They're probably up to about 3" now. They're getting pretty rough on each other. I'm seeing occasional missing scales and split fins. That's pretty typical of SA acara types though, especially considering that blue acaras spawn small and young.
I've got mine in my QT tank at 84 right now. So far, no sign of ich. They've been eating really well-devouring white worms, etc. No, they won't be living with my discus. Have yours grown much?
Joan
They're probably up to about 3" now. They're getting pretty rough on each other. I'm seeing occasional missing scales and split fins. That's pretty typical of SA acara types though, especially considering that blue acaras spawn small and young.
Sounds like they're growing fairly fast then, that's good. Are you able to sex them?
Joan
So far, no. Even regular blue acaras are tricky. Like discus, it tends to be easier when they start spawning.
Males will usually be more slender and have more exaggerated finnage but every now and then you find a female with long trailers, too.
how r u liking your electric blue acara i have just picked up 5 of them i had them ordered and im loving them they r beautiful cant wait for them to pair up and start breeding they r healthy and about three inches long anything i should know about them from your experince theres not much online about them
So far I treat them like regular blue acaras, Andinoacara pulcher. They are very active and feisty but I haven't seen any breeding behavior yet. Blue acaras tend to spawn small, at 2" or so, so I'm surprised mine haven't shown interest yet. They seem to be slow-growing so far. Mine are only about 3" still. Blue acaras typically top out around 6" so they still have some time. I've only had them about three months so it may take them 12 - 18 months to get to their adult size.
I have noticed that the blue color starts to change as they grow. Their scales are taking on a black-edged look and their fins have turned dark. This could be the color wearing off or it could be that they've darkened up in the presence of other fish in the community tank I mixed them in, similar to the way discus and other cichlids show their stress bars when in the company of other fish.
Either way, they have been enjoyable little fish so far and they have that perky acara personality that I love so much. I am going to introduce some regular blue acaras eventually to see if that will entice them to spawn. Since these are still really new to the hobby, it's hard to say how/if they'll breed. It could go one of three ways:
1. They could be like Electric Blue Rams and breed 100% true.
2. They could be like Electric Blue Acaras and require one EB fish to be crossed with one non-EB fish.
3. They could be like Super Red Severums which rarely seem to have a willingness to spawn, and are either sterile or mostly-sterile when they do.
I have my six in my fairly crowded 220 along with two regular acaras. The growth rate on mine is interesting. I have a range in size from about 2 1/2+" to 3 1/2"+/almost 4". It doesn't sound like a big difference, but it is a huge difference to see when you look at the whole body. They all started out fairly close in size. They are very aggressive eaters, pretty much churning the water with anything I put in the tank. I'd say half have grown quite rapidly, the other half not so much. If I had to guess at sexing them, I'd say I have 4 males and two females based on their fins, but it's just a guess. The biggest ones I have have much longer pointed dorsal fins. The smaller, slower growing ones have much more blunted dorsal fins. Could be just because they are smaller though, we'll see. I'm about to do a big tank swap and they will be going into a 120 with a smaller group of fish, less busy.
Joan
Curious to see how everyone's acara are doing. I just picked up 4 and added them to my South American tank that as a mix of everyting. All cichlids are juveniles, including 3 regular Blue Acara. I'm curious to see if any of my Electrics will pair up with my regular acara.
Mine are doing really well. They've gotten quite large and the color is staying very nice. I have 6 Electric Blues and 2 regular Blue Acaras. It's looking to me like one of the electrics has paired up with a regular as of this AM. Does anyone know of others that have them that have had them breed either with each other or with a regular blue and how that turned out?
Joan
The electric blues breed true. At two months old the fry are already electric blue. That means if you cross them with a typical blue acara, you'll probably end up with 100% normal blues that carry a recessive electric gene. Then breeding the fry together will give you a percentage of EB.
Of course the only way to know for sure is to cross them and see what the fry look like.
Last edited by Ryan; 02-12-2014 at 12:39 PM.
Ryan,
Any update on these?
I've got eggs! I guess we'll see how it goes.
Joan
Wao!!!
Nice thread started with the EB Acaras and we end up with eggs already.
Good luck two both of you.
Thanks, now I've got to get them out of the tank that they're in. The other "vultures" in the tank are circling. Unfortunately, I will have to raise them without the parents. There's no way for me to catch the parents and know that I've got the right ones since there are 8 acaras in the tank. It worked out fine for me when I did that with my Red Head Tapajos, so hopefully this will be the same.
Joan
Congrats, Joan! Are you sure the parents won't at least defend them until they hatch? Most acaras are great at defending a nest. I usually leave eggs with parents for two days until they hatch and then siphon the wrigglers. They get to do all the hard part (fanning and aerating the eggs).