One Quick Question From Me

[5teady_2012]

Just was wondering, After putting your hands in the fish tank and also touching flake and frozen foods, should you always wash your hands afterwards, is anything dangerous to us?

Thanks.

 

[Matty P]

I would always wash my hands after putting them into the tank and after touching frozen or live foods. Not so much for flake food.

 

[5teady_2012]

So i also should not drink my tank water then? just kidding

I dont wash my hands usually after having them in a tank, unless i am putting my hands in another tank... and also if im going to eat food or anything..

So there is nothing really harfull to use in the tanks?

Thanks.

 

[backtotropical]

I say yes, as a general hygiene measure, just as you should wash your hands after handling a cat or dog etc.

I think i remember reading that fish TB can be passed to humans, but i can't remember how. I'm sure someone else will enlighten us both. In any case, i've never heard of it actually happening which indicates to me that it's not very likely.

Remember that fish excrete waste into the water, and the water will adsorb many impurities out of the air it comes into contact with, so regardless of having a filter attached, it's not the most hygenic place in the house.

That said, it would be interesting to set up a poll to see what percentage of fishkeepers actually do wash their hands after having them in the tank. I bet it wouldn't be many.

 

[fry_lover]

5teady, i used to enjoy giving my girlfriend a massage after water changes and also cooking for her after water changes. No adverse affects were reported or observed by me, hence i declared it safe for myself

 

[Tolak]

I often dry my hands after having them in a tank, but not always. The only time I get overly cautious with washing hands is when working with a quar tank, to avoid contamination of other tanks.

 

[Bignose]

5teady, yes, you really should be washing your hands. The chances are low, but not zero. The tuberculosis bacteria is zoonotic (ha! I've been waiting to use that word since I learned what it meant -- "Zoonotic diseases are diseases caused by infectious agents that can be transmitted between (or are shared by) animals and humans.") though the TB bacteria that infects human usually only causes a mild reaction to humans. There is a chance there is salmonella bacteria in the water, though again that it rare. Here is an article of possible things that could be in the tank that are dangerous:

<a href="http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage...r_Aerosols.html" target="_blank">http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage...r_Aerosols.html</a>

see also

+++ I can't get the link to work right because there are spaces in the URL, but the link to other fish disease that can infect humans is in the above link. It's under point #5 about 75% of the way down the page +++

But, again, I stress that these things are exceptionally, exceptionally rare.

On the great scheme of things to be worried about in life, you are much, much more likely to be killed by getting hit by a bus crossing the street than a disease from your fish tank. I don't expend much worry about fish disease getting me at all.

It's just a good idea not to be dumb about these kind of things, and just take 12 extra seconds to wash your hands after you are done. If your immune system should ever be compromised, like if you needed chemotherapy for cancer, or if you contracted AIDS or if you needed to be extra careful like if you ever got pregnant, then getting some large gloves or getting someone else to do the work is probably a good idea. But, really, for the large majority of us, there is nothing to worry about.

 

[5teady_2012]

Thanks very much and that was a good read, i just thought it would be best to learn about the risks that many people probably ignore whilst keeping aqauriums