Blue Acaras + Convicts

[injektion]

i have a feeling im someone's gonna bash me in the face for asking these questions but its better to ask and know than to not ask and make a huge mistake.

anyway..i was thinking of getting blue acaras or possibly convicts (can't decide i like em both) and i was also thinking of possible tank mates. i've seen a few tanks that have keyholes (i know they're not the same) that also have bettas and corys in there. i was just wondering if that was possible with acaras or convicts? also will they eat other fish that are really small (about 0.5 inch or so)? i have a 70 gal tank with baby guppies that are around that size so i guess i'd have to relocate them if i decide to get cichlids. and would they eventually eat the adult guppies when they grow bigger?

lots of questions i know but bare with me please!

 

[minxfishy]

I cant speak for the convicts because Ive never kept them, however the guppies could be lunch with an full grown acara in there, having said that, if you get one from small, he may not see them as food and leave them alone, with cichlids its down to the individual personality of the fish, personally if you wanted an acara, I would remove the guppies.

Tank size if good for either acara or convict, tankmate wise, similar sized cichlids or larger shoaling tetras depends which you like really, nothing along the lines of oscar size though as the tank wouldnt be able to accomodate one.

No one will bash you btw, its a perfectly reasonable questions and we'd rather people asked then get it wrong and cause upset to any fish they may get in a rush to stock their tank.

 

[shroob]

I'd think any fish would have a go at a baby guppy, heck even their parents do .

Tankmates depend on the personality of the individual fish really, however you are more likely to get away with a blue acara and cory's than convicts and cory's I would have thought. Convicts are regarded as being more aggressive. Just something I feel I should point out, if you decide to get either fish don't get a pair, aggression increases ALOT with breeding and the cory's will be harrassed as they occupy the same tank level as breeding cichlids. I've heard accounts of cory's eyes being bitten out by a breeding pair of firemouths, so I wouldn't put it past convicts to do the same or worse.

 

[foley69]

convicts are evil IME they dont get thier aggressive rep for no reason when i have finished breeding if i decide to keep my male then it is going to be VERY hard to find tank mates for him on the other hand a blue acara is slightly more timid but still reasonbly aggressive so the best thing would be to go for a blue acara and then add larger shoaling fish to the tank such as congo tetra or silver dollars something like that or other cichlids such as firemouthes or sajica either way guppies must be removed or they will be food

 

[thomasp9021]

if you keep convicts i would suggest keeping them alone they were the first fish i got and they killed everything i tried to add to the tank including fish bigger then themselves such as large silverdollars and even a a little four inch oscar. i havent kept blue acaras but have heard mixed opinions some say they are killers other claim they have kept them with tetras with no problems. maybe if you want to keep your guppies you could go for a more placid cichlid like a pair of kribensis of maybe some keyholes
good luck

 

[foley69]

yea keyholes are another option i am debaiting about getting some when i sell my convicts they are mostly kept in a community but depending on the size of guppies

 

[injektion]

yea i've considered keyholes but they're generally smaller aren't they? wouldn't want my tank looking too bare. if i can't pair off convicts could i get one of each (blue acara and convict)? that way they won't be as aggressive and won't attack the cories? but if cories all together don't work are there any other bottom feeders that would be ok?

thanks for everyone's responses and support btw!

 

[foley69]

well if you got them both small say 1-2" then they would be fine then an optional bottom feeders could be some of the pictus species of catfish

 

[injektion]

so no for cories right?

 

[foley69]

the cories are more than likely gonna get bullied look up some kind of pictus species surely one of them must catch your eye