ok, so you wear gloves when you work in your tank, esp moving rock.
- Thread starter Sk8r
- Start date
WE maintain that sticky up top: palys are no joke.
There is also a serious difference between an allergy and a sensitivity: you may have no allergies like ragweed, etc, but you can become sensitized to something like coral spit. ANd there's one giant step worse.........
Palys are a whole OTHER class of problem: they have a TOXIN, or poison, not just an allergen or irritant. Your body may or may not react to an allergen, but a toxin --- there's no choice about it: poisons are poisons and there is no immunity or free pass.
There is also a serious difference between an allergy and a sensitivity: you may have no allergies like ragweed, etc, but you can become sensitized to something like coral spit. ANd there's one giant step worse.........
Palys are a whole OTHER class of problem: they have a TOXIN, or poison, not just an allergen or irritant. Your body may or may not react to an allergen, but a toxin --- there's no choice about it: poisons are poisons and there is no immunity or free pass.
wow, I'm so glad I came across this thread. I was going through crazy heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and chest pains about a week ago. I was considering calling an ambulance because I thought I was having a heart attack or something. It just clicked that I had a cut on my finger when I was putting in my new Zoa frags. I had no idea they were toxic.
rt67ghy
Member
My LFS got a shipment of soft corals including palys. They didn't wear gloves and, by the time they had finished working with the corals, they all had breathing difficulties for some time. So yes, wear gloves if you have a lot of palys/ zoas in your tank even if you don't have a cut in your hand.
Green Chromis
New member
:fish1: Hi Sk8r, same thing happened to me on Saturday. I was changing out half my sand in the display tank, 3 5 gallon buckets worth collected the previous day from the outer reefs in my area. I needed to take out the sand and rock on that side of the tank and did a stupid thing in not putting on my gloves, the 2nd to last rock I picked up had a nice Bristle under it, it was not bad a first, but it was unbelievable the amount of bristles you can collect on two fingers. Did the same as you, by soaking in vinegar, but also peroxide. Sunday night the fingers were slightly swollen and that night started itching like crazy, still swollen a little today, and still itching a little to. Lesson learned the hard way, will never work again with rocks without gloves. Good luck with your recovery. :fish1:
OllieNZ
New member
Known as sensitization
http://www.nap.edu/read/1988/chapter/6
I'm more familiar with it occuring as a result of repeated exposure to certian chemicals.
One of the joys of working in aviation......
Grimreaperz
New member
So I ended up buying reusable latex rubber cleaning gloves as I did not want to be throwing away gloves after every use. I bought 4 pairs. 1 for my DT, 1 for my QT, and 2 for my TTM tanks. (1 for working with clean water and 1 for working with dirty water)
Are these rubber gloves okay?
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Grimreaperz
New member
I live in Canada so that like $60 canadian Inc ship & handle [emoji14] not truly but still. I paid 1.99 cad for each pair so about $10 after tax. And I just bleach rinse dry and reuse!
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That's what I use. Our fingers (under microscope) are incredibly rough, even the hands of, say, a safecracker or a woman who does silk embroidery: rough, snaggy, and prone to catch things. They actually damage corals, and make worms unhappy---they really don't like to release the spines, which they then have to regrow. Nitrile gloves turn our fingers smooth and snag-free.
kmbyrnes
New member
My ungloved hand habit caught up with me yesterday. Cleaning my wife's nano and got tagged by a LARGE bristle worm. Vinegar worked wonders to remove the bristleworm spines and so far, no residual effects.
When I Googled what to do, nothing from RC popped up. Must mean everyone else here knew the secret.
When I Googled what to do, nothing from RC popped up. Must mean everyone else here knew the secret.
lagatbezan
Active member
Being in this hobby for over 13 years I never wore gloves until 3 years ago when I must have touched a bristleworm while doing maintenance in my sump, initially it felt like a little sting, not a big deal but within a few hours the pain amplified and boy did it hurt! finger was swollen for almost a week! now I always wear latex gloves when working in the sump, cleaning filter socks, water change or moving rocks. never wanna go through that pain again! Had no idea that they can have such an effect if you touch them!
I think a sticky on how important it is to wear gloves when working in a tank would be a good idea (unless there is one and I missed it) for all the new members or those who fortunately have not yet experienced the pain...yet.
SK8R I hope you are much better by now.
I think a sticky on how important it is to wear gloves when working in a tank would be a good idea (unless there is one and I missed it) for all the new members or those who fortunately have not yet experienced the pain...yet.
SK8R I hope you are much better by now.
