Gloves when dipping hands in tank?

[RaymondL]

I"m curious how many here all wear gloves when working in the tank for whatever reason. For example, commercial gloves for aquariums such as coralife aqua gloves - they are expensive no doubt!

 

[Tamberav]

I just use cheap throw away gloves like the hospital has SOMETIMES to protect me depending on what I am doing or if I am trying to frag a soft coral or LPS and don’t want them making my hand stink (that smell is hard to wash off)

Otherwise I just put my hand in. Just have clean hands.

 

[AtlantiCat]

I use disposable latex-type gloves when I need to work with live rock and coral polyps, and a set of cheap basic rubber kitchen gloves if I need to poke my hand in.

The latter are more for me than the tank--saltwater makes me itchy.

 

[kados]

I have two separate use cases:

My FOWLR I don't need or use gloves with any maintenance tasks. No worms or critters in there at all. Tank is 100% Caribsea Life Rock. My favorite tank I've owned.

My old Reef I would break out with rashes when handling maintenance tasks or touching the rocks. This happened in any Reef tank I had regardless of the rock type (dry or Fiji, Pukani etc..) over the years. Anytime there were critters in there it would be an issue for me. So now both my tanks are FOWLR and never had coral or any critters, worms and I no longer use gloves. Hope that helps. If not allergic to something you should be fine.

 

[flashsmith]

No allergies and man hands here. My wrasse crew keeps the stinging pests away. And I only have a few zoas and wouldn't think of adding palys. I have quite a few Euphalia and big pectinia colonies and I've never been stung that I've noticed. I do have a rather large fiji foxface but he hides in the rockwork when I'm doing maintenance.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I always wear gloves, I don't like touching wet, slimy, sticky, prickly things.

 

[FMF0331]

I wish I have hands.
All joking aside, I don't wear gloves when doing maintenance. I only wear latex glove when I'm fragging zoanthids

 

[kados]

Funny enough, my Fowlr is filled with multiples of each type of fish in some cases with big teeth or spines (puffers, triggers, Harlequin Tusk, Foxface) and no gloves. I've been bit so many times while cleaning. They literally attack the sand vac tube or brushes. It was the reef tanks that I needed gloves for those small pests.

 

[FMF0331]

It was the reef tanks that I needed gloves for those small pests.

My clowns would always come after me, never would've thought Nemo's are bully.

 

[RaymondL]

My clowns would always come after me, never would've thought Nemo's are bully.

Same here - these clowns are krazy - more like piranhas they are.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

I don’t wear gloves 99 % of the time. But I do keep calfing glove that are shoulder length and really thin. You can buy at tractor supply. I have them for times I’m working on greasy engines or have cuts. Not sure what they call them , but will be by the medication isle in livestock.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I do not use gloves very often, but I have a thick pair of blue plumber gloves which reach above my elbows. I use it when I scrap the back glass to avoid getting scratched by the rocks, which can be sharp.

 

[JZ199]

I wear disposable nitrile gloves when I'm messing around with my corals or rocks, for simple stuff I usually just use my bare hands. I had shoulder length reef gloves but they're so big and bulky they would displace so much water and make it pour over the sides of my tank

 

[His Coral Highness]

I never use gloves but if I did I'd wouldn't use the medical ones, I'd get the thicker black ones they sell at automotive stores. Same material just thicker and less prone to ripping

 

[afrokobe]

I use gloves almost every time my hands go into the tank. Or tongs if I dont want to get wet. just dont want to risk any cross contamination. I usually only put on one since I found myself using too many...

 

[EricR]

I never use gloves and have my hands in the tank pretty frequently.
It's probably better to use gloves but I just don't like them so oh well.

 

[vlangel]

I used to maintenance tanks for a lfs and have been in the hobby 20+ years and have never worn gloves. I guess I have tough hands!

 

[JTP424]

I use a box of nitrile with some rubber bands on the cuffs for delicate stuff. Moving rock/other items I use shoulder thick guys since I'm dealing with back chambers, don't like the unknown coming after my fingers ha!

 

[Gedxin]

I wear gloves 99% of the time, yellow ones that go up to my shoulder. Salt water is kinda terrible for your skin, plus who knows what kinds of oils and chemicals you're putting in there (lotion especially.) Also, bristle worms, no thank you!

 

[M4sonic]

i use nitrile gloves if im just putting my hand or fingers in the tank and shoulder length showa 772 gloves for going deep.

i have quite sensitive skin and usually have a collection of cuts on my hands so yeah.