If you’re tired of algae eaters like bristlenose plecos and SAEs, panda garras are going to be your best friends. They’re a relatively small algae eater, but they’re fantastic at their job. You can grab just one, or keep them in small groups of 5 or more.
Unlike with SAEs, you have no chance of accidentally grabbing a fish that’s going to become aggressive (I’m looking at you, flying fox!) And, unlike bristlenose plecos, panda garras are pretty active. They’re typically bustling about and getting into some entertaining antics with one another – or by themselves.
And to dispel a misconception about panda garras real quick: they’re not catfish, they’re loaches. But don’t confuse them with panda loaches (Yaoshania pachychilus) or you’ll end up with a very different fish.
Panda garras were found in 2004 alongside two other garra species, Garra propulvinus is one, but it didn’t gain popularity in the aquarium trade. Garra vittatula is the other, which did gain some small but fleeting popularity with aquarium magazines and specialty fishkeepers.
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Table of contents
Table of Contents
FAQ
What’s up with the fighting panda garras?
Panda garras, when kept in groups, can get into some skirmishes with each other. Typically this isn’t real aggression, just them establishing a pecking order. If you have a single panda garra, they’re much more likely to go at it with similar-looking fish than if they have a small group of themselves.
Do panda garras school?
Panda garras don’t school – and they don’t shoal, either. But they are usually found in loose groups in the wild, so it seems like they enjoy being near each other – they’re just not super chummy about it.
Can I keep panda garras with shrimp?
Maybe? Some people have success with them, others don’t. Sometimes success is indefinite, sometimes it turns on a dime. It’s hard to say if it will work well, and that’s why shrimp aren’t included in the tankmate section.
Garra flavatra Classification
IUCN Status: Vulnerable – Last assessed 2/17/10
Class: Actinopterygii are ray-finned fishes, which is a subcategory of boney fishes. These fish are characterized by the bony structures that support their webbed fins. This group makes up nearly half of all living vertebrates.
Order: Cypriniformes includes over 400 genera (the plural for genus) and more than 4,200 species of carp, minnow, loaches, and relatives.
Family: Cyprinidae, or collectively called cyprinids or the “carp family,” is composed of egg scattering species that exhibit no parental care.
Genus: Garra is a genus that contains over 140 species of suckermouth barbs and loaches between Asia and Africa. It’s a catch-all genus for bottom-dwelling cyprinids that don’t fit anywhere else.
Species: Garra flavatra
What does Garra flavatra mean?
Garra is a local name for “sand-digger” fish, which turned into the name for bottom-dwelling cyprinids “with no affinity to another genus.” Garra is basically a well-defined a catch-all.
Flavatra comes from the Latin flava, which means blonde or – in contextual cases – yellow. Atra means black in Latin.
(Are we tired of this song reference yet?)
Find Other Fish
Looking for something specific? You can discover other fish with similar characteristics! They open in a new tab so you can keep reading too!
Distribution & Natural Habitat
Endemic to the Rakhine (or Arakan mountain) range in western Myanmar. Originally collected from a handful of streams and rivers of the western, interior, slopes, but likely occurs in more areas than we know yet.
Myanmar is a monsoon area, meaning they have a wet/dry. When panda garras were discovered, it was the dry season and they were found in parts of the stream that had dried into small pools and puddles. The water in these sections was stagnant or slow-moving and had relatively little oxygen and no plants.
During the wet season, it’s likely that the panda garras end up in main body of the river with lots of oxygen and a high rate of current. Typically, their wet season runs from May to October, while their dry season is from November to April. It might also be worth noting that panda garras have a pronounced reproductive season, typically from June – August.
Aquarium Care
Difficulty: Easy
Size: 3.5″ (9 cm) max
Lifespan: 5 – 6 years (but unsure)
Tank Size: 20 gallons (80 liters)
Diet: Omnivore – similar to bushynose pleco
Temperature: 72 – 81 F (22 – 27 C)
Tank Specs
If you’re going to keep just one panda garra – and literally nothing else – you can probably do a 10-gallon with some extra maintenance every week. But, for most people, a 20-gallon is what you’re going to want to put these guys in. They’ll also need a tight-fitting lid since they’re fantastic climbers. They can literally climb up your glass and get out.
Like ottos, panda garras need a biologically mature tank that promotes the growth of biofilm. They also don’t do well with deteriorating water quality, so a good cycle is a must. They’ll be okay without a heater if your house is reasonably warm (upwards of 72 F.)
If not, you’re going to want a heater. I’ve included the best ones below, but if you’d like more detailed information or more heaters to look at, you can check my detailed review of the best aquarium heaters.
Suggested heaters
Aqueon Pro
Rating: 4 stars
Price: $22 – $31 *size dependent
Since they changed to a new manufacturer, these heaters can be hit or miss – but Chewy seems to have a better track record than Amazon. My heaters from 2014 are still going strong, but even the new heaters come with a lifetime warranty.
Pros:
- 68 F – 88 F
- Lifetime warranty
- Not glass
- Shatter-resistant
Cons:
- Needs calibrating out of the box
- Dial can be fiddly
- Bulky for smaller tanks
Hygger Titanium
Rating: 4.5 stars
Price: $50 – $93 *size dependent
This heater comes with an external controller, a wide range of temps, is shatterproof, and has great reviews. I didn’t give it the top spot because is there’s no ability to hook it up to another controller for redundancy – making failures in the unit’s controller catastrophic -, the warranty is too short for me, and there’s no way to recalibrate it.
Pros:
- 32 F – 104 F
- External controls
- Shatterproof
Cons:
- No redundancy option
- No recalibration option
- Only 1-year warranty
Cobalt Neo-Therm
Rating: 3.9 stars
Price: $56 – $106 *size dependent
Cobalt Neo Therms are some of the most reliable heaters on the market. There does seem to be some issues with certain wattages, however, and overheating seems to be a consistent issue for those models (150w & 200w being the most common.)
Pros:
- 66 F – 96 F
- 0.5-degree accuracy
- Super sleek
- Shatter-resistant
Cons:
- Overheating issue
- Only a 3-year warranty
- Expensive
Stocking
When you’re thinking about how many pada garras you want, remember that they are somewhat aggressive with their own kind, particularly when they’re establishing a pecking order. The footprint of your aquarium is going to be a big factor in how many you can have. A 20 long versus a 20 lowboy would be two really different numbers.
It’s worth noting that when they’re going at it with each other, you can tell if they’re being genuinely aggressive or not by the color they turn. If they’re being aggressive, they’ll start to lose their black coloring and be mostly the pale yellow. The more aggressive, the more yellow they have.
If you want a group, 5 is the minimum I would suggest getting to spread out the aggression. You can safely do that in something like a 30 long or a 40 breeder, but if you have a 20, I would suggest just getting one.
But if you’re only going to get one, make sure you don’t have any other species that look like panda garras in the tank, otherwise they might be the subject of aggression. With groups of panda garras, this doesn’t seem to be as big of an issue.
Decor
In their natural habitat, they’re found over a mixture of sand and pebbles, and there’s usually rocks – which they love cleaning off. They also appreciate the biofilm that driftwood produces, though there’s nothing I read that indicates they usually encounter it in the wild.
There are a ton of biofilm-producing botanicals you can buy. Some of my favorites for biofilm-lovers include sterculia pods, jacaranda pods, and skyfruit pods because they typically have produced the most biofilm consistently for me.
As far as substrate is concerned, I don’t recommend using a plant substrate with these guys because they’re so sensitive to water conditions. Instead, use something like sand, pebbles, or a mix of both. You can also keep it bare bottom, but you’ll probably miss a lot of their natural behaviors. For sand, I love HTH pool filter sand (but I don’t recommend you buy it online, the link is there just so you can see.)
Best Plants For Panda Garra
Again, panda garras don’t come from a habitat with a ton of plants. Or any plant other than algae, actually. But that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy plants.
Panda garras like perching on large leaves, and they seem to enjoy cleaning just about any plant. If you want to get plants for them, I would look at plants that can deal with the level of water movement these guys need to thrive. You definitely don’t want a heavily planted tank because you’ll want a good deal of light coming in for algae.
If you opt for taller plants, you’ll want to periodically prune them to keep the light levels in the tank high.
Anubias (Anubias barteri)
The anubias barteri species has over 13 variants that call it home – so if you think you’ve seen them all, your probably wrong. They range in size, color, and shape, and are nearly guaranteed to be bulletproof. They don’t experience melt as often as most other immerse-grown aquarium plants and do well in low-tech setups – even with plant-munching fish.
