As most of you are aware there is a growing trend for people to stick their feet in a tank full of fish, not just any fish but Garra rufa fish a member of the carp family originating from Turkey. I have no problem with people putting their feet into a tank full of fish as long as they are cleaned before they enter the tank. My concern is that some of these tanks are not designed to hold upto 200 fish in such a small body of water. I have now visited several establishments and looked at the filter systems basically there are two systems I have come accross the first is a canister filter bought off the shelf designed for much lower fish stocking levels. The second is a sump type add on filter medium housed in a chamber measureing around 150mm x 150mm x 250mm deep. Surely this should not be acceptable, I would have thought that the filter media should be at least 5-6 times more to cope with the 200 plus fish it has to handle. Speaking to the owners of these establishments they are unaware of conditions they are subjecting these fish to. All apear to have UV clarifiers/sterilisers fitted but looking at flow rates they can only operate as clarifiers but owners not knowing how they work told me they were sterilisers. Does anyone out there have more information on their local Garra Rufa shop and details regarding the filter system they operate. Please note I'm not for or against I just want information to hopfully enlighten and educate the people that are using these fish. I look forward to your comments

My concerns are also based on stocking densities and the fact that these fish are kept in a completely unnatural environment for extended periods. The biotope in which Garra rufa is found varies, but they are commonly found in the Tigris and Euphrates river systems.

I walked by one of these 'fish spas' yesterday, the filtration system was based on several tanks joined to a centralized filter, which each tank having a standpipe with an uncovered outflow through which the fish could quite easily have been sucked down. Sadly most of the fish (aroundd 100 or so for each tank) were dead.

Many have also expressed concerns as to the hygiene and health risks of fish spas. Any open cuts or sores are prime targets for infection, and people who use these establishments are at a high risk of contracting diseases such as Fish TB, not only from the fish, but also from the water.

Needless to say, the sooner these establishments are banned, the better.

Thanks for your reply unfortunately i dont think this trend is going away soon but in the mean time if local authorities can raise the health standard high enough to ensure the best quality water is achived a majority of these places will not be able to conform with the standards unless they get a well designed tank and filter which costs a lot of money maybe to costly for them to continue. Or perhaps a course in fish keeping? with a certificate which has to be displayed.

Most of the staff who work in these fish spas are sales assistants, they most likely have absolutely no experience whatsoever in fishkeeping or any knowledge on how to properly maintain the equipment required for the upkeep of these fish.

A mandatory course in ornamental aquatics is a favourable suggestion, however regulations also have to be put in place which in turn would have to be enforced at a local level, and this means regular inspections by Defra.

im very much against these fish spas. simply put, i dont feel that the health of the fish is as much of a prioriy as it should be.

the concept itself is interesting. i remember fondly being on holiday in various exotic locations, and the feeling of having fish/shrimp clean me. it is a good feeling, and i can understand why people would do it, and why there is a market.

but still, the fishes welfare comes before the pleasure of the guests, and i honestly do feel disgusted that such places exist! plus, as has been said above, there is the questionable health and hygene of such places.

You're absolutely right, the profits come first in these places, the welfare of the fish comes somewhere further down the ladder, if at all. It really is a sorry sight to see these fish die in such large numbers.

I have read that these 'fish spas' can help to improve circulation in the limbs of diabetes patients. You may have heard stories of diabetes patients having whole limbs amputated due to a lack of oxygenated blood. However, no research has been done into this and Diabetes UK isn't currently advocating it.

It is said that the fish do improve psoriasis and improve other ailments which i must say if i suffered from psoriasis as a friend of mine does then i would probably try the treatment. As i said from the start i am neither for or against using garra rufa but i would like to see much better conditions in which they are kept.
I have kept fish for over 40 years cold water, tropical and marine I have bred live bearing and egg laying fish, I have designed filter systems for large koi ponds, water features, fish tanks and natural swimming pools it just annoy's me that these people are being lazy and not taking the right care and time to give these little fish the best enviroment they can.

well, that didnt take long. went into my local primark to get some pieces i needed for a costume, and directly opposite has opened one of these very same fish spar establishments! first one in town, was its first day of opening today! will go back at some point for a good look.

Hi There,

I wonder if anyone may be able to help me. I am an environmental health officer and along with my colleague an animal welfare officer we are respnsibble for enforcing health and safety and animal welfare in premises providing garra rufa for skin treatments. We both have concerns regarding the conditions in which these fish may be kept, such as stocking densities, water quality, filtration use of UV etc . i would be very grateful for any information members may be able to provide.

thank you in advance.

Polsander

I would estimate that the average fish spa tank holds something in the region of 75-100 litres of water before displacement. When connected to a centralized filter, the water between all of the tanks would transmit potentially harmful bacteria, unless the water is filtered by a UV sterilizer. However UV sterilizers aren't guaranteed to kill all bacteria, and the effectiveness of UV tubes diminishes over a period of several months.

The original post on this thread has quite rightly pointed out that the flow rates passing through the entire centralized sytem would be out of the limits for a UV sterilizer, leading the OP to believe that they are in fact Ultra-violet clarifiers. UV clarifers are much less powerful than UV sterilizers, as they are marketed by pond equipment retailers as intended for killing algal cells. Obviously some checks would have to be carried out to positively establish what type of UV devices are being used.

Each tank would hold anything between 50-120 fish for this 'treatment' to take effect. For the estimated volumes that I stated above, this would of course mean that the tanks are overstocked which would result in a great deal of water pollution due to such a high bioload placed on the filter and the concentration of nitrogenous waste produced not only by fish metabolism, but also any flakes of dead skin that collect in the bottom of the tanks.

It would be perfectly reasonable to say that these establishments take very little or no time to actively test the water by any means for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. While none of these factors will affect the health of any customers, high concentrations of pollutants ultimately cause the fish to contract diseases and eventually die. Going by the number of dead fish I've seen, I am not sure if the corpses are removed before they have a chance to start decomposingg. Fish are known carriers of Tubercolosis and Salmonella which can potentially be transmitted to humans. Even the water itself can carry TB.