Danger's fish tanks hold to people

What dangers have you run into with water or fish tanks in general?

EDIT: Hm, perhaps I opened a can of worms. There are many more people that believe there is no possible way for what follows to happen... I'm surprised though due that I have not had this happen since I was very young from occasionally playing with some farm cats and dogs, or rolling around the yard occasionally... or maybe eating that mud pie that one time...

So, I didn't know this but you can apparently catch ringworm from a fish tank! A couple years ago I was doing routine maintenance on my tank and apparently had a scratch on my arm that got tank water in it. Low and behold a short time later I developed ringworm. Since them I take care in inspecting my hands and arms before doing my changes. I considered wearing the gloves you buy at the store for washing dishes but I think they have lots of chemicals that would get in my tank.

Who told you that you got ringworm from your fish tank? No... maybe some other type of worm but not ringworms. You can get them from cats, dogs, humans, etc... but I wouldn't think it would be possible to get it from your tank...
It's a good idea not to stick your hand in the tank with cuts but I do it all the time

the most obvious one: water

I moved the air pump from one tank to another, but left the airstone and hose in the original tank. it took a couple water changes, but over a week later, after a water change, i notice the water level had dipped slightly below the trim. i found the water inside the cabinet coming out of the air hose >.< if i had gone to work without realizing it, there would be 30 gallons in my living room.

how did you get the scratch on your arm? was it an animal scratch? most of the time, you get ringworm from the ground where animals poop out the eggs (or from claws of animals that have been walking on the ground)

ringworm isn't actually caused by a worm, but a fungus. think athlete's foot. perhaps the water from the fish tank could have helped it move along, keeping the area moist and all, but really it could have come from anywhere as secondary contact from things. have you been to the gym? pool? outside in the grass?

i had ringworm on my elbow last winter, i think caused from irritation from the sweater's wool and leaning my elbow on surfaces(propping my head on my hand sort of thing, on the desk, countertop, arm rests, etc). that, in combination with fish tanks and being moist, and shazam, fungal bloom. that's my story i'm sticking with anyways. lol

Lol, I know I sound crazy, I didn't believe it either. But I did some research after a local fish store owner told me it was possible. The reason I made the connection is I had no pets nor was in contact with any at the time. It was on a part of the inner arm that doesn't normally come in contact with anything really and the time between fish tank cleaning and irritation was within 24 hours.

Think of it this way, ringworm is a contagious infection called tinea corporis that occurs on the body. It is caused by various types of fungus, like those that cause athlete's foot. The name comes from the characteristic ring that appears on the infected person's skin. It has nothing to do with actual worms. Spores of the ringworm fungus can survive for a long time on carpet, furniture and other surfaces and cause infections. I have not found hard evidence on the like of fungus in water merely bc I don't have time at the moment. But, many water-related diseases or water maintenance websites list ringworm as a waterborne illness in countries or areas with poor water hygiene...

Here is a link I found just now from another person that mentions a similar incident: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f16/ringworm-28660.html

Glabe wrote:

the most obvious one: water.

Scary! I have a large bubbler on mine and don't want to think what might happen if it came undone *goes to check connections*... I don't recall how I got the scratch honestly, I know it didn't bug me until after the water change.

Quote :

have you been to the gym? pool? outside in the grass?

It was close to the spring, I was working full time in an office, didn't have my pond up yet, no pool, no gym. I wasn't wearing any dirty clothing or rolling around on musty floors or yard either. he he

fishface30 wrote:

ringworm isn't actually caused by a worm, but a fungus

>.< i was thinking hookwork for some reason... derr!

eew i'd hate to look up hook worm and find out what that's like!

Somehow i think the fungus is rather common, and that we are just normally able to keep it at bay. Did you know our hands, face, mouth, nose, everywhere, has bacteria on it, and that we are normally able to keep them from infecting us? even when we get cut or punctured our bodies has ways to keep bacteria out. that's why we bleed, why we scab, etc. we get infections when faculative anaerobic bacteria(bacteria that lives aerobically but can survive without) gets deep and enclosed in the wound, turning anaerobic and growing anaerobically. (well not 100% anaerobic, but low oxygen conditions).

Test Monday at 8AM.

i dont know about ringworm either. its not water borne. unless u youre a shut in and nvr leave your house; you had to hv gotten it else where w/o realizing. *things you learn in micro biology* take from me, imma biologist. but dont get me wrong, there are plenty of other awesome infections u can get by putting cut up hands in old fish tank water, that could look like ringworm to a doctor that hasnt studied up in a few years.

I think the big thing everyone is worried about is TB it happens from time to time. When I did work at a petstore we had an employee get a bacterial infection by drinking tank water by siphoning water to do water changes. He was a mess for a couple of weeks.

ye. once i got salmonella poisoning cleaning out a pond at work tht had turtles in it. MIA for a a week

The biggest danger I think would be accidental drowning in the tank! You know lean a little too far when reaching for something in the tank and whoops!
probably more of a chance of that than getting ringworm!
JB

I am a fearless fish.

my biggest fear is a leak on a big tank. all that water on the floor. this is why im moving my tanks to the garage when i buy a house.