Broad Leaf Amazon Sword (Echinodorus bleheri)
Echinodorus bleheri is one of a few species that get the catch-all common name of “Amazon sword.” Like most swords, you’ll need to keep the crown exposed when planting it. It also needs high light and a decent amount of nutrients to grow well.
El Niño Fern (Bolbitis heteroclita)
Like most ferns, you need to be careful not to bury the rhizome when planting it. It does best with a good deal of water movement, high lighting, and liquid fertilizer. Co2 helps too if you can swing it.
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Crypts aren’t usually known for being easily adaptable. They have a tendency to die when conditions suddenly change, but they’re easy once they are established. They can take a wide variety of parameters and anything from high to low lighting. Again, just keeping things stable as it settles is your best chance of success.
Dwarf Aquarium Lily (Nymphaea stellata)
There are a few lilies that are called “dwarf aquarium lilies,” but Nymphaea stellata is probably the easiest to take care of. It usually comes from a bulb that quickly sprouts huge leaves. In a short time, it’ll grow to the top of your tank and block out most of your light. This is great for fish that need cover, but if you need to get light to your other pants, it can be trimmed as well.
Pennywort sp.
There are quite a few species of pennywort, but most have similar care requirements and grow quickly. Because they can be grown in or out of the water, in a variety of ways, and in a wide range of conditions, this makes them a super adaptable aquarium plant. They also make exceptional plants for summer tubs!
Sweet Potato
It’s hard to describe just how magnificent these root structures look once they get going, but you really can’t ask for a better or cheaper aquarium plant for keeping the water clean. Especially since you can pick it up on your next grocery shopping trip.
Bacopa sp.
Bacopa comes in a variety of species and variants – some more demanding than others – but the least demanding is Bacopa carolinia. It is banned in a few states because of its invasive species status, but it makes a wonderful addition to most aquariums if you can get it.
Vallisneria
Vals come in a ton of varieties, but most of them are about the same to grow. They can grow rapidly, and quickly cover your tank with lush, kelp-like forests for your fish. Some species, however, do grow much shorter than others.
Anubias (Anubias barteri)
The anubias barteri species has over 13 variants that call it home – so if you think you’ve seen them all, your probably wrong. They range in size, color, and shape, and are nearly guaranteed to be bulletproof. They don’t experience melt as often as most other immerse-grown aquarium plants and do well in low-tech setups – even with plant-munching fish.
Java Fern
Java fern is a nearly indestructible low light plant that can put up with tons of abuse. It doesn’t need Co2, fertilizers, or fancy soils. There are tons of lush, beautiful, jungle-like aquascapes you can create with it too!
Java Moss
Java moss is an almost bulletproof plant that requires almost no care. It doesn’t grow nearly as slowly as it’s java fern cousin, and can create lush moss beds that blow and billow in the current. They’re a great option for grazers, fry, or those of you with the blackest of thumbs.
Lemon Bacopa (Bacopa Carolinia)
It’s as bulletproof as Java fern, but grows as fast as hornwort – Bacopa carolinia is truly the best of both worlds if you’re looking for a hardy species you can plant in the substrate. It grows up to 40″ (not a typo) and propagates quickly, which is great for larger tanks that need a ton of cover on the cheap.
Vallisneria
Vals come in a ton of varieties, but most of them are about the same to grow. They can grow rapidly, and quickly cover your tank with lush, kelp-like forests for your fish. Some species, however, do grow much shorter than others.
Lighting & Filtration
You’re going to want a lot of light, but you definitely don’t need to go out and buy a fancy light to get enough. You can grow plenty of algae with a florescent light. Filtration, on the otherhand, is super important.
You don’t need to crank your filter up, per se, you just need a ton of oxygen. A canister filter connected to a spraybar makes a great setup. Throw a few airstones in and you’re probably good – if not overdoing it.
Bonus: it’s almost identical to their breeding setup so you might see some fry!
Some suggest you should look at a turnover of 10x GPH – but I don’t think that’s needed if you have a good cycle, some air stones, and a good deal of surface agitation. They do live in stagnant pools for half the year, so unless you’re planning on breeding them, they can definitely thrive somewhere between a raging rapid and stagnant.
