Foot Chompin' Fish

Bazza57 · Jan 14, 2011

There's a new shop opened round our way.....Giggly feet - it's one of those foot massage places. :unsure:

Thing is, they have got these tanks full of Garra Rufa, in which you place your feet & the little so & so's nibble at the loose skin. The ad says there are over 100 of these critters in one tank - hope they have good filtration!

Poor little fish, having a diet of old verrucas & corns :sick:

Wonder what the captive life span of those fish are on a diet like that?

ZoddyZod · Jan 14, 2011

one opened near me recently. Hope this fad dies out very, very quickly!

rdp50734 · Jan 14, 2011

Its been used for a long time for medicinal reasons such as ciriasis spelling! Its a condition where the skin turns to what can only be described as cauliflower! Its very painful usually on the elbows and knees. They clean up the dead skin and make it less painful. Treatment of verrucas and corns is not something they should be used for but as always if there is money to be made from it then someone will exploit it!

Bazza57 · Jan 14, 2011

ZoddyZod said:
one opened near me recently. Hope this fad dies out very, very quickly!

From what I can gather, they are a protected species in Turkey because of over harvesting, & that the skin eating behaviour is only brought on when they have are semi-starved. :no:

I certainly won't visit the place.

My ex was a avid member of greenpeace, (chairman of the local branch) she used to give me a lot of earache over keeping fish, despite the fact that I bred & re-sold them back into the hobby.
I hope she gives them the same earache she gave me :lol:

Curiosity101 · Jan 14, 2011

There is one near me too. I really really want to have a go but I just couldn't justify it to myself.

I vaugely remember that wherever it was that first started using these guys had them in massive pools...? Natural hot spring bath/pool things. And the fish lived their naturally and people came to visit them for treatment.

These fish however... being plopped in tanks completely artificially... may well have poor husbandry/diet. And business owners will just replace any they lose. Oh well.
If I ever do go abroad and they have these little guys in the big open pools where the population maintains itself and isn't 'topped up' on a weekly basis then I will totally have a go. lol.

One thing I would say to anyone who does want to try it... go to a big chain one. ANYONE can buy these guys, and although they probably all recieve relatively poor care the big chains (so far from what I've seen), have constant filtration (even in the feet tanks) and also tend to have big tanks round the back so they can do a sorta fishy rotational thing. Plus all the feet tanks are cleaned out daily (unsure about the tanks in the back).

Squidward · Jan 14, 2011

Never mind the fish....

I certainly wouldn't put my feet in a container of water that has had who knows how many other people's feet in it!
The nature of this is that people with all sorts of skin disease are going to be sharing water...... :sick:

Not for me.......

dipsydoodlenoodle · Jan 14, 2011

WE have 2 just opened next to us....they both seem busy all the time.

Bazza57 · Jan 14, 2011

Curiosity101 said:
There is one near me too. I really really want to have a go but I just couldn't justify it to myself.

I vaugely remember that wherever it was that first started using these guys had them in massive pools...? Natural hot spring bath/pool things. And the fish lived their naturally and people came to visit them for treatment.

These fish however... being plopped in tanks completely artificially... may well have poor husbandry/diet. And business owners will just replace any they lose. Oh well.
If I ever do go abroad and they have these little guys in the big open pools where the population maintains itself and isn't 'topped up' on a weekly basis then I will totally have a go. lol.

One thing I would say to anyone who does want to try it... go to a big chain one. ANYONE can buy these guys, and although they probably all recieve relatively poor care the big chains (so far from what I've seen), have constant filtration (even in the feet tanks) and also tend to have big tanks round the back so they can do a sorta fishy rotational thing. Plus all the feet tanks are cleaned out daily (unsure about the tanks in the back).

I can see the attraction of bathing in the fishes natural environment (if thats your thing) I just wouldn't be to happy if someone put their size nines into any of my tanks :blink:

Shovelman · Jan 14, 2011

are they everywhere? ive never heard of any by me...

fishnovice · Jan 15, 2011

Shovelman said:
are they everywhere? ive never heard of any by me...

What worries me is tht when this fad dies out and the fish places start losing money the poor fish will be left behind to die of starvation or thrown into a river when the shop closes down.

fishmad135 · Jan 15, 2011

I have one in my local shopping centre. I thought it was a shoe shop at first so went in, then i saw loads of people with their feet in tanks so went for a closer look. THERE WERE MILLIONS of those fish in one tank, it was so sad and the thing that made me more angry was this oh so gulible man asks the women about the fish and there life and the lady said "the fish love being in small tanks because it makes them feel safe, the fact that there are lots of fish in one tank is better because less bactria can spread..." i was like what..?!?! i was going to say something but then i had vision of me being thrown out the shopping centre so thought better of it.. i really hate those places!

scotty · Jan 16, 2011

My link

Bazza57 · Jan 16, 2011

fishmad135 said:
I have one in my local shopping centre. I thought it was a shoe shop at first so went in, then i saw loads of people with their feet in tanks so went for a closer look. THERE WERE MILLIONS of those fish in one tank, it was so sad and the thing that made me more angry was this oh so gulible man asks the women about the fish and there life and the lady said "the fish love being in small tanks because it makes them feel safe, the fact that there are lots of fish in one tank is better because less bactria can spread..." i was like what..?!?! i was going to say something but then i had vision of me being thrown out the shopping centre so thought better of it.. i really hate those places!

I have serious doubts as well, I read somewhere that an enzymn in the fishes saliva (do fish have saliva?) promotes the healing process with skin problems. However, is any thought given to the wellbeing of these fish, who are kept in crowded conditions - just how good is the filtration & aeration in the tanks? At least with the natural pools (abroad) the population is self sustatianing & the fish are feeding by choice unlike their captive brethren. :look:

scottjames1uk · Feb 24, 2011

I myself have seen these in my local shopping centre, This was before i had my own and didnt like what saw. Last week i was at my local LFS and looking to buy a couple more fish and saw some of these guys in a tank and after a bit of research on the internet on my phone whilst in the shop and asking the guy that worked there i bought 2. These are very funny fish to watch and i may get a couple more. It is so wrong to put so many fish in one tank and have people stick their feet in with them. At least mine will have a better life

lilfishie · Feb 24, 2011

scotty said:
My link

Will be interesting to see how he posts 800 fish for £12 :crazy:

I personally don't like the idea one bit, those poor fish being kept in crap conditions in water thats had everyones feet in, can't be good for the poor lil fellows :sad: