The small gray garra rufa fish is inconspicuous at first glance; it is not characterized by any decorative qualities. However, it is often found in professional and home aquariums. The increased interest in this exotic inhabitant of water bodies is due to commercial interest.
The small gray fish Garra Rufa is used for spa treatments.
Description
Garra rufa fish or doctor garra fish is a species of fish from the Carp family. In nature, it lives in the rivers of the East: Türkiye, Iraq, Iran. They prefer rivers with strong and fast currents and a sufficient amount of dissolved oxygen in the water.
Appearance
The Garra Rufa fish looks like a small carp. The body color is gray-brown, with patches of light and dark colors visible. The fins of wild individuals are light, the caudal fin has a red tint. Captive-bred specimens are endowed with sandy-colored fins. The body is elongated and laterally compressed. The head is large with a large mouth. There is a small mustache above it. They grow up to 8–11 cm in length.
Habits
Fish live in schools with a strict hierarchy. Each fish has its own specific position. This minimizes the clarification of relationships between individuals.
The Garra Rufa fish has a big appetite. She is ready to eat almost all available food. This is due to the absence of a stomach, so the food that gets inside is digested quickly, and the fish becomes hungry again.
Lifespan
Life expectancy in nature and captivity is 4–6 years.
The healing effect of fish
The main use of these fish is for cosmetic and spa treatments for the feet or the whole body. Fish eat the dead layer of skin. This rejuvenates the skin, increases blood circulation, and produces a kind of mini-massage. Fish saliva contains the substance dithanol. It has bactericidal and antiviral properties.
How to choose fish for breeding
Despite the fact that there are a great many small river abodes, not all of them, like Garra Rufa, are healers.
All other “relatives” do not eat particles of dead dermis, nor do they secrete secretions, which are a natural antiseptic. Therefore, some sellers may offer a different type of fish, counting on the buyer’s lack of knowledge. If you do not want to become a victim of “scammers,” you should carefully study the main characteristics of this type before purchasing. Advertisements offering to buy fish can be found anywhere, but representatives of the carp family are quite expensive. If the seller offers you to buy fish at a low price, then you should refuse such a dubious purchase; most likely, they want to sell you a completely different species.
Smuggling shipments are also not suitable for breeding offspring; each individual must have a veterinary passport. If sellers cannot provide the relevant documents, then they should refuse such an acquisition.
Content
Keeping a garra rufa fish is not too difficult; even a novice aquarist can handle it. You should not keep these fish solely for use in cosmetic procedures. Leather is not the main food. They eat it when there is a lack of other food. Therefore, to achieve this, the fish should be kept hungry for a long time, and this is not very humane to the pets.
In order for pets to feel good, it is necessary to create conditions close to nature in the aquarium: strong water flow, a large number of shelters, special soil.
Aquarium
When keeping a small flock of 6–8 individuals, you will need an aquarium with a volume of about 100 liters. It must be equipped with a lid - often these active pets simply jumped out of the open aquarium onto the floor and died.
Water parameters
Garra Rufa naturally lives in warm waters, so water temperature is the main criterion for creating an aquarium for these creatures. It should be 28–36 degrees. During the cold period, it can tolerate lower temperatures - 25–27 degrees, but it is not recommended to constantly keep it in this temperature regime. It is precisely because of the temperature regime that this species is best kept alone - not all inhabitants will tolerate such high water temperatures.
In other respects, Garra is not too different from most species. The acidity of the water is 7.0–8.0 Ph, and the hardness is 7–9 dH.
It is important to protect the inhabitants from nitrates and other harmful substances in the water, because these pets are quite sensitive to them.
Plants
Almost any vegetation is suitable for an aquarium, the main thing is that the plants are not cold-loving. Plants such as Cryptocoryne Vendta, Cabomba, and Ceratopteris are good choices.
A little about diseases
A disease that often affects aquarium doctors is ichthyophthirosis. The danger of the disease lies in its lightning-fast development and progression, which leads to global infection within the aquarium. In the first 10 days, symptoms practically do not appear. The causative agent of the disease is a parasitic ciliate found throughout Southeast Asia. Infected individuals become covered with bumps called pustules.
At the end of the incubation period, a mass pestilence begins. In the absence of preventive measures, the entire flock is likely to die. A product consisting of methylene blue oxalate and malachite green oxalate, which are taken in an amount of 3.5 g each and diluted in 1 liter of purified water, will help save the fish. During the period of sanitization of the aquarium, it is recommended to transplant the fish into another container, since the drug used can have a detrimental effect on the inhabitants and vegetation of the home pond.
Carp doctor fish are widely used in the commercial sphere, but they are no less interesting for home breeding. Frisky and agile representatives of the Garra Rufa are unpretentious to food and conditions of constant keeping. They will certainly become favorites of experienced aquarists and will create a separate atmosphere in the room, close to nature.
Feeding
In nature, this species lives in rivers with a lot of sunlight and oxygen in the water. It is under these conditions that bacteria and algae, which mainly feed Garra Rufa, multiply. When kept at home, it feeds on protein foods: earthworms, bloodworms, and brine shrimp. I don't mind special fish food. Fruits and vegetables are used as top dressing: zucchini, spinach and dandelion leaves, apples, cucumbers. If fish are used for cosmetic procedures, they should be fed with special food enriched with the missing microelements.
Breeding
In the wild, garra rufa spawns among stones. After this, the fish forget about the existence of the fry. Therefore, individuals begin to show independence after hatching from the eggs. It is difficult to breed fish at home, especially there is no detailed information about raising them on farms or nurseries. Some say that during breeding, individuals are given hormonal injections to speed up the spawning period. Others resort to raising the water temperature to encourage spawning.
