All fish / Cyprinidae

Garra tibanica

Garra tibanica

Also known as tibanica garra, arabian garra, red sea garra, stone lapping minnow

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This is a slim, brownish algae-grazing cyprinid with a sucker-like disc under the mouth that it uses to cling to rocks in flowing wadis and springs. Specialists keep it for its busy grazing habit and because it copes with a wide temperature range. It only turns up now and then in the trade, usually from hobbyists who keep wild-type fish.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Peaceful

Adult size

10 cm

Temperature

20 to 30 °C

pH

7 to 8.2

Smallest tank

120 litres

Keep as

Group of 5 or more

Diet

Omnivore: grazes biofilm and algae; give sinking pellets, algae wafers, blanched vegetables, bloodworm and brine shrimp

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 8 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea coast: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman; also Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia

Breeding

It scatters eggs over gravel and stones and gives no parental care. Breeding in aquaria has been recorded only now and then, mostly in large, well-oxygenated tanks with plenty of current.

Good to know

Give it a rocky tank with strong flow and plenty of oxygen, and fit a tight lid because garras can climb and jump out. Fish from different places can vary a lot, and it is easily confused with other Arabian and African Garra species.