The toothless Garra rufa can feed on the exfoliating epidermis of people suffering from certain skin conditions such as psoriasis. 1)
Treatment involves submerging the limbs, sometimes even the entire body, in an aquarium with these fish. One treatment usually takes up to 30 minutes and several hundred fish are needed. Opponents of ichthyotherapy draw attention to the risk of waterborne diseases. 2)
In natural conditions, they feed on algae and small organisms living there. In the aquarium, they should be fed with plant food such as spirulina tablets, cucumber, melon, spinach or zucchini supplemented with frozen and live animal food such as chironomid, tubeworm or artemia (chopped earthworm). 3)