Infections from tank

MrDJeep123 · Jun 26, 2015

Have you had an infection occur from having your hands with open wounds in your tank? If so, how bad was it?

chrisd · Jun 26, 2015

Never had an infection but had a nasty itchy rash on my arm from a torch coral. First time I was ever stung.

Tahoe61 · Jun 26, 2015

There are two pathogens you can acquire when working in an aquarium, Vibrio is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, this is a medical emergency. And
Mycobacterium marinum.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/sp/feature/

cloak · Jun 26, 2015

I've got a little bit of "reef rash" on my right arm. It itches every now and then, but what do you expect when your putting your arms in a tide pool almost every day. I had the same thing happen with my old 60 gallon tank as well. Once it cracked though and I wasn't putting my arms in the tank on a regular basis, it went away.

twilliard · Jun 26, 2015

Tahoe61 said:
There are two pathogens you can acquire when working in an aquarium, Vibrio is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, this is a medical emergency. And
Mycobacterium marinum.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/sp/feature/

That is a great read up! Oh what the modern microscope will show you

Gopi · Jun 26, 2015

I had a swollen thumb and a small abscess under the nail after doing some maintance. I blamed my palys for the inflammation and didn't realize I had pus undet the nail until the next week.

4FordFamily · Jun 26, 2015

Aquaphor and okeefes working hands keeps all the rashes away.

I guess I'm lucky I've had my arm in my tanks (2-5 at a time) every day for about 12 years without anything except dry skin

cloak · Jun 26, 2015

3FordFamily said:
Aquaphor and okeefes working hands keeps all the rashes away.

I agree, but then again I find myself washing it off more than I do putting it on. Not to mention all the fingerprints I might leave behind. It's definitely a sticky wicket. No doubt about it.

Akida17th · Jun 26, 2015

I actually have a small scar going through one of my tattoos on my forearm from a torch that used to rock me in my 55. I'd wake up at night itching the rash so bad that it would tear skin and of course the ink. Since the width of them 55 tanks are so tiny it was difficult for me to maneuver without touching it. Still have to get this tat touched up lol. Gosh I love my new 30x30 tank no more getting nailed!