Aqua Gloves vs. Bare Hands?

bigpaul2600 · 09/28/2007, 10:36 AM

What are the advantages to using Aqua Gloves (if any). If using bare hands what kind of soap should I be using to clean up with before putting my hands in the tank? I assume some soaps have oils in them that could stay on my hands and get into the tank?

Thanks,

Paul

papagimp · 09/28/2007, 11:05 AM

8 or 9 months ago, my 55g started having massive sps dieoffs, about $400 worth of em, along with my male bangaii dying. Tested my tanks, found ammonia,nitrite,nitrates all off the color charts. Performed 50-90% water changes every couple days, did no good. Levels stayed the same. Tried every suggestion I could get here on RC...nothing. This went on for about 6-7 months straight, luckily I didn't loose any more livestock during this time. Finaly found the culprit to be antibacterial soap that the misses used. She did most the water changes for me so her nice clean good smelling hands were in my water....killing off all the beneficial bacteria unknowingly. Problem was resolved by utilizing the aqua-gloves every time our hands are in the tank. problem righted itself a month after purchasing the gloves and the tank could re-cycle. We've since changed soaps but continue to use the aquagloves out of fear of contaiminating the tank with something else.

kuoka · 09/28/2007, 11:07 AM

I try to use regular (dust free) latex gloves. But at times I'll use my bare hands too. The advantage of using gloves are to avoid being stung (for sensitive skin) or help from getting oils on your corals. But I use regular hand soap to wash my hands.

audio101 · 09/28/2007, 11:29 AM

I use my bare hands everyday in my tank and no problems at all. I just run my hands under very warm water followed by cold water for a bit before I put them in.

zyglow · 09/28/2007, 11:32 AM

I use gloves any time I need to put my hands in the tanks. To me, the benefits for the tank and myself outweigh the cost of the gloves.

papagimp · 09/28/2007, 11:35 AM

Audio, your hobby experience says 4 months, I was working on my tank for over a year before my problems started up. Aqua-gloves fall under that "better safe than sorry" category. I wish I could go back to just using my bare hands, especially since none of my corals have ever bothered me with stings, but now fear keeps the gloves on

besl · 09/28/2007, 11:39 AM

I wash my hands with Soft Soap before and after I put my hands in the tank - I would definitely switch hobbies if I had to put gloves on first, and wash the gloves, wash myself... Soft Soap before and after tank entry works for me.

yakfishin · 09/28/2007, 11:55 AM

I'll admit that I have a pair of rubber gloves for the aquarium, but usually don't use them but about 1/4 of the time. My tank is 29" deep and even the gloves I have that are made for aquarium usage start to have water spill in them if I need to fetch or arrange something near the bottom. If glueing corals or something in the tank, I also find that the gloves just don't give me the dexterity to do so without a mess. I always make sure I scrub my hands with just plain hot water before putting them in the water though. After reading papa's post, I might be rethinking my habits.

papagimp · 09/28/2007, 12:02 PM

I hear ya yakfishin, I have some nice latex gloves for doing any fragging outside of the tank, and I do find it extremely difficult to mess in the tank with these gloves on. I hate em, but love the corals so it's a neccessary evil to endure. Besides, this helps to keep me from reaching in the tank daily as well. I'm kinda bad about that. I think I was just extremely unfortunate but once was definatly enough for me. Nothing like watching $400 worth of ORA frags die within a couple days. I darn near decided to quit after that....then I saw another coral i just had to have.

cd77 · 09/28/2007, 12:17 PM

I'm surprised no one has mentioned open cuts -- bacterial infections, palytoxin yet. (?)

bigpaul2600 · 09/28/2007, 12:17 PM

I didn't even think of the anti-bacterial soap killing off the beneficial bacteria... I think I will go a head and get the gloves... should I just wash the gloves off with RO/DI water after using them?

wintercool97 · 09/28/2007, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by papagimp
8 or 9 months ago, my 55g started having massive sps dieoffs, about $400 worth of em, along with my male bangaii dying. Tested my tanks, found ammonia,nitrite,nitrates all off the color charts. Performed 50-90% water changes every couple days, did no good. Levels stayed the same. Tried every suggestion I could get here on RC...nothing. This went on for about 6-7 months straight, luckily I didn't loose any more livestock during this time. Finaly found the culprit to be antibacterial soap that the misses used. She did most the water changes for me so her nice clean good smelling hands were in my water....killing off all the beneficial bacteria unknowingly. Problem was resolved by utilizing the aqua-gloves every time our hands are in the tank. problem righted itself a month after purchasing the gloves and the tank could re-cycle. We've since changed soaps but continue to use the aquagloves out of fear of contaiminating the tank with something else.

