Acora festivum

Care at a glance

Overview

This flag cichlid is a calm, mostly peaceful fish that hangs in the middle of the tank, often nose-up among tall plants and wood. It does not need a group, so keep it singly or as a pair rather than a shoal. It can be shy or nippy around the wrong company, so choose tankmates with some care: steady, similarly sized community fish rather than boisterous or very small ones it might chase or that might outcompete it for food. Feed a varied omnivore diet of quality flake and pellet plus frozen foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp, and the occasional bit of blanched vegetable. Give it a planted tank of at least 250 liters with plenty of vertical cover.

In the wild

In the wild it lives in slow, often blackwater-stained backwaters of the Tocantins and Araguaia drainages in Brazil, hanging among submerged branches and stem plants near the surface. To recreate that, use warm, soft, slightly acidic water of 24 to 28 C and a pH between about 5.5 and 7.2. Tannin-stained water from leaf litter or driftwood suits it, along with tall plants, roots, and a dark substrate that lets its colors settle.

Good to know

It belongs to the cichlid family and reaches around 12 cm, a laterally compressed, disc-shaped fish built for weaving between plant stems. Its clearest mark is a dark diagonal band running from the snout through the eye toward the top of the dorsal fin, the feature that gives the flag cichlids their name. It is a substrate spawner that lays eggs on a firm surface such as a leaf or branch, with both parents guarding the brood; breeding is of moderate difficulty.

Did you know

The flag cichlids are named for the dark, angled band across the body. In this species the exact line of that band, along with fine fin details, is what separates it from its commoner relatives, and it is considered one of the rarest flag cichlids in the hobby.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Colombian festivum

  Mesonauta egregius

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Peruvian festivum

  Mesonauta mirificus

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Guyana festivum

  Mesonauta guyanae

  Freshwater

  4.3 in (11 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Flag cichlid

  Mesonauta festivus

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)37 gal (140 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Banded acara

  Bujurquina vittata

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)34 gal (130 L)68–82°F (20–28°C)

• 

  Blockhead Cichlid

  Steatocranus casuarius

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)25 gal (95 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)