Blue Acaras

[ultimatebob]

i have recently restocked a 110 into a semi-agressive community containing various fish that i believe will coexist well together. what i want to know is do blue acaras do better as a pair or as a single individual, as far as growth is concerned.i have kept some back in the day as single males, and noticed that some tend to grow fast, while others stay small. does pairing them up have anything to do with the growth rate?

 

[thereverendturtle]

Nope, a single male will grow at the same rate if it is paired with a female.

 

[Wills]

A lone male will grow faster than a paired male because breeding fish put their energy into breeding rather than growing.

Wills

 

[thereverendturtle]

Wills is right. I was just thinking from the standpoint of genetics, food intake, tank size, etc... breeding didn't enter my mind.

 

[ultimatebob]

so what youre saying if i want the single male to get bigger, i need not to pair him up, but just let him do his thing?

 

[snake007]

A Blue Acara will need a bigger tank than a 110 unless your talking gallons.

 

[ultimatebob]

yes its a 110 gallon. should be more than enough space.

 

[snake007]

yes its a 110 gallon. should be more than enough space.

 

[balajake]

are acaras very agressive ? how would they be in a tank with firemouths, eliottis ? would they be best on there own, as a pair or in a group ?

 

[snake007]

Their more peaceful but can be aggressive at times especially when breeding, they would be fine in a tank like that, depends on the tank size.

 

[balajake]

350 litres but i'm planning for when i get a bigger tank. hope to stock with some red headed geophagus too when the time comes

 

[ultimatebob]

so getting back to my question: is it true that some stay small and some grow to about 6 inches or so. is there nothing i can do to ensure that mine will grow at a faster rate, and reach the maximum size?

 

[ultimatebob]

the reason for asking this, is back in the day i had a friend who kept various sa cichlids. he purchased 3 individuals all the same size. 1 specimen grew 4 times the size of the other 3 and it did not seem like they were going to get any bigger. in fact, if i remember correctly, the 3 smaller individuals were eventually killed by the bigger 1. and i do believe all were male.

 

[ultimatebob]

are acaras very agressive ? how would they be in a tank with firemouths, eliottis ? would they be best on there own, as a pair or in a group ?

from what i have noticed, the blue acara is not realy a bully like its cousin the green terror. it seems like in a cichlid community, it keeps to itself(a threat here and a threat there) but i have also noticed that when provoked, by say a firemouth, jack, other some other cichlid, it will definately be a force to be reckoned with. i think it will co-exist well with fish that will respect it, but also it's not about to take no bull. should do well with non-cichlids of good size.

 

[balajake]

Thanks for that