Hand Contact with Live Rock, Water, corals, etc

aseidman00 · 09-01-2004, 08:01 AM

I am in the process of curing my LR in a new tank. Initially I used gloves to dip the rock and do the aquascaping. Now that its in the tank, I find that on occasion I just stick m hand in and do what I need to do.

Is this an issue ? Do I need to wear gloves in order to touch anything in the tank (powerheads, hoses, etc) ?

Do I need to wear gloves to touch the rock ?

How about the coral that I eventually place in the tank ?

Thanks... Allen

Craig Manoukian · 09-01-2004, 08:37 AM

Anytime you can keep your body oil out of the tank it is a good thing. *In addition, they protect you from cuts, infections, and worse, life threatening exposure to chemicals.

Soft corals defend and expand their territory by using chemical warfare to kill other corals. *Some of these chemicals include palytoxins which can cause anaphylactic shock, which if you are allergic can literally kill you. *Zoanthus are just one of the palytoxic polyps.

As you can surmize, keep those gloves on, eh?

aseidman00 · 09-01-2004, 11:21 AM

Are you recommending gloves on the hand or gloves that over your entire arm as well ? I've seen them on Dr's Forester and Smith but was not sure if I really need them. I prefer hand gloves.. but if it makes sense I can go for the full length gloves. Please advise.

Craig Manoukian · 09-01-2004, 03:06 PM

Full body armor!

Yes the long ones. Body oil on your arms too, eh?

Matt Rogers · 09-01-2004, 08:04 PM

Gloves aren't necessary and I personally don't use them but I understand their benefits. I just go the common sense route and don't play with the tank after changing the oil in my car, that sort of thing.

Hey Craig, didn't I give you a link once to the Tunze gloves that were actually cheap?

JohnO · 09-01-2004, 08:39 PM

As my good friend Fowie Ng once wrote

" water is for fish, not for hands "

John :-)

seawillow · 09-02-2004, 12:37 AM

I'm terrible, I have my hands in my tank all the time

Somedays I wish I could crawl right in there and swim around with my buddies....yes, I'm a little obsessed with my tank...

Craig Manoukian · 09-02-2004, 05:38 AM

The tunze gloves that were cheap were just that. They wouldn't even last one episode in the tank. I've got the heavy orange gloves with the purple arm covers that have a really good elastic babd to keep them up just under my armpits. No mere cracked cuticles, body oil in the tank, or infected cuts!

Matt Rogers · 09-02-2004, 06:03 AM

Ugh. No wonder they were cheap Craig. That's too bad.
How about a pic with you in those purple/orange gloves?

aseidman00 · 09-02-2004, 07:06 AM

thanks for all the feedback guys. So it looks like the answer is:

- better to use gloves
- unlikly to wreck tank as long as I am careful.

For now I'll stay with the dish gloves I've been using so as to keep my hands off the actual rock or coral. Eventually I'll buy the gloves Craig is talking about at foresters & smith.

Thanks Again,
Allen