The electric blue acara (Adinoacara pulcher) is a type of cichlid. Its former name was Aequidens pulcher, but researchers recently reclassified it.
Unlike many cichlids, electric blue acaras have peaceful temperaments. They usually only display aggression during breeding. Their agreeable dispositions make them ideal tankmates for similarly tempered community fish.
Electric blue acaras are easy, hardy fish. They come from Central and South America, so they need a heater. They are medium-sized fish who enjoy digging and hiding. Provide them with a decently-sized tank and plenty of decorations. Breeding is simple, so you may find yourself with electric blue acara fry without effort.
What Do Electric Blue Acaras Look Like?
Electric blue acaras have oval-shaped, stocky bodies. They have pointed dorsal and anal fins and spiked rays that arch over the caudal fin.
Blue acaras and electric blue acaras are not the same fish. Blue acaras have dull bodies with a scattering of blue scales. Vibrant blue scales cover the entirety of the electric blue acara’s body. Electric blue acaras also have stripes and spots on their heads and bodies to help them stand out.
An electric blue acara ready to breed produces hues of bright greens and gold.
- Common Names: Electric Blue Acara, Blue Acara
- Scientific Name: Andinoacara pulcher
- Origin: Central & South America
- Length: 5-6 in (12.7-15.2 cm)
- Lifespan: 10-20 years
- Minimum Aquarium Size: 30 gallons
- Temperament: Semi-Aggressive
- Ease of Care: Easy
What Is An Electric Blue Acara’s Native Habitat?
Electric blue acaras are native to Venezuela, Colombia, and Trinidad. Electric blue acaras are a hybrid of the blue acara. They do not come from the wild but are tank raised.
Wild blue acaras prefer clear streams with strong currents and well-oxygenated water. Electric blue acaras prefer similar conditions in their tanks.
Behavior & Temperament
Electric blue acaras are semi-aggressive fish. You need to take care when choosing tank mates. Species of similar size and temperament are good options.
Electric Blue Acara Care
These fish are hardy and easy to care for. You need to provide them with their preferred conditions to thrive.
Aquarium Size
Electric blue acaras are moderately-sized fish that grow to about 5-6 in (12.7-15.2 cm) in length. A pair of adult blue acaras should have an aquarium no smaller than 30 gallons. 40 gallons or more is preferable to give them space to explore. Electric blue acaras become territorial if there isn’t enough space; they may nip at each other.
Water Parameters
Electric blue acaras are typically hardy fish. They are more sensitive to water parameter fluctuations than blue acaras. They should be the last fish you introduce to a newly-cycled tank. Add hardier varieties or species first. Doing so ensures the addition of fish won’t cause the water parameters to fluctuate.
Like all cichlids, blue acaras prefer more acidic water. They can survive in slightly basic water (Up to 7.5), but acidic water is necessary if you want them to breed.
These are the water parameters your electric blue acara needs:
- pH: 6.0-7.0
- Ammonia: 0 ppm
- Nitrites: 0 ppm
- Nitrates: 0 ppm
- Temperature: 78-84℉ (25.6-28.9°C)
- Water Hardness (dGH): 3-20
Provide A Heater & Filter
A heater is necessary to provide your blue acaras with tropical waters between 78-84℉ (25.6-28.9°C). Warm water keeps them active and encourages them to eat. Optimal temperatures also boost their metabolism and support their immune system. Higher and lower temperatures lower your fish’s immune system, likely causing sickness.
In the wild, blue acaras live in waters with strong currents. You’ll need a large filter with a powerful flow to accommodate that. Sometimes the filter won’t be enough. You’ll need to add powerheads to your tank to get better flow throughout the tank. Filters are also necessary to keep up with the amount of waste your fish produce.
Plants & Substrate
Choosing the right plants and substrate for cichlids is difficult. They enjoy digging through the substrate and uprooting plants. Electric blue acaras do not dig as much as other cichlid species. Still, they are occasionally prone to the behavior, particularly males.
Digging is a natural behavior for electric blue acaras. You shouldn’t discourage it even if it’s frustrating. Choose a fine-grained substrate like sand they can easily push around.
Medium-colored to dark substrate makes your electric blue acara’s colors pop. In the wild, these fish try to blend in with their backgrounds to stay safe from predators. They don’t stand out against white or other light-colored substrates.
Choose plants that have deep, established root systems:
- Amazon Sword
- Cryptocoryne
- Java Fern
- Anubius
- Echinodorus
- Vallisneria
Your acara is unlikely to dig up these plants with their digging and tugging. You can also choose silk plants that won’t mind being uprooted. Silk plants can withstand the roughness of your fish but injure your fish as hard plastic plants do.
