Anyone else allergic to their tank?

Ryan@ShelteredReef · Oct 7, 2017

Recently any time that I do major work in my tank for extended periods of time, my fingers and/or hands swell like crazy. I'm not coming in contact with any coral in particular. This has been happening for the past year or so in comparison to the 9 years or so prior where I had no issues.
It figures that I'd be allergic to one of my favorite things. (I have no other allergies btw, not even poison ivy)

Tahoe61 · Oct 7, 2017

I use to have a similar reaction when I worked in my 28 gallon that had a significant palythoa population. Since I no longer keep palys I have never had the problem again.

DancingShark · Oct 7, 2017

Wow, time to wear some gloves buddy.
Maybe a chronic reaction.
Also as you get older you become more susceptible to things like this. I just to never get the flu but over time I see my self greeting it.

joekool · Oct 7, 2017

There is a lot of bacteria in a tank and if your handling rocks etc you are probably scraping the surface of your skin causing irritation. I would just get some nice arm length tank gloves to wear and not worry about it again. The best are the ones with the strap that goes across your back to keep them pulled up. That way your whole arm is protected. You also wouldn't have to worry about adding pollutants to your tank either. I would wash the with distilled white vinegar before use to clean any manufacturing oils or stuff off them then just hang them up to dry after each use where they wont get anything on them.

Ryan@ShelteredReef · Oct 7, 2017

Tahoe61 said:
I use to have a similar reaction when I worked in my 28 gallon that had a significant palythoa population. Since I no longer keep palys I have never had the problem again.

Interesting. This recent bout followed fragging some of my larger acro colonies. It must be something unique to my personal tank though because I've yet to have a reaction at the shop.

Ryan@ShelteredReef · Oct 7, 2017

DancingShark said:
Wow, time to wear some gloves buddy.
Maybe a chronic reaction.
Also as you get older you become more susceptible to things like this. I just to never get the flu but over time I see my self greeting it.

It's funny you mention gloves. I did wear gloves every time I had my hands in the tank after the first time I had the swelling. After neglecting my tank for several months and having my hands in the Frag trays at the shop for hours at a time with no issues, I figured it might have subsided. After last night however I can see it hasn't haha. No pain or itching really, just the swelling.

Fishfinder · Oct 7, 2017

This happens to me quite often when fishing in the ocean. I attribute it to my hands being wet for long periods of time

azbigjohn · Oct 7, 2017

If you are wearing gloves, it is probably a latex or nitrile reaction.

Katrina71 · Oct 7, 2017

How long does your reaction last?

Ryan@ShelteredReef · Oct 7, 2017

azbigjohn said:
If you are wearing gloves, it is probably a latex or nitrile reaction.

I wasn't wearing gloves at the time

Ryan@ShelteredReef · Oct 7, 2017

Katrina71 said:
How long does your reaction last?

The swelling usually goes away after a few days

Ryan@ShelteredReef · Oct 7, 2017

Fishfinder said:
This happens to me quite often when fishing in the ocean. I attribute it to my hands being wet for long periods of time

That's almost what this seems like but it's only happened to me after working in my own tank. I've worked in a few LFS, worked on other people's tanks, and worked in the tanks at the shop without ever having any reaction. For the first time in months, I had my hands in my tank and boom, swollen.

GHsaltie · Oct 7, 2017

I used to work around tanks, after the first year I started developing a rash and my hands would swell. It's not so bad now but I still have a pair of shoulder length gloves for my personal tank.

Katrina71 · Oct 7, 2017

Gloves for sure!

Reef Monkie · Oct 7, 2017

It could be something specific to your tank like a bacterium but this could also happen if the barrier on your skin is affected by dry air from air conditioning or detergents. Perhaps those other places where you come into contact with aquarium water are more humid or you wash your hands with less aggressive soaps making you less likely to be affected by what is in the water. I know mechanics have similar issues where prolonged contact with petroleum products can cause a allergy over time and this is (partly) caused by them cleaning their hands with aggressive detergents.

norfolkgarden · Oct 7, 2017

After a year of putting my hands in the tank with beautiful frogspawn corals I noticed that I was having a minor sensory reaction to the corals.
Nothing really visible just the fact that I felt something when I brushed against them that wasn't exactly Pleasant.
Not really painful necessarily just maybe mildly numb and weird.
The flame Angel took care of that problem for me...

Ryan@ShelteredReef · Oct 7, 2017

Reef Monkie said:
It could be something specific to your tank like a bacterium but this could also happen if the barrier on your skin is affected by dry air from air conditioning or detergents. Perhaps those other places where you come into contact with aquarium water are more humid or you wash your hands with less aggressive soaps making you less likely to be affected by what is in the water. I know mechanics have similar issues where prolonged contact with petroleum products can cause a allergy over time and this is (partly) caused by them cleaning their hands with aggressive detergents.

This could very well play a part in it. I'll have to pay attention to what exactly I do prior to putting my hands in the tank to try and narrow the cause down to something along those lines.

Ryan@ShelteredReef · Oct 7, 2017

norfolkgarden said:
After a year of putting my hands in the tank with beautiful frogspawn corals I noticed that I was having a minor sensory reaction to the corals.
Nothing really visible just the fact that I felt something when I brushed against them that wasn't exactly Pleasant.
Not really painful necessarily just maybe mildly numb and weird.
The flame Angel took care of that problem for me...

I have a few things that I know for certain will irritate my hands. Of those, grabbing chaeto from my fuge and touching my branching hammer are two of the biggest contenders. Not all euphyllia though, just my green tip hammer. And the reaction is different. More along the lines of what you'd expect with a reaction to nematocyst exposure(itchiness, redness)