As a refresher on GPH and turnover, if you want to go with the 10x recommendation, multiply your tank size by 10 and that’s the GPH you’ll need. Which is likely somewhere in the 200+ range. If you have anything larger than a 20-gallon, you’re basically looking for a pond filter. A cheaper method, if you want to keep the 10x idea, would be building a sump with a massive pump.
Something much more manageable would be 5x turnover with a spraybar and a few air stones – which you can run off one air pump if you get a gang valve. If you need help picking out the best canister filter or air pump, I have some suggestions for your panda garra tank below.
Suggested filtration
Tetra Whisper Air Pump
Rating: 4.4 stars
Price: $5 – $24 *size dependent
These air pumps are super quiet and last forever – plus the price isn’t bad. I will say I haven’t been able to find them this cheap in person though.
Fluval 407 Canister Filter
Rating: 4.6 stars
Price: $200
The 407 is the newest iteration from Fluval that replaces the 307 model and fixed a lot of issues that came with it. It’s quieter, lighter, more energy efficient, and has some additional features for media, making it more versatile than the older models.
Aqueon Quietflow Canister Filter
Rating: 4.5 stars
Price: $170
This model is a great starting point for beginners. It doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles that usually confuse first time canister users, while still providing a solid and well-functioning product.
Polar Aurora Free Media Canister Filter
Rating: 4.4 stars
Price: $67
The Polar Aurora is a cheap filter for anyone who’s not sure if they want to drop a ton of cash on a canister. Can’t say I blame you. It also comes with a built-in UV sterilizer, which helps with algae and bacteria, but I’m not sure how effective the sterilizer is since the whole unit is such low wattage and the GPH is pretty high.
If you want to buy it for the sterilizer, I would look at sterilizer units instead.
MarineLand Magniflow Canister Filter
Rating: 4.1 stars
Price: $95
The Magniflow is a good filter. The main issue is that it doesn’t always ship with all the correct parts. Or all the parts at all. Their customer support is good, but the wait can be incredibly frustrating when you were expecting to be able to run it immediately.
It can also leak heavily if overflowed with media.
Water Care
Panda garras don’t do well in low oxygen environments and they don’t cope well with any water deterioration. Just how much water you should be changing ever week depends entirely on your setup and your filter, but shooting for 25% every week and adjusting from there is a safe bet.
Keeping ammonia and nitrites as close to 0 ppm as possible is also a safe bet. Nitrates you probably have some wiggle-room with, without it algae is kinda hard to grow.
Intentionally growing algae isn’t super complicated, unless you’re trying to grow a particular type. Which we kinda are. You obviously don’t want green water, blue-green algae, BBA, diatoms, or hair algae – because they won’t eat those.
They typically only eat green dust, green spot, or brown algae. If you’re not usually good at growing those and don’t want to tinker with that, you can always supplement with algae wafers (suggestions below in the feeding section!)
You’re obviously going to want dechlorinator – I like Prime and it comes in super handy when you’re keeping fish that have next to no ammonia tolerance. You’re also probably going to want to stock up on meds to treat illnesses that are common with panda garras, which isn’t many, to be honest.
Suggested water care & meds
Dechlorinator
My all time favorite is Prime, but it is on the expensive side. It can be a serious life saver in an emergency situation though, which is why I keep it handy. If you’re not into the price, I also use Stress Coat and API’s Tap Water Condition and they work just as well for most situations. If you have issues with your tap containing ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, I highly suggest Prime.
Aquarium Salt
Rating: 4.9 stars
Price: $3 – $7 *size dependent
I’ve never noticed a major difference between one aquarium salt to another, to be honest, but I use API Aquarium Salt because it’s the most readily available. Aquarium salt is useful for a wide variety of situations and I always suggest you keep this on hand – especially if you’re skeptical of using medications.
API General Cure
Rating: 4.5 stars
Price: $20 for 20 packets
This stuff works great for a wide variety of illnesses you’ll encounter. If you’re going to buy it, you’ll want to buy more than one pack though.
Maracyn-2
Rating: 4.4 stars
Price: $14 for 24 packets
Maracyn-2 is the same thing as API’s Erythromycin. It works just as well as API’s on most fungal and some bacterial infections. This includes things like body fungus, cotton mouth, some cases of bacterial-related dropsy, and fin and body rot – but it works on tons of other oddball illnesses as well.
