At a glance the quick version
Looks how to spot one
Medium, deep-bodied cichlid
A sturdy, oval cichlid with a blue-grey body crossed by dark vertical bands. Males grow bigger, show brighter colour and carry more pointed dorsal and anal fins, while females look rounder.231
Personality what they are like
Fairly peaceful for a medium-sized cichlid; a pair can share a roomy tank with medium characins, catfish and other gentle cichlids.2
Daily activity how busy a day looks
Moves around the middle and lower parts of the tank and likes room to swim plus a few flat stones or caves as territory markers.21
Grooming and care the hands-on bits
Hardy and adaptable; keep the water clean with regular partial changes and give flat surfaces for spawning.2
Home where they are happiest
Tropical water of about 18 to 28 C, pH 6.5 to 8.0 and soft to hard water (roughly 5-25 dGH); a tank around 100-120 cm long suits a pair.12
Food basics what goes in the bowl
Mainly a meat eater: bloodworm, brine shrimp, chopped mussel, prawn and earthworm, with most dried foods also taken.21
Company who they like around
Usually kept as a pair; mixes well with medium-sized, peaceful tankmates in a spacious aquarium.12
The story where it all began
Theodore Gill described the species in 1858. It was long known in the hobby as Aequidens pulcher before being placed in Andinoacara in 2009, and it remains a widely traded aquarium cichlid.213
Fun facts for the dinner table
- 1
Its species name pulcher is Latin for 'beautiful'.2
- 2
Parents may gather their fry into their mouths to shelter them when danger approaches.1
- 3
It has been used to help control mosquito larvae.1
- 4
A pair can lay up to around 200 eggs on a cleaned flat stone and guard the brood together for about two weeks.2
Recognised by the official bits
- IUCN Red List
- Least Concern (assessed 3 April 2020)1
- Taxonomy
- Described by Gill in 1858; moved from Aequidens to the genus Andinoacara in 2009; family Cichlidae2
The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you
A typical home-care rhythm for a Blue Acara. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.
- FeedingSmall amounts once or twice a dayevery day
- Temperature checkevery day
- Water changeAbout 25% of the waterevery week
- Water testevery week
- Glass cleanevery week
- Filter rinseRinse in old tank water, never tap waterevery month
You might also like
Green Terror
Keyhole CichlidLike what we are building? Buy us a coffee.
The breed atlas is free for everyone, with a source on every fact, and it will never show ads. If it helped you, a small tip keeps the research going. Any amount is lovely, and no is a perfectly fine answer too.
Where this comes from
Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
- FishBase: Andinoacara pulcher fishbase.seused for distribution, size, water parameters, IUCN, breeding, trade
- Seriously Fish: Andinoacara pulcher seriouslyfish.comused for habitat, size, tank size, water, diet, behaviour, breeding, etymology
- Wikipedia: Blue acara en.wikipedia.orgused for size, colour, description, breeding behaviour
Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.