Doctor fish (garra rufa)

Care at a glance

The garra rufa from the mountain streams of the Middle East became world famous as the 'doctor fish' in foot spas. That behaviour is not affection for human skin but hunger: in its nutrient-poor home waters it rasps at anything that looks edible with its sucker mouth.

In the aquarium it needs cooler, strongly flowing and oxygen-rich water with smooth stones to graze. It grows larger than many people expect and is busy and at times pushy towards its own kind, so keep it in a group in a spacious, long tank.

Related species

• Head-and-taillight tetraHemigrammus ocellifer
• Triangle cichlid (uaru)Uaru amphiacanthoides
• Flame tetraHyphessobrycon flammeus
• Least killifishHeterandria formosa
• Salt and pepper coryCorydoras habrosus
• Lyretail killifishAphyosemion australe