Blue Acara Questions.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help me out with a few questions
regarding Blue Acara's.

I am looking at getting a 3 foot tank in the next couple of months and
as thinking of getting a pair of blue acaras.

I was just wondering if the tank I am getting will be ok for 2 Blue
acaras or should I just get 1? And also what kind of fish can i keep
with them? I was thinking along the lines of some Tiger barbs and Dwarf
Gourami (maybe too small? so regular sized gourmi?)

Also are they hard to get in australia? I don't want to get my heart
set on them and find I can't get them or they are really hard to find.

Finially how do you tell them apart from Green Terror's? I have been
reading around this group/the internet and it appears that sometimes
Green Terrors are sold as Blue Acaras?

Thanks so much! Mariachi

"Mariachi" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help me out with a few questions
regarding Blue Acara's.

I am looking at getting a 3 foot tank in the next couple of months and
as thinking of getting a pair of blue acaras.

Might work fine, but they will probably spawn and it will get much more
crowded in there.

I was just wondering if the tank I am getting will be ok for 2 Blue
acaras or should I just get 1? And also what kind of fish can i keep
with them? I was thinking along the lines of some Tiger barbs and Dwarf
Gourami (maybe too small? so regular sized gourmi?)

I've never tried Dwarf gourami with Acaras, but the Acaras have a good
temperament. Depending on the amount of shelter, rockwork, plants etc, I
don't see the Acaras significantly limiting what other fish you can put
in there.

Also are they hard to get in australia? I don't want to get my heart
set on them and find I can't get them or they are really hard to find.

That I can't help with. They are reasonable available in Canada.

Finially how do you tell them apart from Green Terror's? I have been
reading around this group/the internet and it appears that sometimes
Green Terrors are sold as Blue Acaras?

Google images for the two fish. I've only had Green Terrors a couple of
times (passing through the shop), but I'm fairly certain that you can
tell them apart, especially when they are side by side. iirc, the
jawlines and their scale reflectivity along the sides was different, but
google the images yourself (I have to go to work now).

Thanks so much! Mariachi

hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

Previous posts follow.

An excellent website for viewing many (if not all) of the aequidens species
was posted by Alf at www.lem.net/alf/aeq.htm . True Green Terrors are not
that similar to the Acaras, and it would be unlikely that they could be
mixed up. However, most fish that are sold as Green Terrors here in the US
are actually a species called Aequidens sp. Goldsaum, common name is (or
should be) Gold Seam Cichlid or Goldsaum Cichlid. These are more similar in
appearance to the Blue Acara, but not close enough that they could be
confused. I know of only two sources for the true Green Terror, if anyone's
interested I could pass that info along.

Two Aequidens Pulcher (aka Blue Acara) in a 3ft tank is probably max. If you
are interested in keeping tankmates, I would suggest Cichlids that are a bit
docile, like Oscars, or Cichlids that like to duck and hide, like Jack
Dempsey or Salvini -- However, *any* tankmates would require a larger
aquaria.

--Mark Stone


"NetMax" wrote in message
.. .
"Mariachi" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help me out with a few questions
regarding Blue Acara's.

I am looking at getting a 3 foot tank in the next couple of months and
as thinking of getting a pair of blue acaras.

Might work fine, but they will probably spawn and it will get much more
crowded in there.

I was just wondering if the tank I am getting will be ok for 2 Blue
acaras or should I just get 1? And also what kind of fish can i keep
with them? I was thinking along the lines of some Tiger barbs and Dwarf
Gourami (maybe too small? so regular sized gourmi?)

I've never tried Dwarf gourami with Acaras, but the Acaras have a good
temperament. Depending on the amount of shelter, rockwork, plants etc, I
don't see the Acaras significantly limiting what other fish you can put in
there.

Also are they hard to get in australia? I don't want to get my heart
set on them and find I can't get them or they are really hard to find.

That I can't help with. They are reasonable available in Canada.

Finially how do you tell them apart from Green Terror's? I have been
reading around this group/the internet and it appears that sometimes
Green Terrors are sold as Blue Acaras?

Google images for the two fish. I've only had Green Terrors a couple of
times (passing through the shop), but I'm fairly certain that you can tell
them apart, especially when they are side by side. iirc, the jawlines and
their scale reflectivity along the sides was different, but google the
images yourself (I have to go to work now).

Thanks so much! Mariachi

hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

The first fish I ever got for my (29 gal) tank were 2 Blue Acaras and I
still have one of them (6 years later). When they grew big, one began to
attack the other (I never knew what gender they were) and I was afraid it
would become serious so I traded one to a LFS. I still have the other, along
with a large Festivum and a large Firemouth, 3 Tiger Barbs and 2 Pictus
Cats, and all are doing fine. The old Blue Acara went through a very bad
case of Ick a few years ago, lost much finnage from it (which of course grew
back) and the eyes got really cloudy and he (she?) had to be treated with
antibiotics in a quarantine tank for a week (for a skin infection brought on
by the Ick) but he made it. Since I gave the other one away (about 3 years
ago) he's become somewhat timid (at times, but sometimes not). Sometimes I
wish I still had both, mostly for that reason, but at the time it seemed the
other one wanted to kill and I didn't dare keep them together. That's my
experience with them. Maybe they were both males or something...

Jody

"Mariachi" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help me out with a few questions
regarding Blue Acara's.

I am looking at getting a 3 foot tank in the next couple of months and
as thinking of getting a pair of blue acaras.

I was just wondering if the tank I am getting will be ok for 2 Blue
acaras or should I just get 1? And also what kind of fish can i keep
with them? I was thinking along the lines of some Tiger barbs and Dwarf
Gourami (maybe too small? so regular sized gourmi?)

Also are they hard to get in australia? I don't want to get my heart
set on them and find I can't get them or they are really hard to find.

Finially how do you tell them apart from Green Terror's? I have been
reading around this group/the internet and it appears that sometimes
Green Terrors are sold as Blue Acaras?

Thanks so much! Mariachi

Do LFS accept baby Blue Acaras...say if my tank got a little crowded?
Not for exchange or money or whatever..just to unload thm?

"Mariachi" wrote in message
oups.com...
Do LFS accept baby Blue Acaras...say if my tank got a little crowded?
Not for exchange or money or whatever..just to unload thm?


This really varies by store. Some have a policy against it. Most of
them will, but you might need to speak to someone in authority. Call
around. If they can take them, they usually need a little time to
prepare a tank for them. Instead of giving them away, ask if you can
have some fish food or supplies in trade (store credits). They are more
likely to give you 50 cents per fish (as an example) in store credits as
it really only costs them 25 cents (because of their mark-up when you
spend the money).

Mark, thanks for the link, bookmarked. It's remarkable how small and
vulnerable looking the creeks these fish came from are.
--
www.NetMax.tk

I have 2 blue acaras, a male & a female. The male is much bigger than
the female, and I read that one sex has more pointed anal fins than the
other, but I haven't noticed a difference. My acaras get along famously
with bala sharks, even when they're breeding. They hate my convict and
jewel, so I gave them their own 30 gal. tank. They still breed, but none
of the eggs ever hatch, I don't know why.



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