ok, so you wear gloves when you work in your tank, esp moving rock. - Page 2

illinijoe · 08/09/2016, 06:21 AM

Yeah if I can a wound on my hands definitely wearing gloves and not playing with zoos

rt67ghy · 08/09/2016, 12:35 PM

My LFS got a shipment of soft corals including palys. They didn't wear gloves and, by the time they had finished working with the corals, they all had breathing difficulties for some time. So yes, wear gloves if you have a lot of palys/ zoas in your tank even if you don't have a cut in your hand.

Green Chromis · 08/09/2016, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Note to self; you also wear them while unclogging a sink drain clogged by stray cheato strands from your tank.

I have a very, very sore hand: bristleworms' revenge. Vinegar on the area immediately after exposure, maybe an antihistimine after that, but the more you get stung over the years, the worse the stings get. I have been at this many years. Ow. Ow. Ow. Drat!

Hi Sk8r, same thing happened to me on Saturday. I was changing out half my sand in the display tank, 3 5 gallon buckets worth collected the previous day from the outer reefs in my area. I needed to take out the sand and rock on that side of the tank and did a stupid thing in not putting on my gloves, the 2nd to last rock I picked up had a nice Bristle under it, it was not bad a first, but it was unbelievable the amount of bristles you can collect on two fingers. Did the same as you, by soaking in vinegar, but also peroxide. Sunday night the fingers were slightly swollen and that night started itching like crazy, still swollen a little today, and still itching a little to. Lesson learned the hard way, will never work again with rocks without gloves. Good luck with your recovery.

Sk8r · 08/09/2016, 01:00 PM

It's fine now, thank you. But let me tell you multiple decades of reefing may leave your hands real sensitive. Worst case I saw was, poor fellow, an lfs owner, who had to get into tanks multiple times a day. I don't know what happened, but it was affecting his business.

OllieNZ · 08/09/2016, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk8r

But after you've been at it a few decades, your fingers really get sore when you get hit.

Known as sensitization
http://www.nap.edu/read/1988/chapter/6
I'm more familiar with it occuring as a result of repeated exposure to certian chemicals.
One of the joys of working in aviation......

Grimreaperz · 08/09/2016, 04:06 PM

So I ended up buying reusable latex rubber cleaning gloves as I did not want to be throwing away gloves after every use. I bought 4 pairs. 1 for my DT, 1 for my QT, and 2 for my TTM tanks. (1 for working with clean water and 1 for working with dirty water)

Are these rubber gloves okay?

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Sk8r · 08/09/2016, 05:16 PM

They should be unless somewhere on the label it says 'antimicrobial.'

I use latex exam gloves from the drugstore. Also good for mixing egg into meatloaf. ook.

jayball · 08/09/2016, 10:40 PM

A box of 100 high quality purple nitril gloves is about 10 bucks on Amazon. At 20 cents a pair they are worth it. I use them for my tank, working on my car, paint and other chems... Lots of things. Worth keeping around.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Grimreaperz · 08/09/2016, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayball

A box of 100 high quality purple nitril gloves is about 10 bucks on Amazon. At 20 cents a pair they are worth it. I use them for my tank, working on my car, paint and other chems... Lots of things. Worth keeping around.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I live in Canada so that like $60 canadian Inc ship & handle

not truly but still. I paid 1.99 cad for each pair so about $10 after tax. And I just bleach rinse dry and reuse!

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

keiferd · 08/10/2016, 01:12 AM

@Sk8r, lets not get too crazy here, I think simple nitrile gloves should be fine for handling Zoa's or bristle-worm infested chaeto.

Sk8r · 08/10/2016, 07:46 AM

That's what I use. Our fingers (under microscope) are incredibly rough, even the hands of, say, a safecracker or a woman who does silk embroidery: rough, snaggy, and prone to catch things. They actually damage corals, and make worms unhappy---they really don't like to release the spines, which they then have to regrow. Nitrile gloves turn our fingers smooth and snag-free.

kmbyrnes · 08/20/2017, 07:04 AM

My ungloved hand habit caught up with me yesterday. Cleaning my wife's nano and got tagged by a LARGE bristle worm. Vinegar worked wonders to remove the bristleworm spines and so far, no residual effects.
When I Googled what to do, nothing from RC popped up. Must mean everyone else here knew the secret.

hkgar · 08/20/2017, 09:13 AM

At "in Reefcentral" to your google searches and you will get the relevant posts and threads.

lagatbezan · 08/20/2017, 09:46 AM

Being in this hobby for over 13 years I never wore gloves until 3 years ago when I must have touched a bristleworm while doing maintenance in my sump, initially it felt like a little sting, not a big deal but within a few hours the pain amplified and boy did it hurt! finger was swollen for almost a week! now I always wear latex gloves when working in the sump, cleaning filter socks, water change or moving rocks. never wanna go through that pain again! Had no idea that they can have such an effect if you touch them!
I think a sticky on how important it is to wear gloves when working in a tank would be a good idea (unless there is one and I missed it) for all the new members or those who fortunately have not yet experienced the pain...yet.
SK8R I hope you are much better by now.

hkgar · 08/20/2017, 10:24 AM

I use the long - shoulder length - breeders gloves but they tend to leak a lot. I don't think I would like working around with the heavy shoulder length gloves sold for this hobby.

kmbyrnes · 08/20/2017, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hkgar

At "in Reefcentral" to your google searches and you will get the relevant posts and threads.

