Doctor Fish Garra Rufa Care & Tank Set up Guide
Garra Rufa commonly known as Doctor Fish is a great algae eater in an aquarium. This fish is non-aggressive & can be easily accommodated in an Planted aquarium. In case you are planning to add this fish to your aquarium below information would help.
The name Doctor fish is due to these fish being used to treat certain skin disease like psoriasis; they are also included in spa usually for pedicure. Fish being used for this reason is hugely opposed by many, the reason being they are conditioned to eat dead skin of humans by starving them. This is not their natural behavior. However we will stick to the aquarium topic.
Natural habitat of this fish ranges from rivers, lakes ponds & man made reservoirs spread across Western Asia i.e Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria etc. The Mouth of these fish are designed to hang on to rocks in swift moving water current, they scrape Aufwuchs or Algae grown on the surface of these rocks. In an aquarium they grown around 3 inches & can easily live past 5 years.
Garra rufa males are larger in size & have reddish coloration on their body. These fish are egg scatterers & are been successfully captive bred for both aquarium use, for Spa & for fish therapy to treat skin disease.
Doctor fish aquarium care –
Tank size – Since, these fish are non-aggressive & should be kept in a group of 3 to 4. Its safe to say a 30 gallon aquarium should suffice.
Tank Decoration – Garra Rufa are algae eaters hence planted aquarium would be a great option or simple rock-scape would work. In case you have aquarium decoration like mine, the algae grows on the surface of the decoration & these fish can eat the algae. The reason I added these fish to the aquarium was due to algae growth on the pots I’ve used, as this aquarium is close to the window & too much sunlight spikes algae growth.
Filtration – This is very important, even though these fish are hardy & can adapt to a wide range of temperature & pH; they require very well oxygenated waters. They also prefer moderate to high water movement.
Water parameters for Garra Rufa Doctor fish –
Temperature range – 60 to 82°F i.e 15°C to 28°C
pH range – 6 to 8
Water hardness – 18 to 268 ppm
Tank mates for Garra rufa fish –
I’ve included these fish in lot of my tanks from Rainbow fish to live-bearers, clown loach, Yoyo loach, Rainbow sharks, Few types of barbs & Tetras. Just ensure to avoid small fish like Neon Tetras etc. These fish should never be included with aggressive cichlids.
Food for Doctor fish –
Spirulina based food must be staple food; meaty food must be absolutely minimal. You can feed both floating & sinking pellets. I’ve fed them cucumber & they seem to like it.
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