Feeding Panda Garra
Feeding panda garras is pretty similar to feeding bristlenose plecos. Though both eat a lot of algae, neither is an exclusive algae eater – or even a herbivore. Panda garras are omnivores and they’re generally opportunistic.
They’ll gladly accept bloodworms, tubifex worms, brine shrimp, chopped prawn, repashy, white worms, and sinking pellets and wafers. They’ll also accept cucumbers, melons, blanched spinach, green beans and – again – anything you’d consider feeding to a bristlenose is probably fair game.
If you’re feeding things like cucumbers, melons, or any other semi-large foods, just make sure you take it out within a few hours so it doesn’t ruin the water quality. Like always, I have a shopping list for you below if you don’t know where to find something but, frankly, they’ll do fine with pretty much anything.
Food list
- Live, frozen (or freeze-dried) bloodworms
- Live, frozen (or freeze-dried) daphnia
- Frozen (or freeze-dried) mysis shrimp
- Frozen (or freeze-dried) krill (may need to crumble freeze-dried)
- Frozen (or freeze-dried) brine shrimp
- Frozen (or freeze-dried) beef heart
- Frozen (or freeze-dried) copepod
- Freeze-dried tubifex
- Freeze-dried blackworms
- Hikari algae wafers
- Repashy Super Green and Repashy Soilent Green are both good options, but Repashy Community Plus would probably work too.
Common Panda Garra Diseases
Panda garras aren’t typically prone to illnesses. Even wild-caught panda garras don’t have a ton of issues that you’d expect. Most of their issues seem to be directly related to skin conditions that come from water quality issues.
Bacterial Infection
Bacterial infection is a broad term, the bacteria family can cause a wide range of symptoms and come from varying causes. Generally, you can treat them with a broad spectrum antibacterial regardless of the particular bacteria at hand. It’s diagnosing that’s usually the hard part.
Making matters even more difficult, fish can have an internal or external bacterial infection.
Symptoms:
- Red streaks
- Red ulcers
- Fuzzy growths
- Pop eye
- Bloating
Causes:
- Poor water quality
- Food that’s gone bad
- Keeping fish in inappropriate water parameters
- Stress
Columnaris (Cotton Mouth Disease)
Occasionally called false neon tetra disease or cottonmouth, this is caused by a gram-negative bacterium. it can also, quite understandable, be confused with fungal infections.
Symptoms:
- Discolored scales
- Scales appear to be popping off (not “pineconing”)
- Grey spots
- Lesions on the back
- Legions around the mouth
- May result in fuzzy patches due to secondary infections
Causes:
- Flavbacterium columnare (bacteria)
Fungal Infection
Fungal infections are a tricky bunch – not only do they have a huge family that presents a wide variety of species and symptoms – but some bacterial infections look strikingly similar to a fungus.
If you’re not sure if you’re dealing with a fungus or a bacterial infection, I find it helpful to treat with Ich X and Erythromycin (provided it’s 100% erythromycin) at the same time to be sure I’m treating for both.
Symptoms:
- Cottony growths on body, fins, eyes, and/or gills
Causes:
- Prior untreated injury
- Stress
- Water quality-related issues
- Prior untreated infection (bacterial, parasitic, etc.)
13 Panda Garra Tank Mates
Panda garras are pretty good tankmates. If you keep just one, you might need to be careful with things like ottos or other loaches. But if you house them in a loose group, they don’t have issues with ottos, hillstreams, or other species of loaches.
You will want to look for fish that don’t mind a little bit of a current and at least a decent level of overhead light. This isn’t a complete list, but I hope it gives you some ideas to work with!
Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha)
Harlequins are a shoaling species that prefer friend groups of six or more. They’re not known to be nippy fish and are quite peaceful as long as they’re provided plants, space to swim, and the company of their own kind.
