Blue Acara 3.5cm

Blue Acara

The Blue Acara is arguably one of the best entry-level South American cichlids that you can keep. These fish reach around 15 cm, have stocky bodies, are relatively peaceful, have beautiful colours, and have great interactive behavior. They are basically everything you would expect in a South American cichlid whilst not growing to monster sizes or being super aggressive like a more conventional South American cichlid. Blue Acara are also super hardy and will be a great species just to add some life to a South American cichlid community or even just to enjoy in a species-only display aquarium since these fish breed quite easily in the aquarium, they will make for a great breeding project. 

Blue Acara looks quite good even when juveniles are peppered with blue scales. Once these fish mature however they go to another level, the body colour tends to be quite dark and ranges from olive to dark green colour or even grey. From head to tail, they sport bright blue striations and spots which are quite literally all over the fish. For some additional contrast, the dorsal fin has a bright orange rim which can lead onto the tail fin. One thing that is quite unique to these fish is how stocky they are, round bulky body is something you don’t tend to see with many other South American cichlids, especially with fish of this size. Blue Acara tend to also be quite expressive with their colours which can show their mood which is great to see if something is wrong. When they are a light colour with incredibly dark barring, that tends to be the stressed colouration; if the fish are dark and the blue scales are shimmering, they tend to be happy. 

The Blue Acara is a fairly easy fish to care for. Aside from the max size of 15 cm that they grow to which means they require a larger aquarium size, their personality is mostly community aquarium standards. Breeding these cichlids in the aquarium is quite common and the parents tend to do most of the work until the fry reaches a decent size. Males and females do have distinguishing features where males have more vibrant colours and longer fins when compared to females. 

Tank Recommendations for your Blue Acara

Being a fairly large growing South American cichlid that will reach a max size of 15 cm, a full-grown blue Accra will need an aquarium that is a minimum of 200 liters. This allows multiple acara to be kept along with other tank mates.

A sand or gravel substrate will be perfectly fine for these fish. Having some additional materials in the aquarium such as smooth river stones and driftwood would also be great. Because the blue acara is a South American fish, they require softer water with a PH of around 6.0 - 7.0.

Suitable Tank Buddies

The blue acara is a relatively peaceful fish that can be kept in a community aquarium. It is usually best practice to avoid fish that are smaller than their mouth just to be safe however there are many accounts of blue acara being kept with nano tank mates before. 

Usually Compatible

Angelfish, corydoras, severums, geophagus, rainbowfish, and a range of small to medium community fish.

Sometimes Compatible

Semi-aggressive South American fish such as Oscar, fire mouths, and similar species.  

Rarely Compatible

Large and aggressive species such as Dovii would be far too aggressive and invertebrates like shrimp would be prey for the blue acara.

Feeding your Blue Acara

Like many other South American cichlids, the blue acara is a very easy fish to feed. Due to their bottom-dwelling nature in the aquarium, care should be taken in ensuring food reaches these fish before being eaten by tank mates. It is best to feed them either a sinking pellet or flake food which is supplemented with frozen foods to ensure these fish have optimal health.