How about gloves

[pskorf]

It started last wednesday when the live rock came in.I had 100 lbs of macrorocks in bottom before filling.the tank was filled with water so when live rock came in i was ready.well 45 lbs came in and thought not enough yet.So week ago this started but ordered 50 lbs of macrorocks to the pile.
course been playing and TRYING to get it just right.spent 2 hours playing in water with mostly my right hand.

so you can see how skin kept just pulling away.should look even better in a few days(yeah right)

so what gloves do you people wear to try and keep dry?
now since i will be in cycle faze guess i can lotion up since i will not be playing in water for a week +

[fatdaddy]

I only use gloves during the summer when I have sun screen on. If you use lotions, etc., I'd definitely use gloves.

[1fishkeeper]

Been there done that one before. And it took about a week to heal. As for gloves I know some people use the gloves by coralife they go almost to your shoulders. As for me I guess I never learned my leason because I still dont use any.

[pskorf]

Originally Posted by 1fishkeeper

Been there done that one before. And it took about a week to heal. As for gloves I know some people use the gloves by coralife they go almost to your shoulders. As for me I guess I never learned my leason because I still dont use any.

that will be me also no gloves cause i better not have my hand in there for 2 hours straight.

course being midwest and winter my hands would start looking like this anyway(just not quite this extreme)

this is not good for me since i am a hand model








yeah right

[bertoni]

I got some shoulder length gloves from labsafety.com and from CoraLife. The labsafety pair lasted a lot longer.

[BANANAHANDS]

I just picked up some powder free latex gloves from the drug store. No problems so far

[pskorf]

i attempted using some shoulder length thin plastic gloves (used when we dairy farmed and that is all i am going to say what there usage was)but the rocks made holes in quickly

[tipmoff]

+1 with the powder free latex gloves. I been using them over a year now without any problems. If you plan on getting corals and handling them it is even more important.. Some nasty stings have been reported on here and many other sites. Hospitals don;t know how to handle them...better safe than sorry!

[alleykat81]

I have small hands, so the coralife gloves were huge on me. They were a waste of money.

[albano]

I have found that it is important/necessary to use (heavy/thick) gloves when handling live rock...years ago after stocking a 300g with various types of live rock, I lost 'feeling' in my finger tips for WEEKS...prefer that not happen again!

[Flipper62]

I use the Reef Sleeves from thefilterguys......100 sleeves for $20.00.




http://thefilterguys.biz/reef_sleeves.htm

[Chiefsurfer]

I was kinda in a rush to get my rock in, and I didn't have time to grab gloves. I surf, so I had the heavy neoprene gloves that I surf with when its cold out(I usually surf til the water is about 37 degrees) and worked GREAT for me. Gave them a good rinse first to get out any oils from my skin(sure i didnt get it all) and dug right in. I was a little nervous of 2 things. 1, some type of nem sting, and 2, pistol, or mantis strike. As far as I know, got no nems with my LR, but I do have either pistol or mantis, but neither struck me, or at least I could not feel it through my 7mm gloves.

I intend to get powder-free dish-washing gloves for 90% of the time when I have to work in the tank.

[Frogmanx82]

The reef sleeves aren't much good for working with live rock, they puncture pretty easy. I prefer a heavier glove when dealing with rock. I always wear gloves, I have hundreds of bristle worms.

[Flipper62]

Originally Posted by Frogmanx82

The reef sleeves aren't much good for working with live rock, they puncture pretty easy. I prefer a heavier glove when dealing with rock. I always wear gloves, I have hundreds of bristle worms.

Thats a good point. My tanks have been set up for a while, so the Reef Sleeves work fine for just the average maintaince I do.

When I set up a new tank or I am adding new rock to a tank, I use the Aqua-gloves.

[ramblinreefer]

I use Coralife gloves, but they are a bit clunky. They seem to be good quality gloves. Wish they made some that weren't so thick for everyday maintenance.

[tuckdawaytoo]

I use Nitrile Exam gloves..can pick them up from any DIY store cheap and do the job. I buy them about 1-2 sizes small to help keep them from filling with water. Also helps with tactile feel. Nitriles are similar to Latex without the allergy exposure.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally Posted by pskorf

so you can see how skin kept just pulling away.should look even better in a few days(yeah right)

That's pretty tame to some of the other "I got a skin problem/infection from my tank" photos that have been posted on here over the years.

[Frogmanx82]

I should have put the aqua gloves on the christmas list. They seem pretty well made. I have the reef sleeves which are nice for quick jobs like squirting some aiptasia x. You just can't be moving rock around with them and stay dry.

Are the aqua gloves pretty puncture proof when moving rock around? I have a pair of heavier duty gloves that hold up well but the sleeves aren't that long.

[Chiefsurfer]

i see you guys using shoulder length gloves to stay dry. As in frogman's post above, even to just do a quick-squirt of something in the tank. Is there any downside to sticking your skin in there. I don't plan to spend too much time in there, but what would the downside being? Besides dry skin, and smelling like the ocean, I don't see it?

[Frogmanx82]

It just cleaner. If you stick your arm in you have to have a towel ready when your arm comes out and then you have to rinse your arm off. I find that if I'm messing with things, my arm goes in lots of times. With the reef glove, very little water sticks to the glove as it comes out so it drips less. In winter you don't have to roll your sleeves up take your shirt off, the glove goes right over long sleeves.

Its not a question of downsides for the tank, I just now prefer the glove to getting my arm all wet. Try it, you may like it. Reef sleeves at $20 for 100 gloves. I don't actually have reef sleeves. I got a box of 100 that look just like them for under $12.

http://www.enasco.com/product/C06271N

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally Posted by Chiefsurfer

what would the downside being? Besides dry skin, and smelling like the ocean, I don't see it?

A few things:

1) If there's anything foreign on your hands (lotion, soap, grease, etc.) you've just introduced it to the aquarium. Most of the time this will be harmless, but even trace amounts of some contaminants can cause problems (skimmers going nuts, for instance.)

2) If you have a cut - or even a fresh hangnail - you are exposing yourself to anything dangerous in the water. Zoas and other corals contain powerful toxins, and infection from Mycobacterium marinum is a threat. It's likely very rare, but can be extremely serious. Do some searching if you have a tough stomach, a few people have posted pictures of nasty golfball-sized infections that lasted weeks or months thanks to this bacteria. This Wikipedia page has some information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycobacterium_marinum

Granted, I stick my hands in fish tanks unprotected all the time, but never if I have an open wound - and if I'm doing anything serious, I wear gloves. Every time this subject comes up in here I decide that I should probably wear gloves all the time but I haven't followed through, I guess out of habit.

[IslandCrow]

For big stuff like rocks, I like the Coralife gloves. You lose a lot of dexterity, but they hold up well and keep your hands completely dry. They also work well when I'm playing around with muriatic acid (my favorite chemical for cleaning pumps and larger pieces of equipment).