Sex differences
To distinguish individuals, you will need to carefully examine their body. Females are large and dense in shape. Their abdomen is rounded. Males, on the contrary, are smaller. Knowing this, Garra Rufa individuals can be easily distinguished.
Garra rufa from the carp family takes root in the home aquarium. However, they should not be started by beginners. Although individuals are unpretentious in food, they require proper maintenance and care. If the basic rules are not followed, the fish will get sick and will not live long. In addition, you cannot mix them with other species in a small container. This will cause frequent clashes. Garra rufa are not single fish, and when purchasing, you should take at least 7 pieces.
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Reviews
Cosmetic procedures using these creatures are widespread in many countries. Most of those who tried it are satisfied with the result - clean skin after fish peeling, the skin of the legs becomes smooth, peeling disappears. But this procedure does not completely eliminate problems, for example, too rough skin, corns and other similar troubles.
Cosmetology and medicine
Doctor fish are an innovation that came to us from Asia.
Thanks to a small miracle, many patients managed to get rid of diseases such as dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis. The procedure achieves not only a cosmetic, but also a therapeutic effect. Fish act on the epidermis like peeling. Rufa cleanses the stratum corneum of the skin without causing any discomfort. During the procedure, a person is immersed in a container filled with water at a temperature of 30 degrees. After 20 minutes, the skin will become softer and the fish will eat the dead particles. The patient himself does not experience discomfort. The fish do not affect the healthy layer of the epidermis, eliminating only dead skin. Little doctors are not only excellent healers, but also masters of pedicure and manicure.
Adviсe
- Keep it in a pack.
- Do not breed other types of underwater creatures with Garra.
- Maintain a constant temperature of 30–35 degrees.
- Provide bright light.
Garra Rufa are unusual pets for aquariums, known to people for a couple of centuries. Their popularity continues to this day and is due to their ability to perform cosmetic procedures. But Garra is also an excellent underwater pet to keep in an aquarium, which will delight aquarists with its activity and unusual behavior.
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Compatibility
Garra is a peaceful aquarium inhabitant that can live peacefully with representatives of peaceful fish species. But when they are together, they have absolutely nothing to do with others. One has only to exclude aggressive fish species, for which they can become a real delicacy.
If you can provide proper care and maintenance for your fish, they can live for a long time. At the same time, the miraculous properties of fish can bring you a constant, good income.
Interesting fish:
- tetra von rio;
- nothobranchius;
- parrot fish
Nutrition
There is no separate diet for these unique cyprinids. They happily eat live, frozen and dry food (brine shrimp, tubifex, daphnia, bloodworms, worms), as well as food of plant origin. In addition to natural seaweed, you can give, for example, chopped cucumbers, spinach, and zucchini.
In recent years, large manufacturers of aquarium accessories and food have begun to produce balanced food for Garra rufa.
Fish that receive food in excess over time lose interest in human skin.
Life in nature
The natural distribution area is relatively small: the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and their tributaries. These cyprinids are found in the reservoirs of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, preferring warm, clean water in the temperature range from +24 to +28 °C. There is information that fish can survive for some time in the extremely warm water of natural thermal springs with temperatures up to +37 °C.
Due to the wide popularity and sharp quantitative decrease in the population, unauthorized catching and export outside the countries of natural habitat is prohibited.
That is why garra rufa has been grown for quite a long time both in licensed nurseries and on “wild” farms, especially in the countries of Southeast Asia. Schools of exotic Middle Eastern cyprinids can occasionally be found in the aquariums of wildlife lovers.
BUSINESS FISH
Let's consider another possibility: for those who are interested in how such private enterprises are structured from the inside.
Business payback
Peeling fish as a business is designed for a payback of up to 3 months. The main cost items for business planning will be as follows:
- Equipment - aquariums, 250 marine “workers”, equipment for the office itself;
- Renting premises - an office with a transparent display window somewhere in a popular shopping center is good;
- Consumables - aquarium service (filters, lighting), drinks, towels, etc.
With an average price for a procedure of 20 € per 1 hour and a salon workload of 10 hours daily, income before costs will be, according to analysts, approx. 200€.
Where to buy fish? Medicinal fish and their price
Knowledgeable people advise purchasing sea healers in Europe, and not in Asia, due to their better adaptation to our realities. Equipment suppliers will provide all the necessary components, as well as help train employees and issue a veterinary permit, which must be renewed on their own.
Fish 3.5-4 cm long cost about 1 euro per piece. (when purchasing a batch of 100 pcs.)
Permit to operate
The usual requirements for beauty salons do not apply in this situation: at least in the countries of the former CIS. Regulatory authorities do not yet require a license for this type of activity. That is, you can enter the market without employees with medical education and without long paper formalities.
Arrangement of the FISH SPA room
By default, the cabin must have running water and sewerage. It is better to choose chairs for procedures from washable material. It is also worth taking care of a relaxing atmosphere, music and lighting, as well as bottled water, tea, coffee and aromatherapy products.
Is it possible for children
Medicinal fish have little reaction to children's skin. The reason is that there are almost no keratinized areas on the child’s body. However, children may be recommended procedures for skin pathologies, for example, psoriasis. Ichthyotherapy is carried out for a child only if there are confirmed medical indications and there are no restrictions.
The procedure should be prescribed by a doctor after examination and necessary tests. To undergo treatment, you should contact specialized centers where sanitary and hygienic standards are observed and original Garra Rufa is used.
