Ornate garra

Garra ornata

Also known as Ornate log sucker

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–81°F (22–27°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 4.3 in (11 cm)
Minimum tank: 29 gal (110 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lower Congo basin
Family: Cyprinidae

Overview

The ornate garra is a bottom-dwelling grazer for a group of three or more, kept in flowing water where it can work stone and wood for biofilm through the day. It is mostly peaceful but can be pushy with its own kind, so give it space and grazing surfaces. It shares its rapids-dwelling habits with other African garras and pairs well with sturdy, current-loving midwater fish. Feed algae wafers, sinking pellets, and frozen foods, making sure they sink to where it feeds. A tank of around 110 liters with strong flow and stone surfaces keeps it busy.

In the wild

Garra ornata lives over rock and wood in the rivers of the Congo basin in central Africa, in warm, flowing, well-oxygenated water. Recreate that with strong current, a substrate of sand, gravel, and cobbles, and smooth stones and driftwood to graze. Keep it at 22 to 27 degrees Celsius, with a pH from 6.0 to 7.5. Bright light over hard surfaces encourages the algae film it feeds on.

Good to know

Garra ornata is an African member of the carp family, Cyprinidae, described by Nichols and Griscom in 1917. It reaches around 10 centimeters and, unusually for the genus, wears a busy dark pattern scrawled over a bronze body rather than the plain coloring of most garras. It anchors to stone in the flow with the sucker disc below its head. Its aquarium breeding is not documented.

Did you know

Its species name means ornate, and it earns it: where most garras are drab and plain, this one is marked with a dark, scribbled pattern that camouflages it against the mottled bedrock of Congo rivers.