KMX wrote:

I am a fearless fish.

x2

When I took some of my water tested at school as part of bio lab...it came out of a tank I kinda ignored for a 2 weeks.... we found less micro-organisms per slide than we did on the slides from the drinking fountain in the hall way. Funny how that works lol...drinking fountain does have chlorine and chloromines to help destroy said micros but just wiping off the thumb switch and the area around the faucet made me want to start packing my own sterilized water in a sterilized bottle.

I remember while researching discus tanks many years ago that good quality tank water should be good enough to drink. though i've never done it(except the accidental siphon sip), I can't see how it could be safe. afterall, it's literally a cesspool of stuff.

And here I am, typing next to a 20gal Walstad tank, au naturel, which looks good but I know has more fauna growing it it than my regular planted tank.

Oh, and I'm surprised no one's bringing up saltwater dangers!

FYI- Just Be Careful!!!!! Wash your hands & take care of all injuries when they occur. If it doesn't heal, see a MD.

Girl, 13, faces having her hand amputated after scratching it in fish tank
By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 2:15 PM on 13th June 2011

Teen's dreams of becoming an Olympic gymnast are over
Fears bacteria could eat away at her tissues and bones
Mum fighting to save daughter's hand

A teenage girl faces losing her hand after picking up an extremely rare bacterial infection from a fish tank.
Hannele Cox, 13, from San Bernardino County in California, cut her hand five years ago as she pulled it out of the tank.
Her family were completely oblivious to the fact that the tank - which contained only a few freshwater fish - was infected with a rare bacteria.
Terrifying ordeal: Hannele Cox, 13, is worried that she may lose her hand after picking up a rare bacterial infection from a fish tank
It was only when Hannele's mother, Amy Cox, noticed that her daughter's wound was oozing that it became clear the injury was much more serious than a simple cut.

Now, five years on, following sickening medication and constant pain, Hannele's dreams of becoming an Olympic gymnast are over.
And with concerns that the bacteria could spread up her arm and into her body, the teenager is left fearing for the future.
Infected: The wound on Hannele's hand which has been caused by an extremely rare bacteria
'I am afraid of losing my hand. I'm afraid of the things that I'm not going to be able to do when I grow older,' she admitted to the Californian-based TV station KTLA.
Doctors who first examined Hannele five years ago prescribed a course of antibiotics.
But when that failed to heal the wound, she was taken to see a skin specialist who diagnosed the problem.
It was found that the cut had become infected with Mycobacterium marinum, also known as fish tank granuloma, which is very rare to humans.
Invasive: An image of Mycobacterium marinum, also known as fish tank granuloma, which has infected Hannele's hand
The bacteria causes skin lesions and, most worryingly for Hannele, eats away at tissues and bones.
Over the years doctors have attempted a number of different treatments but these have proved unsuccessful.

During this time the bacteria has become stronger and drug-resistant.
Despite concerns that the once sport-mad teen may need to have her hand amputated, her family - who have seen Hannele give up tumbling and quit volleyball - have not given up hope.
'I haven't really accepted it,' her mum said. 'I haven't accepted now that this is it. I am still fighting.'
Afraid: Hannele Cox looking into the fish tank which resulted in her picking up a bacterial infection. She is now worried that she may lose her hand
Hannele's hopes for the future are now in the hands of a specialist in Denver, Colorado, who is one of a small group of doctors to successfully treat this kind of infection.
She will go under the knife for the third time next week to remove dead and contaminated tissue and let doctors get a better look at the infection.

The infection which has blighted Hannele's life for the past five years is usually picked up from fish or aquariums which have experienced tuberculosis.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2003001/Girl-13-faces-having-hand-amputated-scratching-fish-tank.html#ixzz1SbNzskhr

Quote :

I remember while researching discus tanks many years ago that good quality tank water should be good enough to drink. though i've never done it(except the accidental siphon sip), I can't see how it could be safe. afterall, it's literally a cesspool of stuff.

I've read that too. I would surmise the cleaner the fish (fishes need to survive based on water quality) the less bacteria and other dangers would be present in the water? Whereas the dirtier fish would be the opposite. It could also have a lot to do with the exposures fish had to various bacteria throughout their life? In other words, you buy a fish from the store and it carries with it traces of every place it has been weather it be a pure filtered water from where it was hatched and raised vs. a stream heavy with factory and natural pollutants.... Would make for an interesting study!

Drinking fountains = gross.... I can't drink water anymore anyway... The plastic containers I have may cause cancer and the water that comes from my tap (thanks to watching a show on the history channel) can have many yucky things in them... Oh and can't use rain, it can be acidic and traps pollutants in the air while falling.

Hey grad, do you have an RO filter? they would be nice for drinking water, although it would taste very flat. it's the minerals that gives water its flavor.

I wonder if UV filters keep bacteria at bay?

Bacteria's everywhere and is in inescapable. I'll just have to make sure to wash up after tank maintenance, especially if i scratch myself on the frame.

dangerous salmon...ella!

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/20/water-frogs-linked-to-illness-in-young-kids/?hpt=hp_t2

i think the biggest danger a fishtank causes, is that once you have one tank, set up and running normal, you get another tank, and another tank, and before you know it your basement looks like the local pet store, and smells, like a fish cannery, and then you realize that you have ocd, and a empty wallet/purse

hey do not laugh about falling into a tank, i once caught a adventurous little nephew, swimming, in my 210 gal tank, the jack dempsey, was just about to chomp down, on something that resembled a worm to him....mike, i kid u not

Palytoxin poisoning after dermal contact with a zoanthid coral.