Some pet stores sell plants in little plastic pots. You want to take the plants out of the pots in most tanks. In cichlid tanks, the pots can prevent your fish from uprooting.
You should also cover the substrate with dried leaves, like Indian almond leaves. In the wild, electric blue acaras have leaf litter to sift through. Providing leaves helps replicate their natural environment. Indian almond leaves are excellent for your fish’s health. The tannins they produce boost the immune system.
Other Decorations
Electric blue acaras love to dig and hide. Provide them with decorations like driftwood, caves, and large rocks. Bear in mind that driftwood lowers (acidifies) water’s pH, while many rocks raise or lower pH.
The tannins and humic acids in driftwood acidify pH and give the water a light to dark brown tint. To avoid driftwood from altering your water, you’ll need to boil it. Boil until the tannins no longer leach from the wood. You’ll need to replace the water often; this process takes several hours.
Boiling driftwood isn’t usually necessary for cichlids since they like acidic water. The tannins in driftwood are even good for your fish’s health and boost their immune system. Boiling is still an option if you don’t like the look of brown water.
Some rocks will lower the pH like driftwood, but most make the water more alkaline (>7.0 pH). Sandstone, limestone, and marble all cause the water to become more alkaline.
Often, you can get the optimal pH by using a combination of driftwood and pH-altering rock. You’ll need to keep an eye on your water parameters.
Lighting Levels
Electric blue acaras prefer moderate lighting, so you should get an adjustable light. You can also use floating plants to help diffuse the light.
What Should You Feed Electric Blue Acaras?
Electric blue acaras are carnivorous, so you should feed them meat-based foods. All blue acaras sold in stores are tank-raised. They are accustomed to pellets which can make up the bulk of their diet.
Many pelleted foods claim to be healthy but contain fillers like potato and wheat starch. Carnivores can’t digest these fillers, so they do more harm than good. Choose pellets that contain mostly animal-based proteins; these should be the main ingredient.
Frozen and live foods are excellent options for your electric blue acara. In the wild, blue acaras primarily feed on invertebrates. Try to replicate their wild diet as well as you can. Meaty foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, and tubifex boost your fish’s health.
Live and frozen food often contain nutrients that may not be present in pelleted foods. Extra protein and fat are sometimes missing from pellets.
The missing nutrients are essential to spawning fish. They may not produce successful offspring if you don’t supplement them with live or frozen food.
It’s good to provide live food a few times a week to encourage your fish’s hunting instinct and to get them to be more active. I don’t recommend feeding only live foods, as fish will begin to reject non-live foods. Sometimes, there are food shortages, and you won’t be able to buy live foods. Your fish will starve if you can’t get them to accept pellets or frozen food.
What Tank Mates Can Live With Electric Blue Acaras?
Electric blue acaras are moderately-sized, semi-aggressive carnivores. They need tank mates with similar personalities.
They won’t do well with tiny, peaceful community fish like neon tetras or guppies, which they will eat. Blue acaras prefer invertebrates over fish, but if the fish is small enough, they won’t pass up an easy meal.
Blue acaras have small mouths, so you don’t have to avoid peaceful fish entirely. They do well with bigger, peaceful fish like large tetras, mollies, and swordtails. Semi-aggressive species like barbs and rams also make good additions.
They also won’t do well with larger or more aggressive cichlids like green terrors, who are likely to bully them. Small, aggressive cichlids, like convict cichlids, may do okay. Add small, aggressive fish with caution and provide everyone with plenty of space.
Avoid fish that have a similar coloration to electric blue acaras. Powder-blue gouramis or electric blue rams will not do well with electric blue acaras. They see similar-looking fish as a threat and will attack them.
Fish & invertebrates you should NOT keep with electric blue acaras:
- Green Terror
- Red Terror
- Jaguar Cichlid
- Midas Cichlid
- Jack Dempsey Cichlid
- Peacock Cichlid
- Flowerhorn
- Small Tetras, like Neon and Cardinal Tetras
- Rasboras
- Small danios
- Guppies
- Otocinclus
- Barbs
- Small Snails, like Ramshorn Snails
- Small Crabs
- Small Shrimp, like Cherry or Ghost Shrimp
Fish & invertebrates you CAN keep with electric blue acaras:
- Large Tetras like Black or White Skirt Tetras
- Large Danios
- Barbs
- Mollies
- Swordtails
- Gouramis
- Rams
- Severums
- Angelfish
- Earth Eaters (Geophagous sp.)