Lambchop Rasbora (Trigonostigma espei)
You can think of the lambchop as a smaller cousin to the harlequin rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha) they look and act similarly and their care requirements are about the same. These guys are just a bit smaller with slightly different coloring.
pH: 5.5 – 7.5
dKH: 1 – 10
Temp: 74 – 83F (24 – 28C)
Size: 1.2″ (1 cm)
Temperament: Peaceful shoaling fish
Swimming: Mid to top
Silvertip Tetra (Hasemania nana)
If you like fish that will follow your finger like ravenous sharks, these are your fish. They’re a nearly unspookable little shoaling fish that like to be kept in groups of six or more.
pH: 6.0 – 8.0
dKH: 5 – 20
Temp: 74 – 82F (23 – 28C)
Size: 2″ (5 cm)
Temperament: Active shoaling fish
Swimming: Mid to top
White Clouds (Tanichthys albonubes)
These fish are best kept in groups of eight or more, though 10 is better. There’s little information of just how far spread these fish are, but they’ve been observed slow-moving white and blackwater streams in and around China.
pH: 6.0 – 7.0
dKH: 5 – 20
Temp: 60 – 72F (15 – 22C)
Size: 1.5 – 2″ (3 – 5 cm)
Temperament: Peaceful shoaling fish
Swimming: Mid to top
Dwarf Scissortail Rasboras (Rasbosoma spilocerca)
Because scissortails and dwarf scissortails look so similar, it’s important to get these from a vendor that you trust. If you buy regular scissortails (Rasbora trilineata,) you’ll end up with a bunch of 6″ fish! It’s a shoaling species that should be kept in groups of 8 – 10.
pH: 6.0 – 7.0
dKH: 2 – 10
Temp: 73 – 79F (22 – 26 C)
Size: 1.2″ (3 cm)
Temperament: Peaceful shoaling fish
Swimming: Everywhere
Zebra “Danio” (Brachydanio rerio)
Zebra danios belong to the minnow family. They’re fast, outgoing, peaceful, and need room to swim with their shoal (6 or more being ideal.) They can handle a range of temperatures and water conditions – from stagnant to faster-flow, making them a versatile community fish.
pH: 6.0 – 8.0
dKH: 5 – 20
Temp: 65 – 77 F (18 – 25 C)
Size: 1.5 – 2″ (4 – 5 cm)
Temperament: Peaceful and active
Swimming: Top to midwater shoaling
Leopard Danio (Brachydanio froskei)
Leopard danios have amazing color and, if you look hard enough, you may even be able to find some dazzling color morphs of this fish as well! They do best in groups of six or more and zip around the tank quite a bit, so ensure you have swimming space for a shoal of this size.
pH: 6.0 – 8.0
dKH: 2 – 20
Temp: 64 -75F (17 – 23C)
Size: 2.4″ (6 cm)
Temperament: Active
Swimming: Mid to top
Rosy Barbs (Pethia conchonius)
Rosy barbs are notoriously housed improperly and, as a result, most become fin-nippers. To avoid this behavior, your best bet is to get a shoal of six or more – more being better. They’re active, colorful, easy to feed, and make fantastic beginner fish.
pH: 6.0 – 7.5
dKH: 2 – 15
Temp: 65 -78 F (18 – 26 C)
Size: 5.9″ (15 cm)
Temperament: Active
Swimming: Mid to top
Gold Barb (Barbodes semifasciolatus)
Gold barbs are a brighter variant of the naturally greenish-colored Barbodes semifasciolatus, but most people don’t recognize the wild coloration as a gold barb. They make great beginner fish, they’re easily adaptable, easy to feed, and pretty agreeable when kept in groups of at least six, but eight or more is best.
pH: 6.0 – 8.0
dKH: 2 – 20
Temp: 61 -75F (16 – 24C)
Size: 2.9″ (8 cm)
Temperament: Active, peaceful
Swimming: Mid to top
Congo Tetra (Phenacogrammus interruptus)
Wild populations are endemic to the Congo River in Africa, but thankfully, we have plenty of captive-bred fish on the market. They do best in groups of at least six.
pH: 6.0 – 7.5
dKH: 3 – 18
Temp: 73 – 82 F (23 – 28 C)
Size: 3.2″ (8 cm) max
Temperament: Peaceful shoaler
Swimming: Mid to top
Diamond Tetra (Moenkhausia pittieri)
Diamond tetras make a great addition to most community tanks, but they can be nippy. They’re typically peaceful, active, unfussy, and generally mind their own business. They do best in shoals fo 6 – 8. If there’s more than that, they tend to nip tankmates instead of each other.
pH: 5.5 – 7.0
dKH: 5 – 12
Temp: 75 – 82 F (24 – 28 C)
Size: 2.4″ (6 cm)
Temperament: Peaceful shoalers
Swimming: Mid to top
Corydora (Corydora sp.)