Boy that sucks, What gloves are you using? disposable or a thicker reusable glove? I have the disposable and they leek so bad that soon its like I'm not wearing them at all, I don't see a point in buying them again.

wintercool97 · 09/28/2007, 12:21 PM

leek

oh yes they turn into leeks, that is bad!

leak I mean...

michaeldaly · 09/28/2007, 12:25 PM

I don't use gloves and it has never caused me problems but mabey I'm just lucky.

wooz29 · 09/28/2007, 12:40 PM

FWIW-ever since I started seeing bristleworms I wear my gloves everytime

BCreefmaker · 09/28/2007, 12:49 PM

wooz29, it it because for afraid of them or afraid of killing them from whats on your hands possibly? :P but all joking aside i have gloves and only get to use them one and a while, i have a pretty cramped 20G and i find the gloves do not offer enough dexterity to do any complex tasks or work that you cant see well. i never even bother to use a fish net, i find your hands work best at catching fish, or fast inverts. but for simple jobs id rather not pollute my water. but thats why i always tell people just because i stick my hand in does not mean you can, not to say they are dirty, but because even something as innocent as washing ur had after going to the bathroom with antibacterial soap could do you in, for months apparently. sorry to hear about your loss dude, but its good to hear you found the problem and are back on track.

szeth13 · 09/28/2007, 12:59 PM

yea i never use gloves, i put my hands in the tank too much to use gloves. i do use gloves for fragging tho. as for cuts, i was breaking a piece of coral off cause it wasent getting any light and i was tired to trying to move the whole thing so this little part got some light n i cut myself. i didnt realize i cut myself untill i put my hand i nthe water and red went all over. no biggie i finished what i was doin and everything is fine. i actually remember reading a while back something about clams eating blood or something. something loopy like that

uscharalph · 09/28/2007, 01:04 PM

I try to keep my hands out of my tank, but I can't. LOL!!!!

airq33 · 09/28/2007, 01:31 PM

I almost always wear gloves, and highly recommend their use inside the aquarium. It's an easy way to protect your livestock from contaminants on your skin (i.e. soap, lotion, etc.), as well as protect you from the contaminants (bacteria, toxins, etc.) in your tank. I use the Aqua Gloves, but they have leaked at the seams on me a few times. My friend recently purchased the Atlas Nitrile Gloves, and they seem to perform better. The Atlas gloves are more comfortable and dexterous, and they contain no seams.

papagimp · 09/28/2007, 02:19 PM

wintercool97: I use the Aqua-Gloves by coralife. I think.

There reusable ones.

bigpaul2600: That's all I do, rinse em off with ro/di when I"m done.

wooz29: not having bristleworm spikes in me is one of the added benefits to wearing these gloves. Didn't occur to me unti I had inadvertantly picked one up....then I laughed at his sorry ugly face, mua ha ha!

I will mention that their have been times since I've righted the messed up tank, that I've had to just rinse and clean my hands as best as possible and hope everythings cool. Specifically when trying to get a frag I dropped from behind the rockwork, stuff like that. But I do try to keep that kind of activities to a minimal. I bought longer scrapers and nets to use so I don't have to wear gloves for that and still have my hands/arms out of the tank.

One of the best benefits I have found so far is that when I get home from a long day of working on cars and busting my knuckles open every day, My hands don't hurt when working on the tank now

jadeguppy · 09/28/2007, 03:07 PM

After being stung and having a throbing hand for hours, I think twice before putting my bare hand in the tank. I try to use latex gloves that are disposable. The gloves are tight on my hand so I don't have many problems with them leaking.

WI Reef Lover · 09/28/2007, 10:27 PM

Gloves......I had my carpet anenome flip around the back of my hand once and grap on. he's one of those longer tentacled ones, real sticky. Needless to say my hand throbbed for about 2 days and was extremely sensitive for about 3 weeks. I also don't think my anenome appreciated the prodding it took to get him off the back of my hand, certainly felt like an eternity.
Buy the gloves.

(I should take my own advise)

Reefer07 · 09/28/2007, 10:30 PM

I also heard bristle worms hurt....maybe another reason to wear gloves?