Yup, but I had 3 fingers full of bristles and typing was a bit difficult.

But in the future I will certainly take the time to add RC when I want the CORRECT answer to reef questions!
Usually the RC posts on important reef issues are at the top. Hoping that this bump will raise the search priority.

Stevenlatham01 · 08/20/2017, 05:16 PM

In the process of setting up my tank and was hoping to get corols in the future. Reading through these posts is getting me nervous about keeping any corals. Are there any beginner corals that are not so poisonous? I'm only having Mars Aqua 300w x 2 lighting. I will use gloves every time I do anything in the tank but would also ideally only like to keep non harmful corals if there are any.

PsychoticBeauty · 08/20/2017, 06:45 PM

I don't wear any gloves... I'm having a hard time with smoking, the amount of alcohol I consume, the speed in which I drive, (if the car is working ok) etc etc... A bristle worm is the least of my problems... LIFE... (just be gentle)

kmbyrnes · 08/21/2017, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevenlatham01

In the process of setting up my tank and was hoping to get corols in the future. Reading through these posts is getting me nervous about keeping any corals. Are there any beginner corals that are not so poisonous? I'm only having Mars Aqua 300w x 2 lighting. I will use gloves every time I do anything in the tank but would also ideally only like to keep non harmful corals if there are any.

Don't let this type of discussion scare you. Like any any other hobby, there are risks. You do the best you can to minimize them. And when you get too comfortable, you are 'reminded' why we do things a certain way.
If you are reasonably careful, this is a rewarding hobby that can provide hours of enjoyment, amazement to your friends and holes in your wallet.

hkgar · 08/21/2017, 09:28 AM

Everything that lives has some kind of defense mechanism. So everything in the tank would like to harm you in some way. Probably the most harmful zoa (paly) corals. Check the posts on those.

Stevenlatham01 · 08/22/2017, 05:52 AM

What about the water? Don't the corals release poison/toxins into the water? Would this cause any problems?

cincyjim · 08/22/2017, 06:03 AM

I think common sense is the rule here. I don't wear gloves when I pick up a small rock or coral but I do wear the heavier gloves (the ones that go up to your shoulder) when moving the larger rocks. You just never know what is living in them or what is underneath the rock when you pick it up.

hkgar · 08/22/2017, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevenlatham01

What about the water? Don't the corals release poison/toxins into the water? Would this cause any problems?

Lots of good info in the stickies, check them out.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2515630

Stevenlatham01 · 08/23/2017, 04:13 AM

Thanks for the link. So I'm going to stay away from Palythoa heliodiscus/cf toxica for sure but what about other coral? Is there any corals that don't release anything bad into the water? My 8 year old daughter is hoping to help me setup / maintain the the tank and don't want her in any way being at risk. In reality she won't be doing much more than feeding the fish. I will get her a pack of disposable gloves just in case but would rather try to avoid having anything poisoness in the first place if possible.

Stevenlatham01 · 08/23/2017, 03:46 PM

Anyone have any coral suggestions from my post above? Been looking at brain and mushrooms as a possibility?

08/09/2016, 12:35 PM	#27
rt67ghy Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh Posts: 984	My LFS got a shipment of soft corals including palys. They didn't wear gloves and, by the time they had finished working with the corals, they all had breathing difficulties for some time. So yes, wear gloves if you have a lot of palys/ zoas in your tank even if you don't have a cut in your hand. __________________ 180g mixed reef. 53g sump including 20g fuge. 320lbs LR, 140lbs LS. 1/2 hp chiller. Temp 75-79. Current Tank Info: Fish: 1 yellow tang, 1 mandarin, 1 pair of tomato clowns, 1 maroon clown, 1 skunk clown, 1 banggai cardinal. Anemones: 1 green haddoni carpet, 2 heteractis auroras, 1 LTA.

08/09/2016, 01:00 PM	#29
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	It's fine now, thank you. But let me tell you multiple decades of reefing may leave your hands real sensitive. Worst case I saw was, poor fellow, an lfs owner, who had to get into tanks multiple times a day. I don't know what happened, but it was affecting his business. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

08/09/2016, 05:16 PM	#32
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	They should be unless somewhere on the label it says 'antimicrobial.' I use latex exam gloves from the drugstore. Also good for mixing egg into meatloaf. ook. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

08/10/2016, 07:46 AM	#36
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	That's what I use. Our fingers (under microscope) are incredibly rough, even the hands of, say, a safecracker or a woman who does silk embroidery: rough, snaggy, and prone to catch things. They actually damage corals, and make worms unhappy---they really don't like to release the spines, which they then have to regrow. Nitrile gloves turn our fingers smooth and snag-free. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

