Care
The Panda Garra is a beautifully marked cyprinid species, which is suited to mature tanks that are over 4ft (120cm) long and which have vigorous water movement/high O2 level. It will not thrive in a standard community set-up, so be sure to meet its requirements for highly oxygenated fast-flowing waters - ideally provided by powerful external canister filtration. Unlike many members of the Garra genus, this species is relatively sociable, and is best kept in groups of 5 or more. In numbers less than this, they may squabble amongst themselves (and similar species) every so often, "greying out" as they do so. The aquarium should be aquascaped with a soft sand or very fine rounded gravel substrate, and furnished with cobbles, smooth rocks, and bogwood pieces. Lighting can be fairly bright to encourage algae growth, which the fish will enjoy browsing on for the micro-organisms it may contain. Shady areas can be provided with the layout of the rockwork/bogwood, and by growing canopies of hardy plants such as Anubias sp. or Java fern (both tied to the driftwood). Some thought should be given to creating a number of "visual barriers" within the aquarium at the time of aquascaping, so if any minor territorial disputes do arise, the fish can get away from the other's line of sight. An extremely important point to note is that Garra flavatra are capable of climbing up the glass with ease, something they tend to do when newly imported or moved; therefore be absolutely sure the tank has tight fitting cover slides and that there are no small gaps that the fish can crawl out of e.g. where equipment power leads feed into the back of the hood. Bottom dwelling tankmates could include many of the peaceful botiid river loaches, the nemacheilid brook loaches, and the more robust members of the balitorid hillstream loach group. For the upper levels, consider some of the Barilius, Danio, Devario, Opsarius, and smaller members of the Puntius genera (research individual species to ensure compatibility before purchase though, as not every species from these genera will be suitable). Although these fish tend to be of a peaceful nature, they can be fairly boisterous at feeding times and are not recommended for housing alongside slow-moving laterally-compressed fish such as discus or angelfish (which do not benefit from the same water conditions anyway). Water quality is of utmost importance for the Panda Garra "“ be sure to carry out regular partial water changes to ensure that nitrate levels remain at a minimum. As the fish mature, their colours and patterns will intensify; the above image shows a mature male specimen. May also be seen on sale as the Rainbow Garra.
Feeding
This species enjoys grazing on the micro-organisms found within algal growths in the aquarium; it should not be considered an algae-eater, as some sources erroneously suggest. Offer plenty of small meaty items such as mosquito larvae, vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, chopped Mysis shrimp etc, along with a variety of sinking catfish pellets/granules/wafers.
Breeding
Successful captive breeding of the Panda Garra has been reported in river-style home aquaria. In such instances, the act of spawning has often gone unnoticed, and only realised when the presence of small fry are found hiding amongst small nooks and crannies in the decor. These findings have often occurred after larger than usual, slightly cooler water changes have been performed. Some South East fish farms are now breeding this species on a commercial level. The fish are said to be kept in highly oxygenated, fast-flowing neutral conditions and conditioned well on small live foods. Pairs are then selected and moved to their own aquarium with virtually identical conditions. Spawning occurs when the first rays of morning sun hit the aquarium glass. The clear eggs take between 24-36 hours to hatch, depending on water temperature.
