what about sterilization for humans?

[tankdvr]

I don't know about the whole hand washing thing. Obviously it's a good idea to wash your hands after going to the restroom, before you eat, after changing your oil, mowing the yard, working in the garden....the list goes on. I've been diving for a few years and I always grab snacks on the boat between dives, or on the shore if I'm diving in a quarry and I can't think of one time I've gotten sick from it. It couldn't hurt to wash afterwards, but unless you've got something extremely funky growing in your reef, I just can't see how you would contract something from it.

I'd be more concerned about what I'm putting into my tank with dirty hands than what I might catch from my tank.

 

[tankdvr]

Here's an article on getting TB from fish. It's a different bacteria than the one that infects your lungs. And a majority of cases have involved people with compromised immune systems. Oh, and if you're taking enough time to wash your hands after working in your tank, but starting your siphon by mouth when doing water changes, you're sort of defeating the purpose.


http://www.flippersandfins.net/FishTankGranuloma.htm

 

[JHemdal]

You can get atypical Mycobactia from aquarium water - usually M. marinum, but sometimes M. chelonae and probably others. For most people it just gives you granulomas on your fingers, etc. But it is possible for it to give false positives on a standard TB tine test (it happened to me). I forget the name of the second, more accurate test they use, but it can differentiate true TB from atypical Myco - they use a skin pop of something and then measure the diameter of the reaction site - something like 10 mm or larger and you have TB, not Myco from your fish.

Vibrio, Pseudomonas and Aeromonas bacteria from aquariums can all infect humans, but I've never run into any for-certain cases. The bacteria levels of aquarium water are many times higher than seen in natural bodies of water (except polluted areas). You might see 5000 to 20,000 colonies per ml in an aquarium, and a tenth to a hundreth of that in natural systems.

Pretty nasty about drinking that old siphon water. I once started a 2" siphon by mouth (yeah - pretty stupid, we called it Big Bertha) and didn't duck in time. I was more worried about aspirating all that water into my lungs....

Jay

 

[gpodio]

I too try not to use soap unless I'm done working in the tank. I often rinse under water and H2O2 when taking a break...

PS. I know someone who recently contracted fish TB from their FW tank... not very common but certainly scary!

 

[marmaladecat]

Not using soap before hand is a good idea. Most soaps contain fragrences and such that are designed to be left behind.

Simple scrubbing WITHOUT soap with a good brush will get 99% of the critters on your hands. Soap just helps the mechanical action.

One thing to watch for is fabric softeners! Nasty, nasty, nasty! I once had a shirt sleeve fall into a tank I had just finished changing the water on and I could see the soapy residue from the FS spreading out in an ominous ring.

 

[swreasercher]

iremember one of my friends starting a syphon with his mouth and he chugged like a litter of water. it didnt last long in his system. he puked it all up along with the supper i just bought him. lol

 

[PRINCE_NAMOR]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12437023#post12437023 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by forensicdoc
It is always a good practice to wash your hands. Most people do not know this, but hand washing is probably the best public health measure that has been enacted in the past couple of centuries.

Having said that, the entire world is covered by microorganisms, including in ocean water. Think about how we desire to populate our tanks with bacteria to process nitrogenous waste. Washing your hands with soap and water does not sterilize your hands unless you use special soaps and wash for at least 30 seconds. Even then your hands get re-populated with microorganisms very quickly.

While I am unaware of any studies looking at cross infection between human and ocean based micro-critters, I suspect that the risk of cross infection from casual contact is very low. That's because complex organisms have well developed defenses against infection and few microorganisms are actually pathogenic (disease causing).

So I recommend that you be careful and practice good hand washing techniques, but do not get paranoid about it.

Forensic Pathologist............................ "Enough said".

 

[Akaash]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12389475#post12389475 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jezzeaepi
Im always paranoid about there being soap left over on my hands when Im putting them into the tank so I always use really hot water w/o soap.

As am I. I rinse under really hot water and ALWAYS use gloves.

 

[stugray]

Sorry, this is slightly OT but....

When starting a siphon with your mouth ( if you are as dumb as most of us ;-):

Lift the hose UP in the air ABOVE the water level. Suck on the hose until you fill it up above the water level. Put your thumb over the end. Lower the hose into the bucket. release thumb......

NO chance of getting a mouthful.

OR submerge the hose in the tank completely, put thumb over end, pull out hose to reach bucket, remove thumb.

Stu

 

[gpodio]

...and if you happen to take a swig of tank water, a peroxide chaser should do the trick nicely! ;-)

OK OK just kidding! Don't try that at home kids!

 

[stugray]

LOL - "peroxide chaser"

However ( no joking ) I have gone straight for the "medicine cabinet" & helped myself to a heaping share of Quervo after squirting myself in the mouth with a palythoa while cleaning LR.

And lived to tell about it ;-)

Stu

 

[A.T.T.R]

yes i agree certin people should be sterlized but not all.


NO but really.. you should wear gloves ( i dont)

i was playing around in a reguge last week and got these burn marks on my arm the next day ( itching the day of) they are just starting to heal up..
wasnt a brittleworm or anything ( nothing in the skin)
just somthing in the water and chaeto irritated it