How Much 'bad' Bacteria Are In Aquariums?

[pablothebetta]

I suppose the title pretty much explains it - how much 'bad' bacteria are in aquariums?

For example, would it be accurrate to say 'dirty fish water'?

Just something I was wondering about.

Thanks

 

[creeker]

Enough so that if you have a cut on your hand you shouldn't submerge it in the water, not so much that if you don't have a cut, it is fine to put your hand in there, just wash afterwards.

 

[Cazgar]

I watched a programme recently about a girl in the Us, she had a small cut in her hand & had been cleaning her aquarium.
The cut wouldn't heal.
To cut a long story short, she contracted some sort of infection & nearly lost her hand

 

[pablothebetta]

I'm guessing theres's a fair amount of nasty stuff in there then

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Been keeping fish since Jan 01. Got up to the current 16-18 tank range by 03. I Have done weekly maint. and water changes on them all with very few missed weeks the whole time. I have never had a cut, abrasion or scrape get infected. Maybe I am just immune.

I think such stories are few and far between and a few are likely urban myths as well. If this were a real "danger" we would be seeing a lot more warnings and reports of problems. That said, it is not impossible for something nasty to end up in a tank, however, it is not very likely, imo.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I watched a programme recently about a girl in the Us, she had a small cut in her hand & had been cleaning her aquarium.
The cut wouldn't heal.
To cut a long story short, she contracted some sort of infection & nearly lost her hand

It was Fish Tuberculosis, Mycobacterium marinum. It is very rare. I just lost my entire fish stock because of this. I had a cut that wouldn't heal, and very sick/dying fish. My doctor confirmed the diagnoses. It can take 6 Month's on heavy antibiotics to get rid of and all of my fish euthanized. Fish tanks completly bleached and sterilized.

These were the first fish I bought after a fishless cycle, and like TwoTankAmin said, most people keep fish their whole lives with no problems. I had really bad luck, I am starting over now and I will do all my maintenance like normal with a good scrub afterwards.

I guess my point is that, really bad things can come from the water, but in general it is safe. Make sure to wash your hands and arms really well just in case.

 

[creeker]

I had a sore on my hand once that would not heal. I also noticed lumps under my skin leading away from the sore and up my arm. I was working in a store with a lot of salt water tanks at the time, and I was doing a ton of maintenence. Old undergravel filters and lots of sediment in the tanks. The doctors diagnosed it as Tuberculosis of the lymph system, and determined the fish tanks were the only possible source of the bacteria. I had to go on six months of Isoniazid and Prednisone, and go to the doctors weekly for checkups. Their concern was that the infection was traveling up the lymph system towards the Heart. They said they had only heard of one other case in my part of the state. I was quite the celebrity among the doctors as all wanted to see the freak illness. I do think this was a special circumstance, one you would not likely find in a home tank. Of course as the time has passed, my hands are again constantly in the tanks, messing around. I always make sure I wash good afterwards.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Unfortunately, I am on a military base and do not have access to a steady doctor. My doctor's are even younger then me and I am 28! They were not excited, overly concerned or anything over it. I would have wanted to do an article for a medical journal, if I were my doctor. You would think that service members and their families would have better health care.

Glad you are better creeker. I am at least more careful now with swimming in lakes an things while camping. The bacteria can live in stagnant water and swimming pools that aren't properly maintained.

 

[pablothebetta]

You would think that service members and their families would have better health care.

I would certainly have thought that.

I had a sore on my hand once that would not heal. I also noticed lumps under my skin leading away from the sore and up my arm. I was working in a store with a lot of salt water tanks at the time, and I was doing a ton of maintenence. Old undergravel filters and lots of sediment in the tanks. The doctors diagnosed it as Tuberculosis of the lymph system, and determined the fish tanks were the only possible source of the bacteria. I had to go on six months of Isoniazid and Prednisone, and go to the doctors weekly for checkups. Their concern was that the infection was traveling up the lymph system towards the Heart. They said they had only heard of one other case in my part of the state. I was quite the celebrity among the doctors as all wanted to see the freak illness. I do think this was a special circumstance, one you would not likely find in a home tank. Of course as the time has passed, my hands are again constantly in the tanks, messing around. I always make sure I wash good afterwards.

Ooh that does sound nasty, I wonder how many people working in stores have had bad experiences, though by the sounds of it, it's not very many at all.

I'm glad to hear all these 'problems' have gone - I'll definitely be more aware when I'm working in my tank now!

 

[creeker]

I later became a sales manager for fish warehouse, and was in about 50 fish stores a week. Never did talk to anyone else that had any problems from their tanks. I think just the sheer volume of tanks (and the condition of some of them) I was dealing with made this possible. I was also working in wildlife rehabilitation at the same time, so I always had cuts and scratches on my hands and arms.

 

[FishFanatic04]

All I had was one paper cut on my finger. I just had the bad luck to buy a very sick fish.

 

[deftuch]

im not sure but i barely recall something i read. if you contract an illness from fish its called zoonosis? or zoonosis is an actual disease caught from them rather than it being a term? lol

 

[fluttermoth]

Zoonosis is a term for any disease that's passed between different species, but specifically from animals to humans.

Luckily they are, including 'fish TB', very rare.