Doctor fish

Garra are stream cyprinids from the Middle East and southern Asia with a modified lower lip that works as a suction pad, letting them hold station on rock in fast water while they graze algae and biofilm from the surface. The doctor fish (Garra rufa) is the best known of them. The body is a plain olive-brown, built for current rather than for display, and the fish is constantly busy working over hard surfaces.

Aquarium care

• Wants cool to moderately warm, fast, well-oxygenated water.
• Social. Keep a group of five or more; single fish become pushy.
• Grows larger than most people expect from the small fish sold in shops.
• Needs smooth rock and wood to graze, plus strong flow from a powerhead or filter return.
• Grazes biofilm and algae, and also takes sinking pellets, wafers and frozen foods.
• Hardy and long-lived in the right setup.

Suits a river or hillstream tank with other current-loving fish. Adults can be nippy in a quiet community, so give them flow and company of their own kind rather than a calm planted tank.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See more in assorted and interesting.