09/28/2007, 10:36 AM	#1
bigpaul2600 Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Kansas Posts: 111	Aqua Gloves vs. Bare Hands? What are the advantages to using Aqua Gloves (if any). If using bare hands what kind of soap should I be using to clean up with before putting my hands in the tank? I assume some soaps have oils in them that could stay on my hands and get into the tank? Thanks, Paul

09/28/2007, 11:05 AM	#2
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	8 or 9 months ago, my 55g started having massive sps dieoffs, about $400 worth of em, along with my male bangaii dying. Tested my tanks, found ammonia,nitrite,nitrates all off the color charts. Performed 50-90% water changes every couple days, did no good. Levels stayed the same. Tried every suggestion I could get here on RC...nothing. This went on for about 6-7 months straight, luckily I didn't loose any more livestock during this time. Finaly found the culprit to be antibacterial soap that the misses used. She did most the water changes for me so her nice clean good smelling hands were in my water....killing off all the beneficial bacteria unknowingly. Problem was resolved by utilizing the aqua-gloves every time our hands are in the tank. problem righted itself a month after purchasing the gloves and the tank could re-cycle. We've since changed soaps but continue to use the aquagloves out of fear of contaiminating the tank with something else. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

09/28/2007, 11:07 AM	#3
kuoka Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: NorCal Cali Posts: 713	I try to use regular (dust free) latex gloves. But at times I'll use my bare hands too. The advantage of using gloves are to avoid being stung (for sensitive skin) or help from getting oils on your corals. But I use regular hand soap to wash my hands. __________________ They say don't talk about someone unless you've walked a mile in their shoes.. But if you do, at least you'll be ahead of them AND have their shoes! :) Current Tank Info: 72gal glass bow front reef, mostly LPS with some SPS, tangs, anthias, blenny, paired percula clowns, gold headed sleeper goby, red fairy wrasse

09/28/2007, 11:35 AM	#6
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	Audio, your hobby experience says 4 months, I was working on my tank for over a year before my problems started up. Aqua-gloves fall under that "better safe than sorry" category. I wish I could go back to just using my bare hands, especially since none of my corals have ever bothered me with stings, but now fear keeps the gloves on __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

09/28/2007, 11:39 AM	#7
besl Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Boston-burb, MA Posts: 800	I wash my hands with Soft Soap before and after I put my hands in the tank - I would definitely switch hobbies if I had to put gloves on first, and wash the gloves, wash myself... Soft Soap before and after tank entry works for me. __________________ Why did kamakazi pilots wear helmets? Current Tank Info: 55 Gal, 260W CF, 60 lbs LR, CC base, 7 fish, 10 corals, Aquafuge - chaetomorpha & grape

09/28/2007, 11:29 AM	#4
audio101 Moved On Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Napa, CA Posts: 1,091	I use my bare hands everyday in my tank and no problems at all. I just run my hands under very warm water followed by cold water for a bit before I put them in.

09/28/2007, 11:32 AM	#5
zyglow Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 77	I use gloves any time I need to put my hands in the tanks. To me, the benefits for the tank and myself outweigh the cost of the gloves.

09/28/2007, 11:55 AM	#8
yakfishin Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 696	I'll admit that I have a pair of rubber gloves for the aquarium, but usually don't use them but about 1/4 of the time. My tank is 29" deep and even the gloves I have that are made for aquarium usage start to have water spill in them if I need to fetch or arrange something near the bottom. If glueing corals or something in the tank, I also find that the gloves just don't give me the dexterity to do so without a mess. I always make sure I scrub my hands with just plain hot water before putting them in the water though. After reading papa's post, I might be rethinking my habits.

09/28/2007, 12:02 PM	#9
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	I hear ya yakfishin, I have some nice latex gloves for doing any fragging outside of the tank, and I do find it extremely difficult to mess in the tank with these gloves on. I hate em, but love the corals so it's a neccessary evil to endure. Besides, this helps to keep me from reaching in the tank daily as well. I'm kinda bad about that. I think I was just extremely unfortunate but once was definatly enough for me. Nothing like watching $400 worth of ORA frags die within a couple days. I darn near decided to quit after that....then I saw another coral i just had to have. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

09/28/2007, 12:17 PM	#10
cd77 Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Fishers, IN, USA Posts: 1,169	I'm surprised no one has mentioned open cuts -- bacterial infections, palytoxin yet. (?) __________________ -Chris Current Tank Info: 70G Reef (Aug 2007), 45G Reef (Dec 2007)

09/28/2007, 12:21 PM	#13
wintercool97 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: New Mexico Posts: 166	leek oh yes they turn into leeks, that is bad! leak I mean...

