Common Name: Electric Blue Acara
Description: The electric blue acara may be a hybrid of several fish, used to produce the electric blue shine, but they could have been a product of selectively breeding the regular blue acara (Andinoacara pulcher) as well. Even from a young age, both males and females show a bright blue shine over their scales with an orange trim on the dorsal fin. This makes it extremely difficult to determine whether an individual is male or female. These bright blue fish are fairly peaceful unless spawning and can be kept with similarly sized South American cichlids, such as Geophagus, Severums, and Angelfish. Due to having been bred in captivity for many many years, they are very hardy and put up with a fairly wide range of water parameters but still should not be kept with African cichlids. Care should be taken, however, to not house them with fish small enough to fit in their mouth as they may eat them. Sometimes electric blue acaras may nibble plants, but majority of the time they leave them alone and prove to be a beautiful addition to South American tanks with or without plants.
Category: Cichlids
Global Region: South America
Distribution:
Genetic Line: Aquarium Strain
Year Acquired: 2026
Spawning notes:
Species Spawned: Yes
My pair of Andinoacara sp. ‘Electric Blue’ produced their first successful spawn in May 2026. The pair was maintained in a 40-gallon aquarium with a sand substrate, sponge filtration, conditioned tap water and a temperature of 24°C. The eggs were deposited on a clay pipe and hatched successfully. Free-swimming fry were confirmed by May 12, 2026.
Have Reared Fry? Yes
The fry remained with their parents in the 40-gallon breeding aquarium for approximately three weeks. Infusoria was provided as their first food. They were then transferred into a separate 15-gallon nursery and grow-out aquarium. The aquariums were maintained with water top-ups as required rather than routine water changes. Approximately 20 fry survived and developed into healthy juveniles. Juveniles were available by July 2026, and six later reached saleable size and were donated to The Eastern Aquatic Society.
Young fish available? Yes