Hey guys, bought a few new fish at my gpasi meeting last night. One of which was a 3.5-4" Garra rufa (aka Doctor Fish), these are the ones that you see people use to eat dead skin if them (though I feel this is because they starve the fish so they'll eat the skin). I bought it because it's a rather cool Cyprinid and not for its stereotypical purpose. I now have it in a 5.5 gallon (16"x8"x10") by itself with pool filter sand for substrate, a half dozen river rocks scattered around the tank, a plastic plant, and a sponge filter. Hasn't eaten yet but it's a minnow and I'm sure it will eat whatever I give it in time, especially if they will resort to eating dead skin.
Anyway, i think this is a very cool fish and I'm interested in making this 5.5 gallon a biotope based on where this fish lives in the wild. I was under the impression that they were fast-water asian stream fish but upon further research it seems that they're from slower to moderate moving waters in the Middle East. To quote fishbase, there range is: "Eurasia: In the Jordan, Orontes, and Tigris-Euphrates river basins. Also in some coastal rivers in southern Turkey and northern Syria". And their habitat is: "Found in different habitats such as rivers, lakes, small ponds, and small muddy streams. Hides under and among stones and vegetation. Bottom dweller, feeding on aufwuchs. Said to also occur in hot ponds where they feed on the skin scales of bathers, reducing illnesses such as neurodermitis".
Fishbase also says they thrive at a temperature range of 59-82 and I assume they're pretty adaptable as far as pH goes. The current tank temperature is 64-66 with a pH of 7.6
That said, I'd appreciate it if some of you guys could help me theme a biotope around this fish (substrate, decor, flow, vegetation, etc) and tank as I'm not overly familiar with middle-eastern fish.
Thanks!
Anyway, i think this is a very cool fish and I'm interested in making this 5.5 gallon a biotope based on where this fish lives in the wild. I was under the impression that they were fast-water asian stream fish but upon further research it seems that they're from slower to moderate moving waters in the Middle East. To quote fishbase, there range is: "Eurasia: In the Jordan, Orontes, and Tigris-Euphrates river basins. Also in some coastal rivers in southern Turkey and northern Syria". And their habitat is: "Found in different habitats such as rivers, lakes, small ponds, and small muddy streams. Hides under and among stones and vegetation. Bottom dweller, feeding on aufwuchs. Said to also occur in hot ponds where they feed on the skin scales of bathers, reducing illnesses such as neurodermitis".
Fishbase also says they thrive at a temperature range of 59-82 and I assume they're pretty adaptable as far as pH goes. The current tank temperature is 64-66 with a pH of 7.6
That said, I'd appreciate it if some of you guys could help me theme a biotope around this fish (substrate, decor, flow, vegetation, etc) and tank as I'm not overly familiar with middle-eastern fish.
Thanks!