- Discus
- Pearl Cichlids
- Uaru Cichlids
- Convict Cichlids (With Caution)
- Large Catfish like Corydoras & Other Bottom Dwellers
- Plecostomus
- Large Mystery Snails
- Large Freshwater Clams
How Do You Breed Electric Blue Acaras?
Electric blue acaras are monogamous egg layers easy to breed in the home aquarium. Acaras living in perfect water conditions may spawn several times a year.
Males and females ready to breed will display themselves more often. Their colors become more vibrant as they prepare to spawn, and males develop green hues.
Sexing Your Fish
To breed electric blue acaras, you need to be able to sex your fish. Male cichlids are more vibrantly colored than their female counterparts. Color can be a tricky distinction with electric blue acaras since they are vibrant.
It’s impossible to sex juvenile fish. You’ll need to wait until your fish has reached sexual maturity at about 2.5-3 in (6.4-7.6 cm) in length.
Often, breeders only sell juveniles. You may have to buy your fish before they’ve reached sexual maturity. Males are always larger than their female counterparts. Choose the smallest and largest juveniles from a batch, and you’ll likely end up with a matched pair.
It’s easy to sex them once they reach sexual maturity. They have distinct-looking fins and coloration.
A male’s dorsal fin is more pointed than a female’s. A male’s dorsal and anal fin are deeper in red than a female’s. Males usually have a red stripe running down their dorsal fin.
Once males grow larger than 4 in (10.2 cm), you’ll notice a distinguishable nuchal hump. A nuchal hump is a large growth at the top of the head that most male cichlids develop. Females do not form a nuchal hump, and their colors are more subdued.
Behavior During Spawning
As they prepare the spawn, the parents are more prone to tear up the rocks around their tank. The destruction is manageable because they prefer to spawn on hard surfaces. Provide them with an upside-down flower pot or a large, flat rock to spawn on.
After spawning, electric blue acaras become drastically more aggressive than they were before. It’s safest to keep your acaras in a breeder tank during spawning if they usually live in a community tank.
Encourage Breeding
A breeding tank should be at least 20 gallons. It’s okay for the breeding tank to be slightly smaller than their home tank since the space is temporary. Use a soft sandy substrate and lay lots of flat rocks at the bottom of the tank for the female to place her eggs.
For successful spawning, the water parameters must be more strict than usual:
- pH: 6.5-7.0
- Water Hardness: 3-12 dGH
- Temperature: 73-79°F (22.8-26.1°C)
After Spawning
A female electric blue acara will lay 150-200 eggs on the flat rocks in her tank. Both parents protect the eggs while they incubate. Incubation occurs for about two to three days before hatching.
Caring For The Fry
Cichlid fry is easy to care for because their parents continue to protect and feed them. Once the fry hatches, the parents move them to a small pit dug into the substrate. The hole offers protection to the fry who can not yet swim freely, and they remain there for about four days. The parents bring food to their fry, so supply them with baby brine shrimp or microworms.
Remove the parents after two weeks to prevent them from breeding again. Move the fry to a tank of at least 40 gallons. The more fry you have, the larger the tank you’ll need. 50 fry will do okay in a 40-gallon tank, but 100 fry needs at least 90 gallons.
At about two months, the juveniles are ready to eat an adult diet. You can move them to a community tank or sell them to a pet store.
FAQs
Are Electric Blue Acara Schooling Fish?
Electric blue acaras are not schooling fish. Still, they do fine in an aquarium with members of their species. These fish are monogamous and form mating pairs.
Are Electric Blue Acaras Mouthbrooders?
Electric blue acaras are not mouthbrooders. They deposit their eggs on the smooth surfaces of rocks. Many other cichlid species are mouthbrooders.
Mouthbrooders carry their fertilized eggs in their mouth until they are too large to fit. The Ocean Conservancy describes the pros and cons of mouthbrooding:
“An advantage of mouthbrooding is the eggs are protected from predation, so eggs are more likely to survive to hatch than if they were loose in the ocean. But the tolls of mouthbrooding can be significant, as it limits the parents’ ability to eat. Also, it’s the definition of “putting all your eggs in one basket”—if the parent is eaten, its young are eaten along with it.”
What Are Cichlids?
Cichlids are a type of freshwater fish which includes over 1,350 species. They live in waters across Central and South America, Africa, Iran, India, Jordan, and Sri Lanka.
Cichlids have deep bodies with a discontinuous lateral line. Most fish have two nostrils on either side of their head, but cichlids have two. They also have three to four anal spines and a rounded tail.
The Georgia Aquarium says, “This family is noted for the profusion of bright colors and color patterns found among different species. Just about every color found in fish anywhere can also be found in some species of cichlids.”
