# Personal Hygiene Dos & Donts for Us Aquarium Handlers..



## niru (15 Sep 2011)

Hello Everyone

of late I have been reading news & stuff about health hazards for people working with fish & aquariums. There was this news from US where some girl dies due to an infection she got from aquarium bacteria (or some such thing). Plus while reading about fish health & diseases, saw some pictures of some professional guy who got his arm infected by some microbe from the tank..

I usually wash meself with warm water & good soap after playing around the tank, but was wondering what you all do to make sure you remain clean?? Particularly professional service providers who swim in mammoth tanks for aquascaping & things like that?

-niru


----------



## Iain Sutherland (15 Sep 2011)

funny, im more concerned about putting something in the tank from soaps, bleach etc.. i think you are far more likely you trip with your trimming scissors and hurt yourself than these rare occurrences....


----------



## niru (15 Sep 2011)

Hey



I aint putting soaps into my tanks, its what you do AFTER you are done with your tank chores thats the stuff I asked.


----------



## Katch (15 Sep 2011)

I'd say your basic hygiene routine when doing any job with a risk of picking up bugs. Wash your hands and arms with hot water and plenty of soap. There are alcohol gels for the more OCD among us.

Avoid working in the tank if you have cuts, sores open wounds on your hands or arms. For the more OCD you can get gloves that come up to your shoulders.

Don't drink your tank water...

Buy one of these and put your tank inside?


----------



## Iain Sutherland (15 Sep 2011)

niru said:
			
		

> Hey
> 
> 
> 
> I aint putting soaps into my tanks, its what you do AFTER you are done with your tank chores thats the stuff I asked.



thats what i meant... nothing   chances of septicemia are so small when in perspective to say driving everyday...
if your really concerned with it i guess you need a fresh towel every day, scrub down... the list could go on and on.


----------



## niru (15 Sep 2011)

Cool   

I want to buy one of those nuclear steralizers!! 

Is drenching yourself outside (& more importantly, inside) with ethylated spirits a good option?   
And should one do this before or after entering the tank with scissors & soaps???   

tchuss   

niru


----------



## Jim (15 Sep 2011)

I'd rather put my hand in my aquarium than touch the handle on the door of a public toilet!


----------



## Fred Dulley (15 Sep 2011)

Jim said:
			
		

> I'd rather put my hand in my aquarium than touch the handle on the door of a public toilet!



Exactly.
Every once in a while some new story will crop up about the dangers of aquariums but comparatively to other areas in life, they are safe.
I saw one episode on "How clean is your house", and they reccomended wearing rubber gloves when cleaning the tank. Go figure!


----------



## ghostsword (15 Sep 2011)

Jim said:
			
		

> I'd rather put my hand in my aquarium than touch the handle on the door of a public toilet!



Ditto!! Also, I dose easycarbo, the tank is clean for sure...


----------



## Morgan Freeman (16 Sep 2011)

In tropical aquariums I'd say the risk is low, for those using live rock in marine aquariums it always pays to be careful. You don't always know what's in that rock.


----------



## niru (16 Sep 2011)

Stats cant be compared here, as the population sampling sizes (& quality) of aquarium guys and those touching public toilet handles are very different. Plus the 1st case (tank-guys) is a more restrictive (biased) sample, so comes with inherent high risk profile (occupational hazard).. Also, you can detol-ize your hand before touching public loo handles, but here its better not to have *any* chemicals on your hands before putting them in tanks 

+, guys mucking the loo handles usually have a dose of ethylated spirit at hand, which they can use to disinfect the outsides & insides before & after the "act" 

On a serious note, what *extra* precautions does somelike like Tom Barr take when swimming inside his mammoth tanks for scaping, maintainance. SOmebugs in there are pretty nasty!!


----------



## OllieNZ (16 Sep 2011)

The only thing Im worried about when sticking my hand in the tank is the brevis attacking my hand, amazing how much a bite from a 2" fish hurts.
I always wash my hands/arms in warm soapy water after sticking them in the tank, no different from changing one of my kids nappies or after using the loo myself.


----------



## Ian Holdich (16 Sep 2011)

i'd be more worried about handling easycarbo/excel tbh. You MUST wash you hands after using this, it has a good carcinogen property.


----------



## tonyg1 (19 Sep 2011)

i recall hearing that the odd case of fish tb have been reported as people have had open wounds on they're hands and arms and this has left them with serious wounds that are difficult to heal and i think someone also lost an arm and also the case of death as mentioned.

has anyone on the forum never had a gob full of tank water when siphoning they're tank?.i know i have loads of time's it do'nt taste too pleasant but i've never had tummy upset's or anything.


----------



## Jim (20 Sep 2011)

Meteors falling from the sky have been the cause of death of a few people as well. But we don't all leave our houses wearing meteor helmets.


----------



## Mxx (23 Sep 2011)

http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/Diseas ... Humans.htm

Check out this somewhat concerning article, and watch out for Mad Fish Disease!

There is one species of Hawaiian Coral that is extremely toxic to the extent that native warriors rubbed it on their weapons, unless I'm now slightly misquoting the article I'd read sometime back). There have been reef aquarists that have almost died as a result of inhaling spores from that while working on their tank.


----------

