[dibenni]

if my wife read this thread i would never be allowed to work on the tank - gloves or no gloves.

[Clay12340]

One of the workers in my LFS had a crazy reaction to a bristleworm sting as well. So even if you don't get one of the horrible flesh eating bacterias you might end up having an adverse reaction to one of the many toxins that is present in your aquarium. There was also a really interesting show I saw on Animal Planet about a week ago. I think it was something to do with venomous encounters, but a guy was cleaning his tank and got stung by his lionfish. I'd never seen a hand so swollen, and he said it hurt worse than passing kidney stones.

[Clay12340]

haha same with my girlfriend Dibenni

[weez1959]

I knew I shouldn't do it but I too never wear gloves but after seeing that thumb I'll be ordering a pair of full length gloves as soon as I can. Funny thing though is all the LFSs (4 that I can think of) in my area don't stock them. I was going to order them once but at the time I figured they were'nt that important.
Basically this means that all these people that own/work in an LFS are playing Russian roulette "eh?" (with a Canadian accent )

[Clay12340]

I've never seen an employee wear gloves in an LFS either. They just reach in and pull out whatever you want. It is probably a pretty rare thing to get a serious infection from a tank, but you'd think reaching into a tank 50 times a day would really increase your chances.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Clay12340

It is probably a pretty rare thing to get a serious infection from a tank...

It only takes one episode to ruin your day.

[greenbean36191]

I don't worry about it any more than I worry about swimming in the ocean without a body condom. Some of the things people worry about, like Vibrio and palytoxin are extremely common in many marine environments, but unless your immune system is compromised or you start putting things in your mouth, they aren't an issue. Use good hygiene and cover open wounds and you'll be fine.

[Clay12340]

Originally Posted by Ninong

It only takes one episode to ruin your day.

No doubt Ninong, inadvertently adding something that crashes your tank wouldn't help your mood either. I wasn't advocating not taking proper precautions. I was merely stating a possible reason why we don't see LFS employees dropping over dead every few days.