Two Fish Blue Fish

Electric Blue Acara change their color often based on their mood. Stressed or juvenile EBA appear a lighter sky blue and their heads are usually pale. When EBA become comfortable their rich colors come out and when they are breeding their heads will also become very dark against their vivid scales. You can sex your EBA by looking at the dorsal and anal fins. Males tend to have long and wispy fins that come to a point and females tend to cut off and appear short. Females are also easily identifiable, as they tend to be about half the size of males.

The first indicator you have a male and female pair is their behavior and coloring. Females will hide from males, especially as the male becomes aggressive and appear to bully the female. In their courting the pair lip lock, which can cause minor flesh damage to their lips. The male will puff out his gills towards the female in an attempt to show he wants to breed. While it may appear there is body damage from the male, the male will often chase the female and can cause her to run into objects in the tank and cause damage to herself. You might need to remove hard or sharp decorations to avoid injury. Observe for serious damage to decide if you need to temporarily separate them. While your fish are breeding, take care with your other tank mates to make sure no one is being bullied as well. EBA parents are extremely territorial when they want to breed or have eggs or babies, so it’s best to keep the parents on their own. The pair will also display a dark forehead and their colors will becoming especially vibrant and contrasting. 

Species information: EBA are a morph of the Blue Acara and Electric Ram blue that was created through a female fertilizing a Blue Acara egg with a male Electric Blue Ram. Ram are native to Central and South America.  They are a semi-aggressive fish that does well with community fish, other community cichlids, and are peaceful with bottom feeders. They do not do well with larger more aggressive fish and use caution when putting with very small fish. EBA are active fish that have a lot of personality and are responsive to the outside of the tank.

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