Blue acara in my 50 gallon

[njr_]

Hey everyone, I’ve got a 50 gallon tank that I’m looking to house some blue acara in.

I was looking to house 3/4 acara and was wondering if there is any other cichlid I could put another in with them.

For example 3 acara and one geophagus possibly

Thank you

 

[Magnum Man]

you probably need to define weather they are electric blue, or wild type, they both carry the same scientific name but are worlds apart as far as disposition... I have 3 electric blues, in a 45 gallon, with 4 other species of Cichlid, but I tried adding one wild type Gold Acara, and that completely upset the apple cart, until I removed it...

 

[njr_]

you probably need to define weather they are electric blue, or wild type, they both carry the same scientific name but are worlds apart as far as disposition... I have 3 electric blues, in a 45 gallon, with 4 other species of Cichlid, but I tried adding one wild type Gold Acara, and that completely upset the apple cart, until I removed it...

Sorry yes they are electric blue acara, if I was to put 4 in a 50 gallon is there any other cichlid I could put in with them?

 

[Magnum Man]

I have an angel fish, a pair of Cupids, and a trio of Apistogramas in my 45, with 3 electric blues, along with several Cory's and various Oto's , and a Tiger Sliver Dollar... I was sent a group of earth eaters by mistake, and they were fine with the blue acaras, but fought amongst them selves before I removed them ( they were supposed to be cupids, as the seller sent the wrong fish ) I would suspect you would be fine with most of the earth eaters

 

[njr_]

I have an angel fish, a pair of Cupids, and a trio of Apistogramas in my 45, with 3 electric blues, along with several Cory's and various Oto's , and a Tiger Sliver Dollar... I was sent a group of earth eaters by mistake, and they were fine with the blue acaras, but fought amongst them selves before I removed them ( they were supposed to be cupids, as the seller sent the wrong fish ) I would suspect you would be fine with most of the earth eaters

How does the tiger silver dollar do alone? I’ve always thought they need a good shoal

 

[njr_]

What is the best amount of electric blue acara to have in my 50 gallon tank, I was thinking 4.

Would also be looking at housing a few larger tetra and a pleco.

3 may cause one to be left out and bullied so was thinking 4 please help me with advice thank you

 

[Magnum Man]

I have 3, with no bullying... but it is a community tank set up to discourage breeding... if you are trying to breed, you may want to let them choose a mate, rather than forcing it, by offering them more choices... but electric blues are "aliens" they are totally different in behavior, than typical Cichlids, much more mellow, and the electrics got totally dominated by a wild type Gold Acara I tried to introduce into my tank... your tank is big enough, you could probably do 4-5 electric blues if you wanted

 

[anewbie]

What is the best amount of electric blue acara to have in my 50 gallon tank, I was thinking 4.

Would also be looking at housing a few larger tetra and a pleco.

3 may cause one to be left out and bullied so was thinking 4 please help me with advice thank you

In a smaller aquarium like a 50 i would recommend 2 or 4. The issue is that if you end up with m/f they will breed and be aggressive to the one not breeding. If the tank has a good floor space then a 3rd might be able to get far enough away to avoid conflict. A standard 50 is 36x18 which is not tiny but depending on how you scape it might still cause conflict. Of course if all of them are the same sex then this will not be an issue.

 

[njr_]

Could I keep just one? And then another species such as a single geophagus aswell?

 

[anewbie]

Could I keep just one? And then another species such as a single geophagus aswell?

You could keep one acara; for most species of geo you would want a group - maybe 4 g. sp alto (gold dust) as a 50 is pretty small; this is two of my gold dust (they are in a 500). The advantage of gold dust is they are smaller 4-5 inch and flexible to water condition and temperature. Many species are much larger and require very soft water also some require higher temps around 80. Also some species of geo require very fast current.

 

[njr_]

I like that idea, so could I stock the tank with
1 blue acara
1 g. Sp alto
1 zebra pleco
And then a small shoal of larger tetra?

 

[anewbie]

I like that idea, so could I stock the tank with
1 blue acara
1 g. Sp alto
1 zebra pleco
And then a small shoal of larger tetra?

I would do 2 sp alto but other wise it is fine. I would not get a true zebra pleco as it is not worth the cost; there are pleco thta look similar for a fraction of the cost.

 

[njr_]

I would do 2 sp alto but other wise it is fine. I would not get a true zebra pleco as it is not worth the cost; there are pleco thta look similar for a fraction of the cost.

Thank you for your help, would you say it’s probably better for me to keep just one blue acara in the tank? Would the gold dust pair now bully him?

 

[anewbie]

Thank you for your help, would you say it’s probably better for me to keep just one blue acara in the tank? Would the gold dust pair now bully him?

Just one blue acara by itself would be fine; or two if you like and then skip the gold dusts.

 

[njr_]

Just one blue acara by itself would be fine; or two if you like and then skip the gold dusts.

I’ll go with the 2 gold and one blue acara, in terms of a larger shoaling fish to go with them what do you recommend for my 50?