Slap me straight or tell me to buy buy buy

[mizzoutank]

Ever since I saw what a blue acara looks like, i've been in love with them. (thanks ScottishFish.)

I just don't know if my tank is right or not to house him.

So as the title says-slap me straight or make my dreams come true. lol

Current set up:
45gallon tank
Fluval 306, Marineland 200, Marineland 200 (yes I have 3 filters) (total ratings 170gallons/700gph)
heavy, heavy driftwood set up
total stocking:
8 spotted cory's
2 bolivian rams
1 krib
8 silver tip tetras
6 bloodfins
1 BN pleco
1 rupperlip pleco
2 swordtails (they were my 2 fish that cycled this tank a year ago!)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnndddddddd ddd
maybe the blue acara?

I do weekly 50% water changes, if not 2x a week (pending my energy levels) and plan to add in some vals and anubias when the fish get settled to the new tank (march 20th-ish) All the fish will be added at once to a new tank/new layout. so there won't be any established territories, they will each have equal right's.

I've done the leg work for research, they are fairly peaceful and need dither fish to gain some confidence, but his size is a concern, full grown they get around 6 inches max
Edit: this is the first time i have come across them in my area.

but since i'm so in love with the fish, i can't logically think if i should add him.
so that is where you all great people come in to play.

[madagascariensis]

In my opinion your stock already is quite heavy for a 45, not in terms of filtration(of which you have tons) but in terms of space. If the 2 bolivian rams and 1 krib are already coexisting,
I think that that should be it in terms of territorial bottom dwellers. a blue acara could potentially be more than double the length and many times the size of any one of your current cichlids, and a lot
more aggressive to that.

now there's nothing against another tank though...

[waack]

Apart from being heavily stocked, a blue acara would most likely be fine with those fish, i currently have a single male in with a pair of kribs and a red forest jewel, and it works fine no aggression the blue acara shows no interest in any other fish. I also have my biggest male in with krib fry, blue acara fry and guppy fry while i fixed his tank didn't look twice at anything. However when i had a breeding pair in the tank (unintentionally) they killed a large amount of fish. In other works singly fine pair no.

[mizzoutank]

I don't have the capacity/desire for another tank right now. I enjoy having one and being able to keep it in tip top shape.

I've considered removing the bloodfins when I tear down this tank in March, and just give them back to petco...would that help? lol

And thanks for that waack, that is another good success story people have had with blue acara's being in a community set up.'


The aggression between the rams/krib are non existent because the krib is staying in QT until i set redo this tank come march. so we won't find out for another month! lol