Tank mates for blue acara

[Caliban07]

Hi. Sorry if I am boring people with my blue acara but these are my first cichlids and I am excited.

To cut a long story short. Been trying to get a breeding pair but ending up with males. I don't know what size acaras pair up or if it's possible a male can be confused about the gender of another until it gets bigger but they guy in the LFS said it was 70% a female but it came with fin rot which is not improving due to stress from bullying.

So my options now are a) stick it out with the 2 I have b) add more blue acara to spread aggression and hope to get a pair c) return one acara add compatible tank mates.

Bare in mind this is a 47 US gallon tank.
Only running on internal filtration. I did get an eihm 2217 which I hate and is now for sale.

If The tank and filtration is not enough then option d) dwarf cichlids.

I would have to do research on compatible dwarfs but again recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[josh7]

I would just keep 1 of the avatars and add some non cichlids species the one male will claim the whole tank and will fight with other cichlids. I would add a school of 5 giant danios and either a striped Raphael catfish or BN Pleco for the bottom.

 

[Caliban07]

Well are then any similar sized cichlids to the acara which are easy to sex so I can get a pair?

 

[josh7]

You could try out fire mouths cichlids they are a gorgeous fish and easier to sex. Or you could keep trying with the acaras I would try a different female though that bullying isn't going to help the current one get healthy.

 

[Caliban07]

You could try out fire mouths cichlids they are a gorgeous fish and easier to sex. Or you could keep trying with the acaras I would try a different female though that bullying isn't going to help the current one get healthy.

I'm not even sure it is a female. Is it normal for males to bully females? Would 2 females fight?

I do like the fire mouth they are beautiful but so is the acara

 

[josh7]

I think at first in almost all cichlids it is. Usually a male will bully her and test her by lip locking and testing her strength to see if she is a good mate. Have they been lip locking a lot?

 

[Caliban07]

I think at first in almost all cichlids it is. Usually a male will bully her and test her by lip locking and testing her strength to see if she is a good mate. Have they been lip locking a lot?

They did lip lock for a split couple of seconds when I took the other male back and first put the new one in but she is half his size at the moment.

 

[josh7]

So what exactly does the male do to the smaller one?

 

[Caliban07]

Just chases. The smaller one is in the corner behind some bogwood.

 

[Caliban07]

Also noticed the bigger one shaking his head side to side rapidly before flaring his gills and chasing. I don't know if that's normal or even significant

 

[josh7]

It sounds like it is just raw aggression it doesn't sound like mating at all to me. You might want to rehome the larger one and add more little ones all the same size if you want the acaras to pair. This big one sounds like it just wants to kill the little one.

 

[Caliban07]

It sounds like it is just raw aggression it doesn't sound like mating at all to me. You might want to rehome the larger one and add more little ones all the same size if you want the acaras to pair. This big one sounds like it just wants to kill the little one.

Well the original 2 were the same size but the new bully was originally being bullied. I'll sort something out soon. Maybe take them both back and get 2 firemouth. I'm gonna see how easy it is to sex first as I just don't trust the LFS anymore. I'd rather he said he didn't know if he wasn't sure.

 

[josh7]

It can be difficult to sex acaras I think fire mouths are easier go in and look for the ones with a very bright red throat that's a male. Then I would add 3 females all the same size as he is and let him choose one then return the other 2. Females won't have red on the neck and throat or very little.

 

[Caliban07]

It can be difficult to sex acaras I think fire mouths are easier go in and look for the ones with a very bright red throat that's a male. Then I would add 3 females all the same size as he is and let him choose one then return the other 2. Females won't have red on the neck and throat or very little.

Ok thanks josh. I'm sad to lose the acara though I must admit.

 

[josh7]

Well you can keep him if you don't want to keep trying for a pair just try him out in a community type set up. Don't get rid of a fish you feel attached to trust me you will regret it later on.