Looking at pictures of Golden Eye Dwarf Ciclids, when I saw a picture of electric blues is anyone familiar with how Electric Blue Acaras came about???

I've been looking at Golden Eye ( Gold Cichlids ), Nannacara anomala, as a replacement for the Geo's that were shipped to me in error, after I get them out of my tank... I was looking at some pictures of the Golden Eyes on the www. & intermixed were several pictures of Electric Blue Acaras, Andinoacara pulcher, obviously the electric version is hugely different than the wild type Blue Acara, even though they have the same name ( I have 3 Electric Blue Acaras, & they are simply stunning )... so much different, it makes one wonder, if the difference could be line bred in, only, or how they came about??? not that I'm expecting these two species were combined, I think it was just coincidence the pictures were intermingled... but it made me wonder if anyone knows how the electrics came about??? They seem to be pretty locked in, as far as looks right now, I can't remember ever seeing a "throw back" of a mottled one or anything that looks somewhere between a wild type and the current look of the electrics...

You and many others.

Probably, it was selective breeding.

Some cynics note the electric blue a lot of things hit the hobby right when gene splicing became available, and wonder if maybe there's at least smoke there. Since gene spliced fish are banned in some huge markets, that isn't discussed.

And finally, they could be hybrids.

Nannacara anomala is a great fish. It has the niche that Apistos occupy, but is tougher. I never kept them in the same tank as Corys, because hobby lore says they can sometimes attack them. I kept 2 or 3 pairs over the years, and bred a lot of them. They are called Golden Eyes dwarfs in the trade, so I'm guessing that's what you're investigating.

Wild Type Blue Acara...


Electric Blue Acara...




Quite a big difference, & I, have never seen a picture of something half way between, like a throw back, or a development picture, as they were being bred out???

@GaryE ... I was reading the Seriously Fish report on the Golds...


there is no specific mention of aggression, or problems with Cory's, but that does concern me as I have 7 of them in this tank... the only aggression listed is female protection of fry... & I could see, the way Cory's don't really pay attention to other fishes turf, that there could be noticed aggression, if the Cory's don't identify with the "normal" cues that this is my territory...

Still researching on the Nannacara anomala... small catfish were listed as good tank mates ( not specifically Cory's )... also a warning about putting in small snails, as they will likely eat them... unfortunately this isn't the tank with the pest snail problem...

I see the electric blue acaras more and more at relevant stores. I do love the look of them. But I don't have the space for them. So, I'll just stick to enjoy watching them at stores.

Electric blue acaras do look like cheap imitation Nannacara anomala. I like the dwarf fish - blue acaras are big and can really disrupt a tank.

the blue acaras in my tank, do as the dominant angel requires, without question, they don't pick on anyone, & really disrupt the tank minimally, even though the largest of the 3 is probably the heaviest fish in the tank... the "wrestlers" don't pick on anyone else, but do totally disrupt the tank, bouncing off of everything

I have several nannacara over the years; there are two colour morph in the wild - one more gold and one more blue; they are quasi polygamous; the female is the sole raiser of fry and she goes ballistic when guarding her frys. Cory doesn't understand a very angry mom; however if you just keep the male it should be fine. Also their seems to be two difference sizes in male - and a bit of googling leads me to believe it depends on wild population but i'm not sure what is going on there. I had one blue male that was a good size - about the size of a l. araguaiae female; but all the males i've had since then have not been much larger than the female.
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Anyway it is one of my favorite dwarf cichild but to shine it needs to 'own' the tank and not be put with larger cichild.
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I do not like electric blue acara.

I’ve had a colony of Nannacara anomala going for many years. Males will occasionally take on the female’s brood care coloration and assist in caring for the fry.

Mr Limpet said:

I’ve had a colony of Nannacara anomala going for many years. Males will occasionally take on the female’s brood care coloration and assist in caring for the fry.

Click to expand...

How many have you managed to keep together at one time in what size tank; when i tried keeping multiple males or females at low numbers it didn't go well.

I keep 5 or 6 adults and many fry and sub-adults in a 10 gallon full of Java moss. There is little to no squabbling among the adults, and a good number of youngsters survive to adulthood. The breeding pair cease to produce when the number of fish in the tank grows too large, which is the signal that I need to re-home a bunch of juvies. This system theoretically shouldn’t work, but it somehow does. I’ve had the colony running for about 10 years now, and have shipped dozens of Nannacara around the country.

You must have the smaller form (and i know they will stay even smaller in a small aquarium; ,my a.pucallpaensis i raise in a 10 (f1 and f2) are much smaller than the parents ); the large male i had was way too big for a 10; and he was quite aggressive towards other males. Of course if you pack them in the aggression does spread or i guess in some cases cease.