them a lot. Tank Requirements for Electric Blue Acara. Size: 6-10 Inches Tall. This is a very manageable size and allows them to be comfortable in a fairly average tank. pH shock is rather easy to avoid; routine maintenance (water changes) is essential, like double-checking the water quality before putting them in your tank. To get the best breeding pair possible, many hobbyists purchase a small group of about 5 fish. Electric blues will appreciate a variety of live, freeze-dried, and frozen foods. Do not leave the tank open; instead, cover it with a robust aquarium lid to keep the blue acaras from leaping out. While setting the tank for your Electric Blue Acara, keep in mind the following aspects: Tank Size. They spend their time rummaging around the substrate seeking scraps of food. A variety of events might create stress in fish. So, every week you must carry out partial water changes to remove excess ammonia and nitrites and to keep nitrate levels down.