Lightly Medicated | Electric Blue Acara

What “Lightly Medicated” means

This is the same animal as our non-quarantined listing, held briefly in our systems and given one short prophylactic course — a light treatment for ich and for internal and external worms — then observed eating in front of us before it goes home.

A light course knocks the parasite load down. It does not guarantee full removal, and we will not pretend otherwise. Ich is only killed in its free-swimming stage, and a short treatment window can miss cysts entirely; worm burdens can survive a single dose. Clearing an animal takes the full quarantine window — 40 to 90 days depending on the species — which is exactly what the Quarantined listing is for. This tier buys you a lower parasite load and a fish we have watched eat, not a cleared animal.

We condition the fish on our end. Every animal we medicate is brought back onto prepared food on our own systems and is eating before it leaves — in practice it is rare for a lightly medicated fish to ship out and arrive sick. Do the same at your end: get it eating in your aquarium before you count it settled.

When it ships

Plan on 3–5 days on our systems for the treatment course, and it does not leave until it is eating. If the animal is not already in our systems we source it first — allow up to two weeks for it to reach us before that clock starts. From the day you order, plan on roughly two and a half weeks in total.

The guarantees

• Shipped orders: 24-hour live guarantee from confirmed delivery.
• In-store pickup: 7-day live guarantee — bring a water sample from your aquarium so we can test it before your livestock goes home with you.

Want the full program — treated, observed, confirmed eating, and covered for 28 days on pickup? That is the Quarantined listing. Run your own quarantine and just want the fish this week? The non-quarantined listing is cheaper still. The whole ladder is explained in Quarantined vs Non-Quarantined.

The Electric Blue Acara is a captive-developed cichlid — likely a hybrid line derived from Andinoacara pulcher and related Andinoacara species — that managed to concentrate more iridescent blue-green into a compact body than most natural species bother with. Under good lighting, the scales shift between blue, green, and teal as the angle changes, a structural iridescence that makes even a modestly sized specimen a standout in any planted community.

What makes this fish genuinely useful beyond its looks is temperament. Cichlids have a well-earned reputation for attitude problems, but the Electric Blue Acara mostly missed that memo. It’ll hold its own and defend territory, especially during spawning, but it’s considerably more civil toward tankmates than comparably-sized South American cichlids, and it tends to leave plants alone — a meaningful consideration in a planted setup. It’s the fish we recommend when someone wants their first real cichlid without dismantling everything they built.

It pairs readily, and a bonded pair will spawn on flat surfaces — smooth stones, broad leaves, or bare glass floor — and both parents guard eggs and wriggle-phase fry with real commitment. Watching a cichlid pair work together to raise young is one of the more compelling behaviors in freshwater keeping.

Scientific name: Andinoacara sp. “Electric Blue”
Origin: Captive-developed; wild Andinoacara pulcher from Colombia and Venezuela
Water parameters: Temp 68–82°F · pH 6.5–7.5 · Hardness 3–20 dGH
Tank requirements: 30 gal for a pair; 55+ gal for a community
Diet: Omnivore — quality cichlid pellets, frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, occasional blanched vegetables
Compatibility: Peaceful for a cichlid; best with similarly-sized, non-aggressive tankmates
Husbandry note: Give them a flat smooth rock or slate tile at the bottom — they’ll use it as a spawning site whether you planned for it or not, and having a designated spot keeps the pair calmer overall.