Aquarium Safety

[Rocklin Mike]

I know there are tons of videos on the topic and that is actually the reason for my post. Coming from freshwater, i didn't have to worry too much about safety except for electricity and maybe the occasional cichlid nibbling your hand. With reefs i understand there are toxic creatures, with fish there are some that bite or sting...so i'm wondering if there's a board or sticky ( i searched but didnt find anything dedicated) that talks about safety in handling tank inhabitants and any other safety tips that may benefit the newbie in salt. Personal stories are always great lessons to others. Thank you.

 

[sbash]

To start, look up palytoxin... Make sure your spouse/roommate (assuming you have one) is aware of such things as well.

I am apparently very sensitive to all sorts of things in my tank. For example, my RBTAs get me some times if I do not 'tease' them to ball up first. I picked up a clumb of algae from an overflow once and there was a bristle work in there; it took over a week for the swelling to go down. I even have an SPS I cannot touch without my entire body breaking out in hives, lol....

So... I use thick nitrile gloves for rock handling. I have thin nitrile (maybe vinyl) powderless gloves for day to day stuff and fragging. Lastly, I use shoulder length poly gloves to reach to the bottom of my tank (it is 30" deep).

If you get into buttons or zoa type polyps, palytoxin is extremely dangerous. So wear gloves when handling, and safety glasses when fragging.

 

[Rocklin Mike]

I've seen people using regular gloves so water does get in them but I'm guessing the water is pretty harmless. Is it better to use shoulder length?

I've read about the polytoxin. I'll stay away from those types for now. I have small children in the house.

 

[sbash]

I've seen people using regular gloves so water does get in them but I'm guessing the water is pretty harmless. Is it better to use shoulder length?

It depends if you want to protect your entire arm or not. In order for me to touch the top of my sandbed I literally am up to my armpit; so to protect my arm from fish bites and anemone stings, I use the shoulder length.

I also recommend some grabbers and long tweezers.

I have two tweezers this size:

https://www.amazon.ca/Stainless-Ste...&qid=1500607627&sr=8-1&keywords=long+tweezers

One is exactly this one and the other is straight. I use the bent ended ones the most; in fact, I put some heatshrink tubing on the ends for extra grip.

For the grabber, I have the 34" version of this:

https://www.amazon.ca/Coralife-1001...qid=1500607716&sr=8-4&keywords=aquarium+tongs

These tools help prevent the constant need to put my arm in the tank. My frags are getting knocked over all the time, for example. It takes some practice to use them through the glass, but definitely well worth it!

 

[leahfiish]

Make sure power cords are up and off the ground and there is a drip loop. Make sure you have a gfci. Check to make sure salt creep isn't going bad places occasionally.

If you keep any venemous fish, be aware of where they are at all times when your hands are in the tank. Their stings can be very painful, and there is always the chance that you will have an allergic reaction. If you are severely allergic to bees or generally have a lot of severe allergies, I probably just wouldn't keep any venemous fish, it's really just not worth the risk.

Some people are also more sensitive to corals and contact with fish food and things like that, but generally gloves are fine for that.

Zoanthids and palys have palytoxin, always wear gloves when touching them, never boil a rock with them on it, wear eye and face protection when fragging.

If you have a fresh or open cut or wound, try to avoid putting that in the tank, our tanks are filled with all kinds of bacteria, and that's just asking for an infection.

 

[leahfiish]

Also, a lot of the chemicals and things that we use for the tank can be dangerous, like kalkwasser, bleach, all kinds of things. Make sure they are carefully stored in a safe spot and be careful when handing them.

 

[Rocklin Mike]

Great tips guys thank you. I appreciate the links for the tools too.

What is salt creep?

 

[5altkreep]

Great tips guys thank you. I appreciate the links for the tools too.

What is salt creep?

Me! O wait....its just salt residue that builds up over time.

Zoanthids and palys have palytoxin, always wear gloves when touching them, never boil a rock with them on it, wear eye and face protection when fragging.

Never boil ANY rock! You may hear the term " cooking rock" but that doesnt mean boiling it! It could make you pretty sick

 

[Rocklin Mike]

Bristle worms sound nasty

 

[Rocklin Mike]

Another add to safety that i just learned about...grounding probes. Lots of threads on this and here is one of them - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/using-ground-probes-in-aquariums.270479/