While each species will vary slightly, all require smooth substrates or bare bottom and do best when they’re kept in groups of at least six or more.
Some larger options would be better here, anywhere from 2.5″ (6.5 cm) and up. Good candidates would include bronze, emerald, Sterbai’s, and peppered cories.
pH: 5.5 – 7.0 – species dependent
dKH: 3 – 10
Temp: 72 – 80 F (22 – 26 C) – species dependent
Size: 1 – 3.5″ (2.5 – 9 cm) – species dependent
Temperament: Peaceful, can be boisterous for less active species
Swimming: Bottom (most) in a shoal of 6 or more
Red-Tailed Rasbora (Rasbora borapetensis)
Not the easiest fish to find, and you’ll likely need to special order them, but they make great community tank inhabitants. They’re hardy, peaceful, colorful, and not easily spooked. You’ll want to get them in shoals of 8 – 10, though likely order more in case of casualties.
pH: 5.5 – 7.0
dKH: 2 – 12
Temp: 72 – 78 F (22 – 26 C)
Size: 2″ (5 cm)
Temperament: Peaceful and active
Swimming: Top to midwater shoaling
Hillstream Loach (Sewellia sp.)
Not the easiest fish to find, and you’ll likely need to special order them or order them online, but they are just a joy to have! There are almost 100 species of hillstream loaches, but most of them stay pretty small and need medium- to fast-flowing water. Typically, they do better in groups, but individual species research is definitely suggested.
pH: 5.5 – 7.0 – species dependent
dKH: 8 – 15
Temp: 72 – 78 F (22 – 26 C)
Size: 3″ (8 cm) usually
Temperament: Peaceful and active
Swimming: On structures
Breeding Panda Garras
Sexing panda garras isn’t the easiest task, but it’s doable. Obviously, in order to sex them, you need mature fish. Prior to maturity, they look pretty much the same. After maturity they look pretty similar, but there’s one big difference: tubercles.
Males develop tubercles on their head, along their lateral line, and by their caudal peduncle. Tubercles are small- to medium-sized deposits of keratin that make small bumps (tentacles, maybe?) It looks like ich, but not quite. It’s hard to explain, but pictures should help.
Of course, it’s not always possible to sex panda garras on the glass from that exact angle, which makes things a little bit trickier when you’re working in a real life situation. In that case, here’s an example from the side:
Spawning
It’s been done… but we don’t fully understand it on a non-commercial scale. Commerical breeders collect the fish from the wild between May and July, which is the peak of their spawning season. They keep the males and females together and feed feeding lots of different high-protein foods. Chopped earthworms, tubifex, and meaty products mixed with algae are a good start, but the full suggested list of food is in the feeding section.
Males only develop tubercles when they’re in breeding condition, when they’re not in breeding condition they disappear. Females are also only plump when they’re in breeding condition. So if you’re able to sex your panda garras, that’s a good start.
Once they’re in breeding condition, they select individual pairs and place them in their own 20-gallon tank. Each tank is highly oxygenated and has running water with a conductivity of 80 µS and pH close to neutral. Most of these commercial setups include a spray bar with a few air stones and a high-powered turnover. Again, I covered the setup in more detail in the filtration section.
There’s little to no coverage on what the actual spawning or spawning behavior looks like, but eggs are usually deposited in the morning. If you’re running anything other than a sponge filter, you’re probably going to want a sponge prefilter to prevent fry from being sucked up.
Egg & Fry Care
There’s very sparse information on fry care. The eggs usually hatch in 24 – 36 hours – though at what temperature was unspecified. They feed off their yolk sack for an additional 72 hours. Once they’re free-swimming, they’re fed egg yolk particles and within a week, they’re large enough to eat artemia.
There are a few reports of panda garras breeding (and the fry living!) under much less controlled conditions. There isn’t any information about if they eat their own fry but it’s very likely that they’ll eat their own eggs.
Further Reading & Resources
PFK – Panda Garra (note: interview with breeders and discoverer)