My New Blue Acara

[SouthernCross]

Hi all,

Just wondering if you could confirm for me whether my new blue acara is a male or a female? (Also, really really hoping he/she isn't a mislabelled GT...). He's not really showing it in this picture but at some times of the day he does show banding all the way down his body. Edited to add he is just over three inches at the moment.

I was thinking he was a male, but as this is my first acara I am not 100% sure. Also, if he is male, what characteristics of females should I look for when looking to buy him a lady friend?

And lastly, any recommendations for a schooling tetra that would go well with him and not be eaten by either him or my angels? Cheers

 

[hackmaster]

Sorry that's a green terror

No tetras with him I'm afraid

What are you keeping with him

 

[balajake]

Awwww so cute but it's a a Green terror. Looks male but its quite young. Mine is a sissy and keeps himself to himself so unless your planning to pair him up I wouldn't worry too much about aggression. I noticed you had gouramis, I've seen more aggression in them than most of the cichlids I've kept


His size might be the only issue, get schooling fish that can't fit in his mouth and you will be fine

 

[Proxo]

My Green terror is also a sissy, it gets put into place by a rainbow shark .
However you can get some right nasty terrors, i've seen a few people on this forum with some .

Bleeding heart tetra can work with terrors, what size is your tank?

 

[SouthernCross]

Nooooo! I was so sure I had an acara this time, as I had seen plenty of baby GT's mislabelled and I was trying so hard to get it right. The shop I got him from is very reputable and I was sure they would have him labelled correctly also.

So how do you tell the difference between a GT and an acara? My belief was the acara's have the band through the eye and the Gt's don't which this fish does have? Also the camera has picked up the hint of yellow across the tail but looking at him normally you cant see it. I thought GT's (especially bigger ones) had a much thicker band? I have seen GT's under two inches with a distinct band and this fish is over three inches and doesn't have it.

I hope you can all explain it to me better how you tell, cos from looking at pics on this forum of other acaras I was so sure I had it right.

He's in a 4 x 2 x 2 (450 litre) with a couple of clown loaches, kuhlis, cories, two angels, a ram, a lone little thicklip gourami and two albino widow tereas (that I inherited from my brother) and some guppies. I am aware the guppies will be lunch eventually.

 

[rob_cool1]

My guppies didn't last long with my acara. i came in twice and saw the male looking really guilty with the guppies tail sticking out his mouth. Other than that and some neons actually but i think my African butterfly ate them they were good, i have cherry barbs, same size as neons and they don't bother them.
I don't know how to tell the difference between GT and Acaras either :L they look so similar!

 

[SouthernCross]

Bumping as I really want some help with this!!! Also forgot to mention I have a rainbow shark too.

 

[onidrase]

looks like a young green terror to me, though I could be wrong. It's hard to tell the two apart, especially when young, but I've noticed the dorsal and anal fins of a blue acara seem to round closer toward the tail, and they are a lot less vibrant red around the fins.

My GT also had the band through the eye when he was young, but it seems to have disappeared with age.

something thats throwing me off in saying "YEP, THAT'S DEFINITELY A GT" is because it looks nothing like my GT's baby pictures. Something about your guy just looks different.

here's a picture of my guy when he was (seemingly) the age of your guy

and a little younger than that (though he was super stressed out from petco abuse)

and what he is now:

 

[hackmaster]

Blue acaras have 8 bands vertically across thier bodies they seem a bit chunkier when young too thierfins aren't as prominent either

 

[SouthernCross]

You can see faint banding along him - but I'm guessing that's not distinctive enough?

So for an acara I should look for thicker banding and a stockier body? Anything else? I am still not clear exactly on the criteria that makes you go 'that's an acara' or ''that's a GT'

Onicrase, thank for your pictures. While I'm not 100% convinced he's a GT (as you said he looks a bit different) i am also not convinced he's an acara either and I think I will try to take him back, but not sure if the shop takes returns! He has also eaten one of my guppies already, even though it was so big it was sticking out of his mouth for hours!

 

[Martha689]

great

 

[hackmaster]

I am 100% certain that he is a green terror

And as far as differentiating them if you'd seen blue acaras you would know the difference

Oh and not thicker bands just 8 across thier body which show more when breeding or stressed

They also don't have the trait green terror spot on thier body

 

[SouthernCross]

So I called my LFS this weekend and said I suspected the fish was a GT, the boss was fantastic, he said was that the fish that was in the tank with the clown barbs two weekends ago (it was - what a memory!) and when I said yes, he said they always get acaras from that supplier, and he was 100% sure he was an acara, especially sure as he had examined the head shape closely when he sexed it. He said theres a lot of variation in how strong the barring shows on acaras, moreso if they are breeding or stressed. He did say I was welcome to bring him back if I wanted to, but he was adamant he had sold me an acara. I was also at another LFS today looking at juvenile green terrors, and they look very different to my guy (boxier like onidrases' fish) whereas mine is quite sleek and elongated in body shape. These juveniles were a lot smaller than my guy, and already showed a thick band across the caudal fin whereas mine doesn't.

The only thing someone else did suggest to me is that sometimes GT's and acaras will interbreed, and perhaps the fish is in fact a hybrid or a part hybrid? Anyone have any thoughts on that?

I have been looking at the pics on the species index on this forum, and he really truly does look like the acaras there, especially with the head shape of the males described. Also, Hackmaster, if you look at the species index on the forum here --> http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/63652-blue-acara/, nearly every blue acara has the spot so I am not convinced that makes him a green terror alone. In fact, I would go so far as to say my fish looks very similar to the fish pic in the second post down, and regularly shows the horizontal line from his eye to his spot when he is being assertive to other fish.

Onidrase, I have been looking at your pics again and other pics of juvi GTs on the forum, and my fish does indeed look different, mainly around the shape of his head seems to be the most obvious, which would tie in with what the LFS said.

I guess only time will tell, we have decided to keep him after all and see how he goes (the LFS will take him back without refund at any time if be the case) and in a few months I may be back here telling you all he did turn out to be a GT after all, but we will see!

I will try to get a few more pics of him up down the track.

 

[Wills]

To be honest Im not 100% either way but I actually lean more to the side of the Blue Acara just based on the head shape but I know its not a defining trait.

I dont know enough about Acaras to give a defining answer either way... only thing I can suggest is letting them grow and see how they develop as there will come a point where it becomes really obvious.

Wills

 

[onidrase]

Yeah, I'm still pretty convinced it's not a green terror. Its body shape and color look nothing like my guy when he was young. It is possible it's a hybrid, that's certainly not unknown between GT's and BA's, but I'd feel safe calling that a blue acara as I watch my green terror flare at me ferociously while I prepare his food.