All fish / Cyprinidae

Garra duobarbis

Garra duobarbis

Also known as two-barbel garra, lake tana garra

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This is a small, slender bottom-dwelling cyprinid from the Lake Tana basin in Ethiopia. It is brownish-grey and has a sucking disc on its underside, plus only one pair of barbels, which gives it its name. It is rarely seen in the trade, and specialist keepers mostly keep it for its rarity and its habit of grazing algae off rocks.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Peaceful

Adult size

10 cm

Temperature

18 to 25 °C

pH

6.8 to 8

Smallest tank

120 litres

Keep as

Group of 5 or more

Diet

Omnivore: biofilm and algae, sinking pellets and wafers, frozen bloodworm and daphnia

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 8 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Ethiopia (Lake Tana basin)

Breeding

It probably scatters its eggs over gravel in flowing water, as related garras do. There are no reliable reports of it being bred in captivity.

Good to know

Give it well-oxygenated water with some current, plus smooth rocks to graze on. It is endemic to one lake basin, so stock may be very limited and hard to trace back to a source.