How Careful Are You About Hands In The Tank?

I put my arms, sometimes both but I've never put my head in the aquarium yet. But who knows maybe.

Bobbing for moss balls.

 

I'm not very big and my tank is 24" deep so I would get about three inches wet, I have to work on it with no shirt on.

I have to do that sometimes with my 40 gallon breeder. Being short has it's ups and downs.

 

Bobbing for moss balls.

Ha! Oh my word they would be so slimy...

 

When I know I'm feeding the next day or interacting with the water in the tank I'll wash my hands with soap the night before and the following morning I'll only rinse in warm/hot water. Then I'll feed and do whatever I need to do without having to worry about soap getting into the tank, afterwards I'll wash with warm/hot water and soap. I also am mindful of any cuts that could be on one of my hands, it's best not to have your hand in the water with an open wound on them (tank contamination and your health). Finger nails should also be clean in my opinion, I'm not as worried about sweat but it's a factor I still consider in the moment, usually I'll wipe down my hands/arms if I feel necessary.

 

I don't worry about it much. I put my hands in the aquarium (or even my entire arm) whenever I do a water change, moving the decorations and vacuuming the gravel. I usually rinse my hands with hot water first, but sometimes I don't bother, if I know they're reasonably clean (and I haven't used soap/lotion on them recently). I have a towel I keep by the tank so I'm not dripping water everywhere, and I'll wash my hands with soap once I'm done.

My roommate, on the other hand, never touches the water. The gravel vacuum is tall enough compared to her tank that she doesn't need to for regular water changes, and she uses gloves for anything else. Her skin's pretty sensitive, so she prefers not to for that reason.

 

I have been known to use my toast tongs to help me grasp things! My sister watched and asked if I planned to still use it on my toast! I showed her how I washed it, rinsed it and then used gel disinfectant. I usually scrub it first before it goes into the tank under hot water more due to worrying about disinfectant getting in the tank. I am not really worried my fish water will hurt me. My cats drink their tank water daily...both cats and fish are fine. They do need tongs just for their tanks though.

 

I'm in an unusual situation- I have eczema and an allergy doctor has advised not to have fish at all, but I've never experienced inflammation from touching the water in my tank (getting out of the shower, however, makes me have a bad rash), so I just stick my hands right in there to reroot plants. My parents make me wear gloves, but I take them off because it's really hard to move things around.

 

M

I'm in an unusual situation- I have eczema and an allergy doctor has advised not to have fish at all, but I've never experienced inflammation from touching the water in my tank (getting out of the shower, however, makes me have a bad rash), so I just stick my hands right in there to reroot plants. My parents make me wear gloves, but I take them off because it's really hard to move things around.

maybe it is chlorine that your skin is reacting to? Because your tank doesn't have it your hands don't react?

 

M
maybe it is chlorine that your skin is reacting to? Because your tank doesn't have it your hands don't react?

Tank water is safe for you! Hehehe

 

Tank water is safe for you! Hehehe

More tanks! Doctors orders.

 

My hands are basically in the tank daily. Most of the time during feeding as my catfish tends to eat every single thing so I have go in with a tweezer to feed the rest, sometimes when I have to reach for fishes at the bottom of the tank my whole arm will be in the tank haha

I'll normally just clean the water off with a piece of tissue and make sure it doesn't drip but most of the time my arms will still be slightly wet. I don't even think I wash my hands afterwards though..... well, maybe only when I'm grabbing something to eat immediately afterwards that's all

 

I'm in an unusual situation- I have eczema and an allergy doctor has advised not to have fish at all, but I've never experienced inflammation from touching the water in my tank (getting out of the shower, however, makes me have a bad rash), so I just stick my hands right in there to reroot plants. My parents make me wear gloves, but I take them off because it's really hard to move things around.

Maybe because aquarium water is aged?

 

I have a lot of tanks and my hands get wet a lot. A lot.

I am very cautious in my own way though. If I have any recent, open cuts, I will not touch the water. I once contracted fish tb, and while it was cured after a long run of antibiotics, I learned my lesson.

But hey, no cuts? I have a couple of towels in the room where the fish are!

 

I often worry about getting worms when I put my hands in it. The tank has some planaria.

 

I often worry about getting worms when I put my hands in it. The tank has some planaria.

Which might be relevant if planaria were parasitic.

 

I make sure that I rinse very well with tap water first and then use a towel after to catch drips and I immediately wash with soap and water after. I have been much more worried about putting contaminates into the water, like lotion or soap residue then about catching anything. I try to stick my hands/arms in as little as possible and only when cleaning etc. I'm a newbie, so hearing what others do and recommend is most welcome.

 

I just give my hands and arms a thorough rinse and dry even more thoroughly.

 

Oops I put my hands in with cuts. Hope I don't get fish TB, will try to avoid now.

 

Never even thought of myself getting sick but have been worried for fish since day one, must admit I have forgot to wash after much more often than forgetting before. Always put my fingers in to feed to sink my flakes so nobody sucks up air.

 

Which might be relevant if planaria were parasitic.

Sorry, but do you mean that planaria can not get into human beings?

