# Andinoacara pulcher



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

For all of you guys that kept them back in the day they were popular. How big did yours get? I have seen some claim 8", but that sounds like a stretch.

Am I safe to assume 6" max for males and roughly 5" for females?

Thanks,
Aaron


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

G'day Aaron,

Stretching my memory back 25 odd years, 6 inches would have been about right. One thing is sticks in my mind is the colouring. Today so many acaras seem washed out. I do remember our breeding pair being rather dark, compared to many of the lighter coloured fish I see today.

The other thing that I (think I) see are fish that look like hybrids of Gold Saums and Blue Acaras. Facial marking look more green than blue.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

*DeadFishFloating*

I appreciate your input. I picked out a pair from a LFS. They were listed as being wild from Guyana.

I am the first to admit that the whole "acara" types confuse the heck out of me as far as naming them. I'm not sure if there would be any benefit to me posting over at one of the more scientific based forums for an ID or not. Do you think it is worth a shot or am I pretty much stuck with a generic "blue acara wild Guyana" for a name?

From my extremely limited reading (End of semester, so I have to hold back the nerd in me and focus on school :lol: ) there are different variants of Andinoacara pulcher correct? Do some show more green than blue?


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

As for location variants, I can't really help you. Checking on Fishbase, only Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela are listed as collection points. Guyana is right next to Venezuela, so it is possible they are found there too.

I believe Blue acaras can be found with orange or silver edging to their fins, so there might be some colour variants.


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## Steffano2 (Jan 11, 2007)

ahud said:


> *DeadFishFloating*
> 
> I appreciate your input. I picked out a pair from a LFS. They were listed as being wild from Guyana.
> 
> ...


Pictures would be great to help ID your fish. Also check out this data sheet on Acara http://www.alice-dsl.net/mesonauta/Andinoacara_ISRM.pdf , back in the day I kept what ever Acara I could get my hands on so I know something about them. A lot of times what people think they have as A. pulcher is Andinoacara coeruleopunctatus.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

I plan on posting pictures, right now the fish are in QT. The stress bars flare up when I disturb them, so I did not want that to skew the ID.

They for sure do not look like coeruleopunctatus.

Thanks for the link!


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

I'm going to put posting a picture on hold until I get them decent living quarters. Some time in May I am moving them into a 125g with some Alfaro cultratus as dithers. Hopefully that will bring them out more and stop them from showing the stress color as soon as I walk into the room.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

The 8" lengths were probably 3" tail ... :lol:

I have seen only one 6" SL male blue acara before, back when I was just starting in the hobby. A friends dad was one of those guys that was able to get every species he touched to max length it seemed. Amazing stuff. Same guy had true 12" SL green sev's and 10" SL _Satanoperca_ ... and yes, we measured.

I've had two pairs before, and both times the males hit 4" SL.

The paper on the description of the new genus does show _A. pulcher _from the Venezula through Guyana and Suriname up to the islands ... nothing else in the genus in that paper shows as even close in geography, so I think it's safe to call them pulchers. :thumb:


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Nice! Thanks for chiming in dwarfpike!

Do you have a link to that paper? One thing that was throwing me off is the light cream color the fish are when not stressed. Seems like the pictures I see show a relatively dark fish, but I suppose that could be different locations. Still amazed at the amount of green/blue they show.

On a side note, would something like nannacara or apistogramma go well with them in a 125g? I would prefer something on the small side if I do decide to mix, I don't want them dominated. Nannacara anomala are found in Guyana too I think.

Now, once they pass QT we just have to hope they approve of my mate selection. Hopefully they will :thumb: .


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

I don't have a link, but I have the .pdf for it. PM me your email and I'll send it off to you.

I never tried them with anything smaller myself, they were quite capable of eating smaller tetras though. Your tank is big enough to try, I would think they would leave Nannacara alone with the right aquascaping ... though I'm not sure how often you'd see the dwarves. Mine were always a little scrappy though.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

I will consider other options then. Like I said, the main thing I'm trying to avoid is having something dominate them.

I don't like keeping breeding pairs on their own in a display type setting when the focus is the tank looking good (IE no PVC, pots, ect). Hard for the male and female to get away from each other if domestic disputes start.

Feel free to suggest something that would make a good target fish and possibly add to the display. The tank will be in the living room and viewable to guest.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

I found them to be in that middle ground ... too scrappy to go with dwarves, not scrappy enough to go with something more aggressive. A sev should be a good choice, they are normally fairly mellow, and swim more mid water. That's the route I'd look at ... or maybe even basketmouths, but I'd worry about aggression from the blue acaras towards the nassa a bit. Perhaps someone that has kept them before like *dogofwar* or *Ichy* could say better.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

I think I will experiment with dwarves and see how it goes. I have apistogramma anyway, so if it does not work out I will just move them back into their species tank.

Hard to imagine a SA tank without dwarves of some kind lol.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

At this point, Guinacara seems like the best fit even though I just recently sold some geayi! That should give me the "border action" too.


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