aquapetz.com

I have never cared before putting my hand in any aquarium before, but I came across this today and I AM FREAKED OUT!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -fish.html

Please say something to ease me out because I happen to have a bad liver and decreased immunity, and I be damned if any of this is true

Very bad.

But I always wash my after cleaning aquariums.

Also have a look at this link

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/m ... p?sid=6079

I just started washing my after putting my in tank :/

I think we should be careful if we have a cut or minor wound on the hand. There was this one off case in UK where this lady's hand had to be amputated to stop the infection.

jack wrote:Also have a look at this link

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/m ... p?sid=6079

I just started washing my after putting my in tank :/

The more I am reading, the more I am getting scared.
I did some more reading on the subject and I have reached a conclusion of sorts (nothing concrete) that unprotected sex can be more dangerous than a freshwater planted tank.
That and the chances of getting a serious life threatening infection from a freshwater aquarium is minuscule as compared to a saltwater or marine.
So, I think I am safe for now although I still maintain that I have stomach worms from when I ingested aquarium water when I was 12 yrs old. *Facepalm

The chances of infection from putting your handz in a healthy aquarium are as low as getting an infection when you put your handz in a natural water body. We have awful pollutions in our rivers today, and worse pollution in lakes and ponds. But millions of people continue to use their water like before and epidemics of disease from this are not hitting the headlines even to this day... This proves that there is no particular risk of infection unless you happen to have bleeding handz or cuts or bruises, as aquascapist said.

Naufil, if you have a week immune system, you should drink probioitic drinks like yogurt, kvass, kefir and kombucha. Strengthen your natural immunity. This comes from having a healthy gut flora (also microbes) that keep harmful bacteria out. Diana Walstad, the natural aquarium high priestess, has proved germs like fish tuberculosis, for example, attack fish only when their natural immunity is disrupted. And this happens when we use too many antibioitics in the aquarium and destroy the natural microbial populations found in biologically mature water bodies.

It is not about killing microbes, as we should know from the Nitrogen Cycle, vital to our aquariums: it is about maintaining the correct balance of microbes in an aquarium. ... the correct naturally-occurring health-giving life-sustaining microscopic flora and fauna. Do not worry, research, understand and assimilate.

(when I write 'hands' I get that smiley without wanting to! )

aquascapist wrote:I think we should be careful if we have a cut or minor wound on the hand. There was this one off case in UK where this lady's hand had to be amputated to stop the infection.

I read that article. The lady should have known that when one has cuts and bruises, one should avoid getting it WET. Until it heals. It is not about aquariums as much as it about carelessness and lack of common sense. Wounds are to be protected even from the air and dust, leave alone water.

Thanks Romi, that was very reassuring.
But going for a swim in a river is not the same as being in contact with fish on a daily basis.
Having read all those articles about people getting infected and having amputations, I am a still a bit apprehensive. I read about the symptoms fish show when they have TB and I realized that this dreaded disease might not be that uncommon. A majority of fish that I have kept before have shown similar traits.
Moreover, almost all fish that are available in Delhi LFSs are infected with one disease or another. Specially the smaller ones such as live bearers.
The idea of getting a life threatening disease from a home aquarium might seem absurd but I think that there is still room for doubt here.

Naufil wrote:Thanks Romi, that was very reassuring.
But going for a swim in a river is not the same as being in contact with fish on a daily basis.
Having read all those articles about people getting infected and having amputations, I am a still a bit apprehensive. I read about the symptoms fish show when they have TB and I realized that this dreaded disease might not be that uncommon. A majority of fish that I have kept before have shown similar traits.
Moreover, almost all fish that are available in Delhi LFSs are infected with one disease or another. Specially the smaller ones such as live bearers.
The idea of getting a life threatening disease from a home aquarium might seem absurd but I think that there is still room for doubt here.

you are not being in contact with fish on a 'daily basis'.... I don't touch water for a month or even 2. it is usually only when the glass needs a swipe with a card to get rid of algae. Disease is omnipresent but actual infection with it is not.

And there is 'room for doubt' every single step you take unless you are in laboratory, in case of which the risk might be infinitesimal but still there. Come off it. Calm down. Eat well. Exercise. Smile.

Till the world stop mis using the antibiotics, these dangers will always loom over

In day to day we should be cautious spply having small kids at home, if i am sick, i stay away from putting my hand in the tank.

Most of dose our tanks with various chemical also, So precaution is always better.

But if we go these data then we shouldnt venture out as the Indian roads are most likely place for us to meet our end