Panda Garra Info?

[Plecc]

Hi all.
 
I just picked up three Panda Garra from my LFS.
Unfortunately the guys at the shop knew very little about them, apart from that they are from the same family as the fish used at those fish pedicure spa's,
And that they should be cared for just like plecos. 
 
I know I shouldn't have made a purchase with no knowledge of the fish!
But its the first time i have ever seen them and I was worried I may not have had the chance again.
 
So............Any info on these little guy's would be greatly appreciated, I haven't managed to find much online.

 

[attibones]

If you haven't yet, SeriouslyFish has a pretty good page on this species. 

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

What are the dimensions of the tank? 30x30cm of tank floor per Panda Garra is a decent ballpark stocking, if you have a 120x30cm footprint tank or larger, get some more, if not kept as singletons they are less likely to bully each other in bigger groups in excess of trios. When they fight, they lose their colour, called "greying" and once a pecking order has been sorted out from new purchases this can be a good sign that the tank setup is not suitable. Have more cave-like structures spread over the tank than the number of garras you have.
 
They love strong water flow (> 10x real water turnover)and will often come out of the water (sticking to the glass with their modified lip) if you pour fresh dechlorinated water against a tank side. A temperate setup with a baseline temp in winter of ~18C suits them well.

 

[m00ms]

panda garra are my favorite fish,i currently have 4 and they are excellent fish,always active and great fun to watch and very aware of the world outside the tank.
 
only advise i can give from my time with them is make sure tank has a lid as they are jumpers and i lost one few years ago that jumped whilst i was doing water change.
 
other thing i have found is be careful if you mix them with panda garras from different batchs,i had two then when the one jumped i got two more and they bullied the older one which sadly died shortly after.
 
they seam happier in larger tanks as mine are now in a 200 lt after upgrade from 120lt,they have more room to chase each other and play silly buggers.
 
good choice fish and hope you enjoy them as much as i do

 

[Plecc]

Thanks all for the great feedback.
 
Sorry such a slow reply, I had a few internet issues.
 
Yep. so glad I got these little guys, awesome fish!
I just can't understand why every cra&&y fish shop tries to sell new fish keepers sucking loaches or common pleccos as a clean up crew option!
from the bit of info i have read on them, (Thx attibones great link!) supposedly they dramatically out perform any other fish at algae munching.
Why are the panda garra not more popular? 
 
The tank their in is a mature 4 x 1.5 x 1ft with a pea gravel substrate, slate caves, loads of bog wood, java fern along the back and a few massive anubias.
The filter is a fluval 305, it works great for this tank but doesn't really create any high flow areas for the panda's.
I will pick up a small powerhead when i see one suitable, I have a maxijet 1300 but its a bit overkill.
 
"N0body Of The Goat" One of the Garra appears very submissive to the others, while the other two have displayed the greying you mentioned, but only during feeding time.
Normally they occupy opposite ends of the tank and never bother each other,
I have tried feeding both ends of the tank at once but it doesn't make much difference.
Do you think it would be wise to get a few more, leave things as they are or move one of the territorial ones to another tank?

 

[m00ms]

as you have only just got them i would recommend to keep an eye on them whilst they settle in.they are possible little stressed from the move to new tank.
 
get some cucumber in there for them and generally let them relax as be shame to split them up just yet.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

In that tank, I'd be inclined to get at least one more, maybe two.
 
They will love that Maxijet powerhead, give it a try if you have not already and set it up so the strongest flow goes over some rocks/slates that the garras can grasp on to with the sucker below their lip.

 

[Stan510]

I bought 2 today and put them in the 240 gallon..never knew they were jumpers until reading it tonight. I have the tank sort of covered...but not totally. I hope they stay put and settle in and are still there tomorrow!