Can You Die...

[Morquinn]

I was working the other day... at a restaraunt type place and some guy asked me for one of our cook gloves. I gave him one, with a funny look on my face... and he said that one of his friends went to the hospital cuz he was really sick, and the doctors couldnt figure out what was wrong with him, untill the guy said he had just cleaned one of his aquariums... with barehands, moving the gravel around and all, and the doctor said "thats it". I guess the guy had a cut on his hand while cleaning the tank. The doctor told him he almost died... now is this something that can happen, or was this guy feeding me a line to get a glove for some other purpose? Cuz, I clean my tanks all the time with barehands... and as a matter of fact, the last time I did (we were moving the tanks across the room so most water had to be taken out) I had a few cuts on my hand from the cats... but im still alive and kicking so.. maybe something was up in his tank.

 

[WILDER]

It's rare, yes you can catch things through open woulds, did he get septicemia.

 

[ramaseseniblikxviii]

Any one ever heard you can catch TB from fish?

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

yep, and if you read this months PFK, you can get salmonella from cleaning your tank too.

 

[lljdma06]

yep, and if you read this months PFK, you can get salmonella from cleaning your tank too.

Oh well, that which doesn't kill will only make you stronger. With four tanks planned, I guess I'll be very, very strong then. Now, I'm finally happy I don't get PFK in the US, if my mother knew that about salmonella, I'd never hear the end of it!

 

[ringham]

my fish themselves have actually cut me before when I was cleaning my tanks, nothing ever happened to me.

 

[Wanda hornsey]

Yep TB is possible from tanks but its not the type you think"Fish tuberculosis is not the same as the human disease of the same name. However it is possibly the most common disease amongst aquaria fish. It is a high probability than anyone who has kept a range of tropical fish for any length of time will have experienced it. However - it is also quite unlikely that they will have realised this, for the disease is usually not virulent, is not highly contagious and does not have sudden and drastic effects. " from a google search

 

[Teelie]

You can get salmonella from cats and dogs too but fish, turtles and other aquatic animals tend to have a higher chance of giving it to you. Not as high as some sources claim, but high enough you should always wash your hands/arms with soap after digging in the tank or disinfect any cuts or scrapes if you are injured working on it.

 

[AMS]

I was once reading that a person got staphylococcus aureus from cleaning his fish tank. By the way that is known as a staph infection. (dont ask me why I know the scientific name for it but I just do ) I bet you all know how serious these can be. Thats crazy, and personally I find it to be untrue. If you got a staph infection from cleaning out your fish tank surely there wouldnt be any fish living in it. Right?

By the way that guy who supposedly got the staph infection was cleaning out a reef tank, yes you can pick up some nasty stuff in marine tank but c'mon, a staph infection! Ill believe it when I see it.

 

[Teelie]

Staph can be in there and not kill the fish. For one, I don't know if staph is even dangerous to fish. Supposing it is though, a fish's immune system and slime coat should be enough to prevent that infection unless the fish is injured or has a weakened immune system.

A person on the other hand cleaning the tank, gets a cut or scrape, even one too small to notice, is an opening for the infection.

 

[Katchan]

Bacteria like staph and strep are almost always present on/in our bodies, they are just waiting for a chance to multiply and take us down. A cut in warm water, not cleaned properly afterwards and bingo, most of the time out immune systems copes fine and we dont know it ever happened, its just the occasional case that out bodies have trouble with.

my 2cents

KC

 

[PlecMama]

Staph Aureus isn't that big-a-deal really, there's plenty of it about and plenty of people catch it. Staphs are like that. Boils are often caused by Staphs, so that's no biggie. On the other hand, you can get meningitis or TSS (toxic shock syndrome) from staphs. It depends a lot on where it got in to you, how it got there, how healthy you are and so on and so on.

Don't worry to much about that.

Try not to drink to much fish water when starting your syphons though

 

[WILDER]

http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage...ank_Safety.html

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Oh well, that which doesn't kill will only make you stronger.

not always true

 

[Spader]

its funny cause last weekend i was cleaning out my sisters tank completely cause it was full of poop. i put it in the tub and cleaned it out but somehow in the process i cut my hand open. there was lots of blood and the wound got in the poop water. i immediately cleaned my wound, put neosporen on, then put a bandaid on. im fine though....just a nasty scar