Ever heard or seen a fish called the Garra Rufa fish?

I've seen these fish called the Garra Rufa fish and they are quite nice. They only prefer to eat dry skin of your hands or legs! In my country, in my housing area, they have a lot of these spas where you just put yourself in a tub with the GR fishes inside and they will just approach you and just nibble on your body! How cool? I've been thinking of buying these fishes just to see how they live! Near my home, they sell these skin eaters in the pet store for about 90 cents each (USD)!! (in Malaysia, it's RM 3 each)! Not expensive, not cheap so I'm saving up money to buy 10 of these! I just don't have enough info about these fish...

Any suggestions or info?

 

And this is why I love wikipedia despite all teh nay-sayers..BTW..that fish...weird



oh and here is some more

Scientific name: Garra rufa (Heckel, 1843)
Family: Cyprinidae (Carps)
Size: Up to 14cm/5", according to museum records, but usually around 10cm/4".
Origin: A non-migratory freshwater fish found in rivers through much of Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Syria. There are also unconfirmed reports of the species in Oman and SaudI Arabia, but these aren't considered compatible with the distributional range of the species.
Habitat: According to Krupp and Schneider, most Garra rufa are found in small muddy streams, rivers and lakes. However, the fish is also found in hot pools and locals bathe there in an attempt to get the fish to remove scales from their skin caused by a range of dermatological conditions.
Water: Temperatures in the natural habitat are said to range from 15-28�C. In hot pools, the fish is said to live at a temperature around the 37�C mark.
Availability: As far as we are aware, this species of Garra is not available through the aquarium trade in the UK or elsewhere. A number of other Garra species, predominantly those from south Asia, are popular fish with specialist fishkeepers. The genus was covered in the July 2005 issue of Practical Fishkeeping.

 

That would really freak me out!

 

Ewwwwwwwwwwww That is creepy!

 

And this is why I love wikipedia despite all teh nay-sayers..BTW..that fish...weird



oh and here is some more

Scientific name: Garra rufa (Heckel, 1843)
Family: Cyprinidae (Carps)
Size: Up to 14cm/5", according to museum records, but usually around 10cm/4".
Origin: A non-migratory freshwater fish found in rivers through much of Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Syria. There are also unconfirmed reports of the species in Oman and SaudI Arabia, but these aren't considered compatible with the distributional range of the species.
Habitat: According to Krupp and Schneider, most Garra rufa are found in small muddy streams, rivers and lakes. However, the fish is also found in hot pools and locals bathe there in an attempt to get the fish to remove scales from their skin caused by a range of dermatological conditions.
Water: Temperatures in the natural habitat are said to range from 15-28�C. In hot pools, the fish is said to live at a temperature around the 37�C mark.
Availability: As far as we are aware, this species of Garra is not available through the aquarium trade in the UK or elsewhere. A number of other Garra species, predominantly those from south Asia, are popular fish with specialist fishkeepers. The genus was covered in the July 2005 issue of Practical Fishkeeping.

Thanks! They actually sell these fish near my local aquarium shop!

 

IDK..I think it is kind of creepy and yet kinda cool at the same time..why not we ppl swin at beaches with fishies all teh time..it's liek snorkeling..only not..lol

 

nah I think this is a lot diff. then snorkeling..

this is kinda odd, but then again, we have things eater our dead skin all the time...

 

I bought abt 50 pcs onlince from them , and they shipped me as they promised and provided me necessary informaiton and guidance how to take care of the fish. And now I have my own home Fish Spa...instead of paying $45 for 30 min....

 

I bought abt 50 pcs onlince from them , and they shipped me as they promised and provided me necessary informaiton and guidance how to take care of the fish. And now I have my own home Fish Spa...instead of paying $45 for 30 min....

WOW! Thanks! That's cool! I didn't know they'd ship Garra Rufa? Thanks! How much did you buy them for?