Help With My Blue Acara

[rob_cool1]

i have a couple of blue acara (1 male and 1 female) and i dont think they are getting along very well.

I had the male first before i introduced the female and he seems to chase her away and every time he sees her.
But other times they'll be swimming together fine no problems. With eating he changes colour to deep blue and like pale grey stripes and is quite dominant over her so she has to sneakily eat without him seeing.

I have been told by the guy at the fish shop down the road to take the male out and put him in another tank for a week or 2 so the female can settle in the tank properly and claim dominance, so when i put him back she'll be in control and hopefully have babies (thats what i want them to do lol)

he is about 0.5 - 1 inch bigger than she is and he's about 4' ish.

Is there anything else i could do?

Cheers
Rob

 

[Comacchio]

Take both of them out, re-arrange the tank entirely, put them both back in.

They now both have no territory and as such some aggresion should be removed.

 

[mattlee]

cichlids can sometimes be a but fussy about their partners and adding a male with a female doesnt guarentee any success in breeding. this is why most peoples recomendations would be to buy a group of 6 giving you a good chance of getting both sexes and growing them up together and letting them naturaly pair up. then sell on the rest or seperate into another tank.

i would try as Comacchio said first and remove both fish, change the decor about to destroy any claimed territories then add both fish back in at the same time. if you have a spare tank then you could remove the male for a week or 2 and let the female take hold of the tank until his arrival. however you will always have a dominant fish and hierachy so if they dont become the inseperable pair you desire then one will always come 2nd in the pecking order im affraid. even when breeding cichlids can get quite aggressive towards each other and fins may get torn etc etc.

good luck with them

 

[rob_cool1]

Thanks for he help guys, i rearranged the whole setup so its completely different and they he doesn't seem to be chasing her which is good.
If this doesn't work then il probably take the male out and put him in my mates tank as i dont have another one. Is what the guy at my lfs lieing when he said that if i take the male out so she dominates the tank, when he goes back in he'll be attracted to her and they'll do their thing lol?

If this doesn't work is it best to replace either male or female? I see what you mean by putting 6 or so in but i don't really have the space in my tank for them all, maybe another female but it couldn't be for too long I cant keep the ones that i have in there forever as they'll outgrow the tank, so i either pass them on to someone else or hopefully have moved out into my own place and can get another, bigger tank.

But hopefully changing the setup will have worked il keep you all informed.

Thanks again for all your help
Rob