Doctor Fish

Garra rufa

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 57–68°F (14–20°C)
pH: 6.5–8.0
Adult size: 4.7 in (12 cm)
Minimum tank: 29 gal (110 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran
Family: Cyprinidae

Overview

Doctor fish are peaceful, sociable grazers that are happiest in a group of five or more, where they forage together over the tank floor and hard surfaces. They are busy, active bottom dwellers that rasp algae and biofilm from rocks with a sucker like mouth and rarely bother tankmates. They suit a community of other calm, current loving fish and do not need heated tropical conditions. Feed them well with algae wafers, spirulina, blanched vegetables, and sinking pellets, plus some frozen foods, since a tank alone will not grow enough algae to sustain a group. A tank around 110 liters or larger gives them room to forage.

In the wild

Garra rufa comes from the rivers, streams, and spring fed pools of the Middle East, across Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, including warm and fast flowing habitats. In the aquarium it does well in cooler, well oxygenated water of about 14–20 C and a neutral to slightly hard pH of 6.5–8.0. Give it strong flow, a bed of sand and rounded gravel, and plenty of smooth stone and driftwood to graze over and hide among. This is a hardy fish that values clean, oxygen rich water and steady current more than decorative planting.

Good to know

Garra rufa is a small, hardy member of the family Cyprinidae that reaches around 12 cm. It has the flattened underside and fleshy, sucker like lower lip typical of the genus, which lets it cling to rock in current and rasp at algae and detritus. It is remarkably tolerant of temperature, surviving in water that would stress most cyprinids. There is no well documented record of it being bred in home aquaria, and the fish supplied to spas and shops are produced on commercial farms.

Did you know

Garra rufa is the famous spa or pedicure fish, used in the Middle East and beyond to nibble away dead, flaky skin from people with conditions such as psoriasis. The behavior is really just opportunistic grazing, since in the wild the fish turns to skin and scraps only when its usual diet of algae and tiny animals is scarce.