Orbicularis acara

Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis

Also known as Plankton acara

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–82°F (24–28°C)
pH: 5.5–7.2
Adult size: 5.9 in (15 cm)
Minimum tank: 79 gal (300 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lower Amazon floodplain lakes
Family: Cichlidae

Overview

The orbicularis acara is a gentle, disc-shaped cichlid that feeds by filtering tiny animals from the water, and it is a social, peaceful fish, so keep a small group. It swims in the middle of the tank and is so mild that it needs equally polite tankmates, ones that will not outrace it to food or bully it. Feed frequent small servings of live and frozen foods it can strain from the water, such as daphnia, cyclops and baby brine shrimp. Give it a tank of at least 300 liters with open swimming space, soft water and some wood or leaf litter. Its calm nature is easy to take advantage of, so feed carefully.

In the wild

Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis lives in the floodplain lakes of the lower Amazon, still, warm, plankton-rich water off the main river. Give it warm, soft to neutral conditions: a temperature range of 24–28 C and a pH of 5.5–7.2. It suits an open tank with gentle flow, a soft substrate, and some wood and leaf litter, the kind of quiet, food-filled backwater where it drifts and filters its meals.

Good to know

Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis belongs to the cichlid family and reaches about 15 centimeters, with a rounded, deep body that gives it the name orbicularis. It is one of the few filter-feeding cichlids: rows of long, fine gill rakers strain small planktonic animals from the water as it swims. Breeding is of moderate difficulty, and like related cichlids it guards its young.

Did you know

Most cichlids grab or pick at their food, but this one feeds like a herring, combing clouds of plankton from open water through a dense sieve of gill rakers, a filter-feeding niche few cichlids ever occupy.