hand washing

WOW!!! sounds like a few paranoid peeps in here, I just give me hand a quick wipe on my pants or shirt and good to go!!!
no ill effects as to date.

 

Joy here.

 

I have been known to do this as well. I always wash my hands if I am going to move corals around though.

 

i thought the same thing till is got a few spots on the back of my hand and had to get the bacterial nodes cut out.

 

professional labs, public aquariums, etc that are dealing with aquatic animals have certain protocols set up. Some depending on what is going on in the lab require gloves and/or then soaps, bleach, providine iodine scrubs, etc.

The best thing to do for home hobbyists is to remove the dirt that is on your hands...if its grease then use a degreaser. get your hands clean of anything oil-like, grease, lotions, perfumes, etc. if your hands are already clean, then a hand soap wash with multiple rinses is best. If youi had to use a degreaser to get rid of the grease (mechanic) then use the hand soap to get rid of degreasing residue. Again, once your hands are clean from the "dirt" then rinsing is the key. warm to hot works best but NO need for scalding water and pain . The key is rinsing multiple times so you dont transfer the soap residue into the tank

You should be cautious of whats on your hands but dont be a finatic about it. A soap wash with multiple rinses is best. if you happen to have your hands in a bleach solution, then rinse very well with warm/hot water. as you may know bleach is caustic to us humans so if youve ever had your hands in straight bleach from the container then you probably know that your hands feel/get very slimy, well thats the bleach slowly dissolving your skin! Trouble with bleach is that it sinks into your skin. so if after rinsing, and your hands are still slimy and smell like chlorine, then you should rinse more and rub your hands until the slimy and the smell go away.

Provodine iodine srub is a fantastic dissinfectant. We have used it for years to dissinfect tanks, buckets, nets, floors, etc. its great to keep the transfer of disease down from cross contamination issues. Becareful it does stain. With this solution, again rinsing is key.

There is an old saying in the waste /enviromental field and that is the solution to pollution is dilution. Unfortunately, this is one reason why the environment is in troulbe. The solution for pollution is prevention...but you get the point...you want to dilute the soap, bleach or iodine concentration that are on your hands and that is done by rinsing very well.

 

That said... i in my own tank...break my own rules , unless i know i have something on my hands or know ive been working with some nasties...i rarely wash my hands before going into my own tank been doing it for years and no ill affects but kinda like buyer be ware! if something goes wrong and i contaminate, then its only me i can blame so ultimately its your call... but if you are washing i always rinse at least 3 x 's with warm tap.

 

Best thing to do is to use gloves. In some situations gloves will be hard to manage like when handling corals, in which case you can use your hands to place corals.

But for everyday maintenance i use the orange and blue gloves. Dont have to worry about contamination. I just clean my hands with soap and scrub the gloves with baking soda. Wish the gloves were tighter fit. Wonder if i can get gloves like diver suits that are skin tight and thick.

 

This is what I use... 100 per box for $12.25
Gloves, Arm-Length Disposable

Just throw them away when I am done.

 

Aquatic Eco-Systems: Gloves, Arm-Length Disposable

Throw em away when you're done and they aren't so thick that you can't pick anything up like a lot of multi-use gloves.

Edit: Way to jump in before me Scott!!

 

You slow poke..