Is your fish tank making you sick?
 

I thought all we had to worry about was peanuts, smoking, running with scissors, etc. now we can add fish to the long growing list of things that are bad for you......

http://healthandfitness.sympatico.ms...abc&date=False

snipped from article...
While fish may seem the least threatening of pets, fish owners should still take care when cleaning or handling their finned friends. Ornamental fish tanks are a reservoir for multidrug-resistant Salmonella Paratyphi B dT+, a cause of gastroenteritis in humans, especially young children, according to a study published in the March issue of Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, an Australian periodical.

Researchers found that bacterial infections, traced via DNA analysis to fish tanks in the patients' homes, were serious enough to send children to the hospital with high fever and bloody diarrhea. The bacteria is resistant to a number of drugs, including ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, and tetracycline, making it harder to treat.

well salmonella as well as a host of other bacteria and viruses including the more common ones including vibrio and my favourite, mycobacteria (a relative of tuberculosis). Did you know that "marine snow" is actually aggregates of bacteria? that some scientists now believe that a huge portion of oceanic biomas is bacterial in nature?

For the record this danger should not be news to any of you. I think every aquarist in the hobby HAS to be made aware of this. Ive seen some pretty nasty infections and it's enough to make me diligent enough to always wash hands afterwards or just use those shoulder length gloves when possible... well that and I have a big mantis in my tank that could break a finger if he felt like it.

Makes me shudder thinking of daily sucking on the siphon tube while cleaning client's tanks....

You do know that if you put the hose in the tank and fill with water you won't need to suck on it :mrgreen:

Leave her alone who doesnt like a girl who does things the old fashiond way. :lol:

Great just one more thing to make me sick just worrying about. i only have my hands in my tank on average twice a day, and never use antibacterial soap (because i know im going to be going in later) unless im handling something like Zoas. hands have just been in a lot latley as i had a hard time being satisfied with my rock stuctures lately.

What doesn't kill you!!!!!!!!!!!

Diana you know what all the times that i have sucked on a tube to get a mouth full of SALT WATER

warm salt water! :(

I hate to ruin the fun streak but fyi, antibacterial soap is the devil. regular soap is JUST as effective. Antibacterial products are creating new strains of resistant bacteria by only killing off weaker ones. Think about the 99% of pathogens your miracle soaps kill off; then think about what would be left over to reproduce. that's evolution. honestly, the only antibacterial products that should be around are for actual medical applications, not for everyday uses.

btw, I know exactly what you mean about the rock structuring... Im an addict to messing with aquascapes. it's a bad habit. speaking of which...