# Can anyone identify this male cichlids?



## Wsward (Oct 2, 2021)

Can anyone identify this cichlids? It is about 3”


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## Wsward (Oct 2, 2021)

Wsward said:


> Can anyone identify this cichlids? It is about 3”


Also, the female laid eggs on a leaf, then moved the leaf when I was watching to a place behind a rock. Has anyone seen this behavior?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Just a guess but maybe Blue Acara, wait for a positive from another member.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Deeda is right. That is an Electric Blue Acara, (EBA) a hybrid Cichlid consisting of an _Andinoacara pulcher_, (Blue Acara), mixed genetically with _Mikrogeophagus ramirezi,_ (German Blue Ram). And yes, sometimes first time spawning Cichlids can do all sorts of weird things, until they figure things out. Has your EBA spawned with what looks like a Convict Cichlid, next to it?


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Auballagh said:


> Deeda is right. That is an Electric Blue Acara, (EBA) a hybrid Cichlid consisting of an _Andinoacara pulcher_, (Blue Acara), mixed genetically with _Mikrogeophagus ramirezi,_ (German Blue Ram).


That the Electric Blue Acara is a hybrid between a Blue Acara and a Ram should not be stated as some sort of fact. That is the claim and speculation made by some aquarists. Could be, but no evidence, let alone proof, has ever been provided by anyone. Specifically who actually developed it is unknown (though some claim it was developed in the far east). So not only who the breeder(s) are is an unknown, no info has been released as to how they developed it. First of all, it would be a cross of different tribes (Geophagine X Acara) which we don't even know whether it is genetically possible or not. Secondly, the fish breeds true where as hybrid crosses often do not. Not proof that it isn't hybrid but tends to support a line bred origin possibility. No identifiable Ram characteristics other then possibly coloration! Bear in mind, that so far, no commercially available cichlid hybrid breeds cross the barrier of tribe. Flowerhorn, Blood Parrot, Red Texas, man-made peacocks.......all are crosses of closely related species and many of these do not breed true. Some even have sterile males! You'd think by crossing very distantly related cichlids (assuming it is even possible?) you would produce all sorts? Yet, internet threads show when EBA's are bred for a few generations, the offspring are as uniform as any clutch of Blue Acara. And no sterility has ever been noted when it comes to EBA.



Auballagh said:


> Has your EBA spawned with what looks like a Convict Cichlid, next to it?


Picture shows 2 Electric Blue Acaras. No convict in the picture.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Agreed, two EBAs.
Be interesting to know what is actually in the EBA, That Cichlid is not found in the wild. Sources all over the internet claim its a BA/GBR mix kind of thing. Makes more sense it would be the product of some line-breeding. But, if that was the case where are the so-called 'normals' (BA) that should emerge as a percentage of the spawning brood?
And, with all of the gene-splicing/editing things they can do today< I wouldn't be too surprised if the EBA was orignally born out of lab somewhere....


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Auballagh said:


> if that was the case where are the so-called 'normals' (BA) that should emerge as a percentage of the spawning brood?


I'm not sure why you think "normals' should emerge from spawns of EBA since many, if not most, aquarium strain color varieties that have been developed do no such thing.
The claim by many who have bred the fish is that the electric blue is simply a recessive trait. So like "pink" convicts, as long as it is bred to it's own type, it will always produce 100% electric blue. Crossed with a regular type Blue Acara, it should produce 100% regular Type (of which 100% would also be carriers of the recessive gene).Then the next generation will produce a certain % of Electric Blues depending on whether it is a spawn of 2 carriers, or a carrier X Electric Blue cross. Now I haven't personally seen the results of these spawns in a internet thread, but the strain has been out now for about 5-6 years so it's just a matter of time until we do.
In the Jack Dempsey, the Electric Blue coloration is a recessive trait. But it has the added factor that a Electric Blue X Electric Blue is basically a lethal combination as nobody has been able to raise more then a few fry for more then a few days. So the strain has to be back crossed to a regular JD in order to produce carriers of the recessive gene. Then from there, the strain can be produced by either breeding 2 carriers or a carrier X Electric Blue cross. Odd that some sites on the internet take at face value that the Electric Blue JD is not a hybrid and then claim the EBA is. Not saying the Electric Blue JD is a hybrid necessarily, but there is 10 times more reason to suspect it is. For one thing, if it's just a mutation, it is not just a color mutation but probably at least 10 mutations that show up in varying degrees. It has different head and snout then a regular JD and early pictures of the originals produced show that numerous fin mutations were present from day one, and were not subsequent varieties produced at a later date. On top of that, juvenile stage markings and fin types can have superficial resemblance to both _Nandopsis tetracanthus _and _N. haitiensis. _At least the EBA is simply a color mutation and does not have different head, snout and fins from a regular type. Now since the development of the EBJD, there was a scholarly article showing similar conditions in a number of fish including trout, so this color type may very well be a condition that shows up just like albinism/leucistic.


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## Wsward (Oct 2, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Deeda is right. That is an Electric Blue Acara, (EBA) a hybrid Cichlid consisting of an _Andinoacara pulcher_, (Blue Acara), mixed genetically with _Mikrogeophagus ramirezi,_ (German Blue Ram). And yes, sometimes first time spawning Cichlids can do all sorts of weird things, until they figure things out. Has your EBA spawned with what looks like a Convict Cichlid, next to it?


That was not a convict, but the female.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Heck man, I may as well quote Auballagh also, (since everyone else is).



Auballagh said:


> Agreed, two EBAs.


Yep. Not a Convict.


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## Wsward (Oct 2, 2021)

Thanks for everyone who replied. I now feel good knowing what I have. For what its worth, I do not think these are hybrids, they look too much like acaras (which I have had before, but a long time ago) and not rams, which as someone pointed out are in a different genus. Also, other electric blue cichlids do occur, like Jack Dempseys, so maybe electric blue is a common variant, just like the golden varieties. Just my two cents.


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## kmskaustubh (Nov 24, 2021)

As said by many memebers , yes it seems to be elwctric blue acara . It is a beautiful fish though


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