Allergic To The Tank

[zukimoo]

I've had a fish tank in the house for over a year now. My first tank was 10 gallon and I never had any symtoms or problems. For xmas my girlfriend bought me a 55 gallon that I mounted in the wall between the living room and the bedroom. I built this thing sturdy and took some time and money to build it right.

A month ago I was sitting on the couch and rubbed my eye and it got red right away.....jumped in the shower to remove what I thought was something caught in my eye. The eye was red for a day but it was all good. Two weeks later the same thing. Last week I managed to get them both red and the following day one of my eyes was swollen and looked like it was going to pop out of my head. This was day one of my first vacation in a couple of years and I didn't want to go to the hospital. I drove to the pharmacy to buy some Visine and the pharmacist told me that she would not sell me any that I had to go to the doc.

SO I walked in to the clinic and it was empty. The doc was going to irigate my eye and she asked me if I had sneezed. I told her that I had sneezed about 50 times that morning. She told me to get up, brought me some allergi pills and told me to get the drops prescribed. Five minutes after getting the drops my eye was a little red but back to normal size.

I wash my hands every time I work with the tank and try to be very carefull about eye contact. I don't have any allergies other than this.......anyone else ever have any problems?

 

[TerraDreamer]

Unless you're allergic to water, I seriously doubt you're allergic to a fish tank.

There are many possibilities; hayfever (pollen, mold, etc.), dust, animal dander, a change in soaps (laundry, bath, shampoo, etc.), new clothing, even the first stages of shingles. By the way, Visine does not require a prescription, it's over the counter.

When was the last time you changed filters in your heating/cooling system?

 

[Bullrock74]

Sounds like you definitely have an allergy to something. I get that way if I pet a cat and then touch my eye. They can do allergy tests to see what you are allergic to.

 

[beblondie]

have you been feeding either frozen or reeze dried bloodworm to your fish?

 

[rdd1952]

I have been through a similar thing but it was many years ago. Think back to what you can remember doing or eating on the days it happened. It could be something you absolutely least expect and something that has never given you problems before.

My experience was when I was in high school (a long time ago). I woke up one morning with my jaw swollen up like I had the mumps but I felt fine. Mom took me to the doctor and he verified that I did not have the mumps and that it was just an allergy. The swelling finally went down in about 3 days. It happened several times over the next few months and we still couldn't figure out what it was. Finally, we were camping and fishing one night. I got something to drink from the cooler and within minutes my jaw was swollen. It didn't take much thinking to realize that I was allergic to Welch's Grape Juice. When we thought back, I had drank some every time and the reason it took 2 or 3 days to go away each time was that's about how long it took for us (mainly me) to drink it up. It had never bothered me before. I finally drank some again after about 25 years and it didn't bother me but for some reason it did for that short time.

Sorry for the story but as I said, it could be something totally unexpected.

 

[zukimoo]

I'm not going to get rid of the fish just yet. I'll make sure that this is what the problem is before doing anything drastic. For now I'm washing my hands very often and taking allergy pills.

 

[smooth_bourbon]

You said you mounted the tank in the wall? Did you actually cut out existing wall? I am 27 and have developed allergies the last few years, first thing I found is Chlorine, then if my cat slept by my face my eyes puffed all up, and the last two years I have had seasonal pollen allergies. Hate to say it but allergies do just develop. Have you tried a good air filter, I was thinking maybe if you had construstion done to put it in the wall you might have exsposed something you are reacting to? I love my ionic breeze, not to sound like a comercial but my kitties both sleep with me and I stopped waking up all puffy and miserable once I got it.

 

[zukimoo]

I've owned my house for the last 7 years and have been doing renovations for the last 7 years.....the dust is nothing new. I know that a person can develop an allergy after time.

I did mount it in the wall and it looks great. I'm going to post some pics when I get home. most people thought that I was crazy for even thinking of doing this but when they've seen how it looks they are amased.

 

[smooth_bourbon]

I am impressed and have not seen it yet, I love the look of a built in tank. How to you have it set up to access them for feeding and cleaning? Oh I wasnt really thinking dust I was thinking more you might have exsposed some mold, or other funky thing that sometimes builds up inside walls.

 

[Tolak]

What are you using for a water treatment/dechlorinator, and are you allergic to sulfa drugs?

A friend of mine was using Novaqua for years, which deals with chlorine & chloramine only. It is basically sodium thiosulfate. He was having problems during the winter, when they increase additives to the water here, meaning more chloramine. Sodium thiosulfate will eliminate chlorine, break the chlorine/ammonia bond with chloramine removing the chlorine from that, and leave you witrh ammonia. He was having problems after water changes with fry dying off at a much higher rate then what would be normally expected in a breeding setup.

I suggested Prime, which converts ammonia to ammonium, with hydromethane sulfinate. It worked wonders for his fry, but he was getting a strange rash on his arms. He never connected the two until his adult son came over, who is allergic to sulfa drugs. He was down in the fishroom, smelled the Prime, which has the recognizable rotten egg sulfur smell, and commented on it. A light bulb went off in my buddies head, son is allergic, I'm Dad, but never took sulfa drugs. He switched dechlorinator, and the problem with the rash went away.

The bloodworm allergy is a more common one, but your water treatment is one you may want to look into as well.

 

[SouthernCross]

Unless you're allergic to water, I seriously doubt you're allergic to a fish tank.

I wouldn't necessarily discount something in the water so easily....not to mention there's fish waste and whatnot in there.

Just the other day I scratched myself without realising when I had a hangnail and had about 8 long broken skin scratches down my arm. I didn't think anything of it until about half an hour after I'd done some tank maintenance and had my arms in the tank (stupid looking back, now, shouldn't have put that arm in) but where the scratches were turned into giant itchy raised red welts. I don't have any allergies to speak of. It went down in a day after putting some special cream on it, but I'd imagine touching your eyes might have similar effects as contact with broken skin...you say you were careful but it's easy to touch your face unconsciously.

I guess it could have been something else that caused the scratches to welt up but I'd never had a reaction like that before and the only thing I could think of was my arms in the tank...just thought I might mention it.

 

[Peddles]

We went to see a allergist with my son...He is VERY allergic to moulds, the first thing the dr asked: Do you have a fishtank? We still have it, and he seems fine, I think it's because the filter is 'build into' the tank? I cleaned the filter material last week (my hubby usually does this), and my lips started to burn and feel puffy? I thought, maybe I might be allergic to the moulds also....So, it can be anything....Hope you find the answers soon.

 

[iairj84]

I dont think their are any molds in the filter material. Bacteria of sorts, yes, but not an molds. You could have had something in the wall that caused sneezing and itchy eyes. Fiberglass insulation is crazy and as you said you've been doing renovations so it's doubtful that's it but I dont think it would be directly caused by the fish tank just being a little bit bigger.
Maybe use gloves when you clean the tank or feed the fish? I guess try and eliminate every thing that could have changed recently. Maybe there's a new tree you or a neighbor planted that's just starting to bloom? I'm very allergic to almond blossom pollen and when the wind kicks up it reaks havoc in my nose and sinuses. It's best to get tested and then you know for sure... Dont give up on the fish just yet

 

[OohFeeshy]

For the time being, it might be a good idea to wear rubber gloves when you put your hands in the tank. I believe you can get long ones to protect the whole arm.

 

[Squid]

For the time being, it might be a good idea to wear rubber gloves when you put your hands in the tank. I believe you can get long ones to protect the whole arm.

Like the ones the vet uses when ....ehem, working with cows..