I mean only parasitic worms can use humans as a host?

 

I rearrange my tank a lot, when cleaning, moving something. Usually rinse my hands before and wash them with soap after. I mean... my Guppy, Popcorn, tried to bite me once. Come on Popcorn, why would you try to bite the hand that feeds you.

 

I rinse my arms with extremely hot water and go to work. It just doesn't bother me at all. My guppies usually try to nibble on my hands which is strange, but I don't care at all. Of course I'm not putting my arms in every day, just when maintenance is necessary.

 

Sorry, but do you mean that planaria can not get into human beings?

That's correct. Well, I suppose if you had an open wound they could potentially get into your body. And they would then die.

I mean only parasitic worms can use humans as a host?

Correct, only parasitic worms can use another animal as a host. That is literally the definition of parasitic.

 

I'm in an unusual situation- I have eczema and an allergy doctor has advised not to have fish at all, but I've never experienced inflammation from touching the water in my tank (getting out of the shower, however, makes me have a bad rash), so I just stick my hands right in there to reroot plants. My parents make me wear gloves, but I take them off because it's really hard to move things around.

I have eczema too. I also keep garra rufa (aka doctor fish or spa fish) that scrape off dead skin cells from your skin. The fish supposedly help eczema inflicted people. I have had the fish for three years and have only had two flare ups within that time that went away quickly. I did not specifically use the fish to clean up my flare ups (because I had scratched at it so bad it bled), but I did stick my hands in the tank bi-weekly to clean the tanks. My garras have been with me long enough they are not afraid of my hands in tank. I have been careful not to grab them or make sudden movements throughout the years. Therefore, when I do clean the tank they all rush over like they haven't seen food in years and "chew" on my arms (they're sucker fish. They don't have teeth so it tickles). Anyway, I'm not lauding them for getting rid of my eczema because there are a lot of other factors, including growing out of it, but I'm just saying that I used to have around 2 flare ups a month, and since I've had the fish I've had 2 flare ups in 3 years.

 

I have eczema too. I also keep garra rufa (aka doctor fish or spa fish) that scrape off dead skin cells from your skin. The fish supposedly help eczema inflicted people. I have had the fish for three years and have only had two flare ups within that time that went away quickly. I did not specifically use the fish to clean up my flare ups (because I had scratched at it so bad it bled), but I did stick my hands in the tank bi-weekly to clean the tanks. My garras have been with me long enough they are not afraid of my hands in tank. I have been careful not to grab them or make sudden movements throughout the years. Therefore, when I do clean the tank they all rush over like they haven't seen food in years and "chew" on my arms (they're sucker fish. They don't have teeth so it tickles). Anyway, I'm not lauding them for getting rid of my eczema because there are a lot of other factors, including growing out of it, but I'm just saying that I used to have around 2 flare ups a month, and since I've had the fish I've had 2 flare ups in 3 years.

That is awsome.

 

I'm usually soaking wet after a water change. I wash my whole arms with soap before and after I stick my arms in the tank. I am usually covered in wounds cus I'm clumsy so I just hope I don't get sick, lol.

 

I'm usually soaking wet after a water change. I wash my whole arms with soap before and after I stick my arms in the tank. I am usually covered in wounds cus I'm clumsy so I just hope I don't get sick, lol.

I do the same, my arm always get wet when it's time to reach out the zucchini.

 

I have my hands in the tanks daily, but try to avoid putting fresh cuts in the tank which is bad since I know how dangerous some of the infections you can get from your tank.
Staphylococcus (Staph), Escherichia colI (E.Coli), Streptococcus, and Mycobacterium (Not human TB though) are some seriously bad infections you can get from your tank.

 

I've literally swam in a tank of mine. So I've had more then my hands in it.

 

I have to adjust my previous answer a bit. I usually try to avoid putting my hands in my tanks with fresh cuts, but I also have scratches and scrapes on my hands cause I'm clumsy and always doing a lot with my hands (hence some typos today and taking twice as long to type, stupid carpal tunnel) so I just hope for the best and don't worry about it, But a couple weeks ago I cut myself really bad and it was really deep. I didn't not let that hand touch the fish tank water till it was mostly healed as that would have just been asking for trouble.
Again other than that I don't even worry about it.

Just and FYI, water testing with carpal tunnel is extremely hard. lol

 

I'm in an unusual situation- I have eczema and an allergy doctor has advised not to have fish at all, but I've never experienced inflammation from touching the water in my tank (getting out of the shower, however, makes me have a bad rash), so I just stick my hands right in there to reroot plants. My parents make me wear gloves, but I take them off because it's really hard to move things around.

My dermatologist recently told me that hot water makes you itch more, since then I've been taking colder than normal showers and I haven't been itching near as much. Maybe that's why?

I was just put on some topical meds, and I've become extremely paranoid about getting them in my tanks. I wash my whole arms with soap and then rinse until I can't smell it anymore before doing anything tank related.

 

I've literally swam in a tank of mine. So I've had more then my hands in it.

Did you see a video? Jimmy was literally swimming in the 800 gallon just to aquascape it.