Gloves vs. bare hands for maintenance

[slingfox]

I've heard of these being unreliable and leaking after a few uses, and I'd be willing to bet these don't come sized for someone whose arms are the size of a 9 year old's LOL. They look pretty thick so I'd be especially worried about dexterity --- for my case I think calving gloves may suffice as recommended above. My concern is that it's hard for me to use gloves and not feel like a clumsy fumbling idiot in the tank lol

I have similar gloves and no issues with water getting in. It is quicker to wipe these down quickly with a towel then it is to wash my hands during instances when I go bare hands which I do when glueing frags. Most tasks in the tank don’t require max dexterity. No doubt using gloves is better for the tank.

 

[slingfox]

Lol there was definitely a time when it soured my interest in my tanks. Our tanks are microbial soups, it makes for a flourishing ecosystem but some level of risk with that is innate. You can get some extremely nasty infections from an aquarium. But you can get the same ones from preparing seafood, swimming, fishing etc. Millions of people in the US alone do these things every day yet serious infections remain very rare, despite the vast majority of those people being completely unaware and taking no precautions. Just don't go digging in the sand with open cuts, wash your hands well, keep water away from mucous membranes and if all else fails, know when to seek medical help

You seem to just be making excuses for every point posted. No point soliciting feedback if you have zero desire to change or improve how you do things.

 

[steveschuerger]

I’m a risk taker . No gloves. Never had an issue yet aside from wrinkly fingers a few times. But I also wash my hands afterwards with antibacterial soap afterwards.

 

[Dave-T]

I've tried this but it gets very painful from circulation loss really fast. Trying to get them off, especially with any sort of speed, was a complete nightmare and ended with water and debris sprayed all over me and my stuff lol

This doesn’t make sense to me. What kind of rubber band did you use? You just need thin weak ones. It doesn’t need to be super tight to keep the water out. I don’t know why you’ll need to take them off “with speed”, but you easily could with the rubber bands I’m talking about.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

For general maintenance I’ve never used gloves.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I’ve used gloves maybe once, but mostly bare hand it

 

[blecki]

the smallest I've found have still been loose enough that I could remove them just by shaking my hand fast enough lol

At the other end of the spectrum most don't bother making a glove bigger than XL and XL is too small. Those long rubber ones? There's no chance that any big box store carriers a pair that my hands fit in. The only style of glove I've ever found that ran my size are welding gloves and they obviously aren't going to work in the tank.

 

[ScottJ]

I had a clown, the daughter of Satan, who would bite me when I put a hand in the tank. Made me jump every time. Got a pair of heavy, long rubber gloves and that stopped me jumping. She's gone now and I haven't used them since.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

I don’t wear gloves, but I should. I got a bad bacterial blood infection from a cut on a rock covered in vermited snails in my neighbors old tank. The infection went into my lymph node system. I was in the hospital in the cardiac unit on iv antibiotics for three days. Reef tanks do have real health risks if you are careless.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

General maintenance/feeding/move a quick rock/glue a coral - bare hands
Handle zoas/fragging - gloves

 

[Pistondog]

gloves protect from contamination both ways.
Introducing bacteria/chemicals/lotions to the tank from your hands is not good practice.

 

[danimal1211]

I don’t use gloves either, but I do my best to limit how often I stick my hand in. I also don’t use soap prior to putting my hand in. I just rinse my hands and wrists very thoroughly. Then wash them after.

 

[soreefed]

I raw dawg my rocks and corals, I used gloves for awhile but they still fill up with water so it's not like I'm protected from a bacterial infection if my hands have cuts. Protects me from bristle worms sure but they are easy to treat if you touch one. I get a better feel for what I'm handling without gloves on, I've smashed polyps before because I couldn't feel through the glove. To each their own tho

I use nitrile gloves and a rubber band around my wrist to prevent water filling them up. For quick adjustments or whatever I don’t use gloves but if I’m handling coral or rock I’m definitely using gloves.

 

[Northern Flicker]

I have ezcema so I try to wear gloves. Sometimes I forget, but it's always worth it when I do wear them. If not, my fingers will generally get tight and crack, even with moisturizer.

It's extra important for me now that it's sunscreen season.

 

[Jmp998]

There is no absolute here or need for there to be. I don’t usually wear gloves when doing maintenance on my reef, but I am very careful that I don’t have any lotion, oil, etc on my hands to protect the inhabitants. However when I do maintenance on my aiptasia tanks, I wear the shoulder length breeder gloves because the aiptasia float everywhere, stick to my forearms etc, and cause an itchy rash. Just do what works for you, I suspect most reefers most of the time are not wearing gloves, and it is certainly uncommon in my experience to see a worker at an LFS putting on gloves before they pull a coral out.

 

[shutterspeed1000]

I wear gloves when handling and moving rocks/corals. It keeps my clowns from biting me and keeps whatever is on my hands out of the tank. I see too many things I don't want to touch when I check out my tank at night.

 

[fish farmer]

Lol there was definitely a time when it soured my interest in my tanks. Our tanks are microbial soups, it makes for a flourishing ecosystem but some level of risk with that is innate. You can get some extremely nasty infections from an aquarium. But you can get the same ones from preparing seafood, swimming, fishing etc. Millions of people in the US alone do these things every day yet serious infections remain very rare, despite the vast majority of those people being completely unaware and taking no precautions. Just don't go digging in the sand with open cuts, wash your hands well, keep water away from mucous membranes and if all else fails, know when to seek medical help

But there are people who do wear gloves while industrial fishing....although it is likely more to avoid cuts than microbes. If there are cyanobacteria blooms where I live they close the beaches.

I generally don't wear gloves when at work (trout culture), unless it is neoprene for comfort or for handling chemicals. Our fish health pathologists do wear surgical gloves when doing necropsies.

We tried those bulky, arm length gloves for trout spawning. They were ok for sorting, but for expressing eggs they were too thick. One sprung a leak in the first season of use so we tossed them. I literally get splashed in the face while moving fish around.

As for my reef tank, rarely wear gloves, but have started to wear gloves/eye protection when handling palys. I was moving a big rock of mushrooms out of my tank and one shot water up at me. I have had my hammers sting an area of my hand that was thin skinned.

I'm more concerned when I cut sumac in my yard, since I'm sensitive to that, but generally never get ill from day to day activities which revolve around the outdoors.

 

[codenfx]

I always use these Atlas Gloves. They're under $20 on Amazon, and go half way between my elbow and shoulder. They do a great job of keeping bristle worm spines and sharp rock bits out of my hands, but also my hand soap out of the tank. They're pretty convenient.

I use this in tank and have no issues with it. Just need to carefully take it off and not let water go inside otherwise it'll smell for a while and you'll need air dry. Outside of the tank I use the regular gloves

 

[Formulator]

300 lb 6’3” ex-football player and I’m a big sissy when it comes to creepy crawly things . If I’m moving rocks or touching corals, gloves are on! If I’m just dipping my hand in to reach the bottom of the glass with my algae scraper or adjust a powerhead, I will go bare handed.

 

[Jmp998]

300 lb 6’3” ex-football player and I’m a big sissy when it comes to creepy crawly things . If I’m moving rocks or touching corals, gloves are on! If I’m just dipping my hand in to reach the bottom of the glass with my algae scraper or adjust a powerhead, I will go bare handed.

Honestly that is probably smart, there have been a couple of times I've gotten bristle worm spines in my finger tips and wished I had been wearing gloves.