08/20/2017, 07:04 AM	#37
kmbyrnes Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Mesa AZ Posts: 2,055	My ungloved hand habit caught up with me yesterday. Cleaning my wife's nano and got tagged by a LARGE bristle worm. Vinegar worked wonders to remove the bristleworm spines and so far, no residual effects. When I Googled what to do, nothing from RC popped up. Must mean everyone else here knew the secret. __________________ 125g Mixed Reef 5/26/2015; 350 Butterfly Dominated FOWLR 11/26/2015 - 11/17/20217 & 07/31/18 to ??? ; 100g Mixed Reef 11/16/2013 to 06/16/2017 Current Tank Info: Too small

08/09/2016, 06:21 AM	#26
illinijoe Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2016 Posts: 44	Yeah if I can a wound on my hands definitely wearing gloves and not playing with zoos

08/09/2016, 04:06 PM	#31
Grimreaperz Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Location: British Columbia Posts: 518	So I ended up buying reusable latex rubber cleaning gloves as I did not want to be throwing away gloves after every use. I bought 4 pairs. 1 for my DT, 1 for my QT, and 2 for my TTM tanks. (1 for working with clean water and 1 for working with dirty water) Are these rubber gloves okay? Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

08/09/2016, 10:40 PM	#33
jayball Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,671	A box of 100 high quality purple nitril gloves is about 10 bucks on Amazon. At 20 cents a pair they are worth it. I use them for my tank, working on my car, paint and other chems... Lots of things. Worth keeping around. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

08/10/2016, 01:12 AM	#35
keiferd Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 174	@Sk8r, lets not get too crazy here, I think simple nitrile gloves should be fine for handling Zoa's or bristle-worm infested chaeto.

08/20/2017, 09:13 AM	#38
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	At "in Reefcentral" to your google searches and you will get the relevant posts and threads. __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

08/20/2017, 09:46 AM	#39
lagatbezan Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 1,109	Being in this hobby for over 13 years I never wore gloves until 3 years ago when I must have touched a bristleworm while doing maintenance in my sump, initially it felt like a little sting, not a big deal but within a few hours the pain amplified and boy did it hurt! finger was swollen for almost a week! now I always wear latex gloves when working in the sump, cleaning filter socks, water change or moving rocks. never wanna go through that pain again! Had no idea that they can have such an effect if you touch them! I think a sticky on how important it is to wear gloves when working in a tank would be a good idea (unless there is one and I missed it) for all the new members or those who fortunately have not yet experienced the pain...yet. SK8R I hope you are much better by now. __________________ Ryan. 300g with velocity t4 for return and a Reflo dart on a closed loop, T5 lights & SRO3000 skimmer. Current Tank Info: 300g

08/20/2017, 10:24 AM	#40
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	I use the long - shoulder length - breeders gloves but they tend to leak a lot. I don't think I would like working around with the heavy shoulder length gloves sold for this hobby. __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

08/20/2017, 05:16 PM	#42
Stevenlatham01 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 56	In the process of setting up my tank and was hoping to get corols in the future. Reading through these posts is getting me nervous about keeping any corals. Are there any beginner corals that are not so poisonous? I'm only having Mars Aqua 300w x 2 lighting. I will use gloves every time I do anything in the tank but would also ideally only like to keep non harmful corals if there are any.

08/20/2017, 06:45 PM	#43
PsychoticBeauty Registered Member. Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Gotham City Posts: 123	I don't wear any gloves... I'm having a hard time with smoking, the amount of alcohol I consume, the speed in which I drive, (if the car is working ok) etc etc... A bristle worm is the least of my problems... LIFE... (just be gentle)

08/21/2017, 09:28 AM	#45
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	Everything that lives has some kind of defense mechanism. So everything in the tank would like to harm you in some way. Probably the most harmful zoa (paly) corals. Check the posts on those. __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

08/22/2017, 05:52 AM	#46
Stevenlatham01 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 56	What about the water? Don't the corals release poison/toxins into the water? Would this cause any problems?

08/22/2017, 06:03 AM	#47
cincyjim Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 1,147	I think common sense is the rule here. I don't wear gloves when I pick up a small rock or coral but I do wear the heavier gloves (the ones that go up to your shoulder) when moving the larger rocks. You just never know what is living in them or what is underneath the rock when you pick it up. __________________ Jim Current Tank Info: SCA 150G, 5 inch sand bed, 2 Tunze 6095s, ReefBreeders v2+ 50" with 2 all Blue Reefbrites, and Continuous Water Change System

08/23/2017, 04:13 AM	#49
Stevenlatham01 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 56	Thanks for the link. So I'm going to stay away from Palythoa heliodiscus/cf toxica for sure but what about other coral? Is there any corals that don't release anything bad into the water? My 8 year old daughter is hoping to help me setup / maintain the the tank and don't want her in any way being at risk. In reality she won't be doing much more than feeding the fish. I will get her a pack of disposable gloves just in case but would rather try to avoid having anything poisoness in the first place if possible.

08/23/2017, 03:46 PM	#50
Stevenlatham01 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 56	Anyone have any coral suggestions from my post above? Been looking at brain and mushrooms as a possibility?