Stupid question....can you get diseases from putting your hands in a fish tank (like when your cleaning or moving ornaments around...etc) My tanks DON'T have filters, they are 5 gal. and hold betta's (which aren't big fans of alot of current or water movement) and I frankly didn't want to hassle with filters anyway. I change the water every few days. I've been using gloves when I clean the tank...but that gets to be a pain after awhile. I've seen lots of people stick their hands right into a tank...so guessing it's ok???
2007-05-09 07:53:50 · 11 answers · asked by Onyx Ninja 4 in Pets ➔ Fish
Not a stupid question at all. Other are correct, generally speaking a healthy person has nothing to fear, but a cut or scratch on your hand could cause some concern if you think you have sick fish. There are several disease people can and do get from aquarium water. The following link explains them
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Lawler_Diseases%20Transmitted%20to%20Humans.html
MM
2007-05-09 10:06:09 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Only add a little water conditioner if you do a 25% water change. Then put a 25% dose in. A couple extra drops like that guy said is ok to do. It wont harm the fish. That kylie Chick that said don't add conditioner~ she is weird and all her answers (for the most part) do not make sense or are totally wrong. I have noticed that. Just learn who is more experience and follow them. Like Ian... He is almost always right. Kylie is so ignorant, it doesn't even matter what she thinks/says about me or what she types about fish cause she isn't worth my time to even acknowledge her 'opinions' which is all she types about anyways... ***I have Tattoo's up my arms so during summer I wear sunscreen all day, everyday. Just this last summer I had many live bearers that gave birth often and I had to pluck them out of my deep aquarium to get fry and put in nursery aquarium. EVERY time I washed my arms well with soap and got a good lather up over 1 minute of scrubbing. Not once have I lost fish from washing hands with soap... It really is needed. I was going diving 2 times a week even! Not one fish died. Just rinse WELL...
2016-04-01 04:05:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its harmless.
You can get a local infection if you have a cut on your hand, which usually amounts to red puffiness of 0.5 cm around the cut and some stinging.
Other than that, the water is harmless to anyone without AIDS. Most of the microscopic organisms that would live with a fish can not harm humans at all.
Just wash your hands after your done in the tank / before you eat & you'll be fine.
2007-05-09 08:14:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I seriously doubt a healthy adult with an uncompromised immune system could be at any risk of any communicable diseases. That said I wouldn't recommend cleaning your fish tank out, then going to eat finger food. Wash your hands after and you'll be fine. Definitely wash them if you are treating your fish with any medicines, especially containing copper or methylene blue. But you should wash them anyway so I guess it is resolved now!!
2007-05-09 08:12:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You normally can;t unless something is in the water and you have an open cut. but you can hurt your fish, because if you touch them it can take their slime coat off, and also the naturall oils on you hands can pollute their water. best bet is to take them out with a small net that can be bought at any pet supply store, and then put them in a holding jar with clean water that you have treated with chlor out or something of the sort, then when you are done cleaning you can stick them back in the tank
2007-05-09 09:03:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It all depends on whether you have an open cut in your hand and how toxic your aquarium water is. LOL.
But most of the time, if you do have any open-cut on your hands and you follow up by proper washing of your hand after removing your hand from the aquarium, you are safe..Else how can your fishes posibbily be living in that tank?
Haha.
2007-05-10 02:39:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its fine, just make sure you wash your hands afterwards. There is bacteria in a fish tank that won't give you a disease, but has the possibility of making your stomach upset.
2007-05-09 07:59:39 · answer #7 · answered by Audrey A 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As long as you wash your hands before and after, you should not have any problems. In a life/death situation (such as a natural disaster) I would drink my fish water and do not see any forseable problems with it unless you do not do regular water changes or use a bunch of chemicals.
2007-05-09 08:05:45 · answer #8 · answered by lilith 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are bacteria in the water that breaks down ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates but they should be mostly harmless. Just remember to wash your hands!
2007-05-09 08:08:47 · answer #9 · answered by siiimonnn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't worry about it. Just wash your hands BEFORE and afterwards, as other have mentioned. I've been doing it this way for 10+ yrs and haven't had any issues.
2007-05-09 08:55:06 · answer #10 · answered by Ryan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