09/28/2007, 12:25 PM	#14
michaeldaly Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Earth Posts: 2,009	I don't use gloves and it has never caused me problems but mabey I'm just lucky.

09/28/2007, 12:40 PM	#15
wooz29 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: iowa Posts: 116	FWIW-ever since I started seeing bristleworms I wear my gloves everytime

09/28/2007, 12:49 PM	#16
BCreefmaker Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: B.C. Canada Posts: 1,129	wooz29, it it because for afraid of them or afraid of killing them from whats on your hands possibly? :P but all joking aside i have gloves and only get to use them one and a while, i have a pretty cramped 20G and i find the gloves do not offer enough dexterity to do any complex tasks or work that you cant see well. i never even bother to use a fish net, i find your hands work best at catching fish, or fast inverts. but for simple jobs id rather not pollute my water. but thats why i always tell people just because i stick my hand in does not mean you can, not to say they are dirty, but because even something as innocent as washing ur had after going to the bathroom with antibacterial soap could do you in, for months apparently. sorry to hear about your loss dude, but its good to hear you found the problem and are back on track. __________________ To make apple pie from scratch, You must first create the universe.

09/28/2007, 12:59 PM	#17
szeth13 Moved On Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: pine hill nj Posts: 553	yea i never use gloves, i put my hands in the tank too much to use gloves. i do use gloves for fragging tho. as for cuts, i was breaking a piece of coral off cause it wasent getting any light and i was tired to trying to move the whole thing so this little part got some light n i cut myself. i didnt realize i cut myself untill i put my hand i nthe water and red went all over. no biggie i finished what i was doin and everything is fine. i actually remember reading a while back something about clams eating blood or something. something loopy like that

09/28/2007, 01:04 PM	#18
uscharalph Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 1,248	I try to keep my hands out of my tank, but I can't. LOL!!!! __________________ Ralph Mendoza Jr. Long Beach, CA Current Tank Info: 80 Gallon Reef Tank

09/28/2007, 01:31 PM	#19
airq33 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 31	I almost always wear gloves, and highly recommend their use inside the aquarium. It's an easy way to protect your livestock from contaminants on your skin (i.e. soap, lotion, etc.), as well as protect you from the contaminants (bacteria, toxins, etc.) in your tank. I use the Aqua Gloves, but they have leaked at the seams on me a few times. My friend recently purchased the Atlas Nitrile Gloves, and they seem to perform better. The Atlas gloves are more comfortable and dexterous, and they contain no seams. __________________ The ocean is where God shows off. Current Tank Info: 55 Gallon Mixed Reef

09/28/2007, 02:19 PM	#20
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	wintercool97: I use the Aqua-Gloves by coralife. I think. There reusable ones. bigpaul2600: That's all I do, rinse em off with ro/di when I"m done. wooz29: not having bristleworm spikes in me is one of the added benefits to wearing these gloves. Didn't occur to me unti I had inadvertantly picked one up....then I laughed at his sorry ugly face, mua ha ha! I will mention that their have been times since I've righted the messed up tank, that I've had to just rinse and clean my hands as best as possible and hope everythings cool. Specifically when trying to get a frag I dropped from behind the rockwork, stuff like that. But I do try to keep that kind of activities to a minimal. I bought longer scrapers and nets to use so I don't have to wear gloves for that and still have my hands/arms out of the tank. One of the best benefits I have found so far is that when I get home from a long day of working on cars and busting my knuckles open every day, My hands don't hurt when working on the tank now __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

09/28/2007, 03:07 PM	#21
jadeguppy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: nw Florida Posts: 2,611	After being stung and having a throbing hand for hours, I think twice before putting my bare hand in the tank. I try to use latex gloves that are disposable. The gloves are tight on my hand so I don't have many problems with them leaking.

09/28/2007, 10:27 PM	#22
WI Reef Lover Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 100	Gloves......I had my carpet anenome flip around the back of my hand once and grap on. he's one of those longer tentacled ones, real sticky. Needless to say my hand throbbed for about 2 days and was extremely sensitive for about 3 weeks. I also don't think my anenome appreciated the prodding it took to get him off the back of my hand, certainly felt like an eternity. Buy the gloves. (I should take my own advise) __________________ Vicky, Wisc Current Tank Info: 46 gal bow front, reef with soft corals, lps, zoos, gorgonia, inverts, fish

09/28/2007, 10:30 PM	#23
Reefer07 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 2,090	I also heard bristle worms hurt....maybe another reason to wear gloves?