Hand Sanitisers & Aquariums?

[Ch4rlie]

Which brand of hand sanitiser was it? Maybe we can check which ingredients are the likely culprit.

Don’t think the brand of sanitiser has much bearing, maybe the cheap knock offs might be slightly less harmful for livestock but not by much imho.

This is a photo of back of my hand bottle of sanitiser, definitely no scientist and just about the only thing I understand is it’s 73% alcohol and has water in the ingredient listing.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Don’t think the brand of sanitiser has much bearing, maybe the cheap knock offs might be slightly less harmful for livestock but not by much imho.

This is a photo of back of my hand bottle of sanitiser, definitely no scientist and just about the only thing I understand is it’s 73% alcohol and has water in the ingredient listing.

View attachment 120325

We need @essjay in here

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

I know this is the daily mail, Not the most reliable paper, but It seems to be reported elsewhere.

The coronavirus necessity that is killing pet fish

The coronavirus crisis saw a spike in the use of sanitiser, which is generally created from an alcohol base.

www.dailymail.co.uk

It is probably the Alcohol itself, 70% alcohols massively toxic, imagine having a shot of absinthe and how you would feel

 

[Ch4rlie]

I know this is the daily mail, Not the most reliable paper, but It seems to be reported elsewhere.

The coronavirus necessity that is killing pet fish

The coronavirus crisis saw a spike in the use of sanitiser, which is generally created from an alcohol base.

www.dailymail.co.uk

It is probably the Alcohol itself, 70% alcohols massively toxic, imagine having a shot of absinthe and how you would feel

I read that article too, not totally enamoured with Daily Mail either but it’s relevant to this topic.

There are a few other short articles online about this as well but not much on theories on how to treat a tank or livestock once this hand gel sanitiser gets into the water column.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

This is a widely debated topic... “Should I wash/sanitize my hands before working in my aquarium?”

My personal belief, is no. Soap and sanitizer are a big no-no when it comes to an aquarium, IMO. No matter how hard to scrub, I believe that some soap residue remains on your hands - that’s why you get the good smell. Same thing comes to hand sanitizer.

Call me paranoid, lol.

(I wash my hands really thoroughly with super hot water and then I make sure not to touch anything from the sink to my tanks)

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

This is a widely debated topic... “Should I wash/sanitize my hands before working in my aquarium?”

My personal belief, is no. Soap and sanitizer are a big no-no when it comes to an aquarium, IMO. No matter how hard to scrub, I believe that some soap residue remains on your hands - that’s why you get the good smell. Same thing comes to hand sanitizer.

Call me paranoid, lol.

(I wash my hands really thoroughly with super hot water and then I make sure not to touch anything from the sink to my tanks)

I don't think any of us are deliberately using hand sanitiser then putting our hands in the tank. We're all a little more cautious than that. But it would be easy for someone to forget, or not to scrub under their nails enough, or in this case, for a small child to do it, not knowing any better because they're too young to understand.

Of course avoiding is best practice. But since accidents do happen, especially when young children are involved, it's a case of what can we do now to try to reduce the carnage.

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

I read that article too, not totally enamoured with Daily Mail either but it’s relevant to this topic.

There are a few other short articles online about this as well but not much on theories on how to treat a tank or livestock once this hand gel sanitiser gets into the water column.

So usually if you overdose with Anaesthetic or medication you have to flush water over the gills in an attempt to reduce the blood concentration. This is hard enough on a 2kg salmon let alone a 1g cory

 

[Tez_20]

If one was routinely using hand sanitiser gel throughout the day and forget to rinse or wash hands before putting hands into our aquarium, is this truly dangerous for our livestock?

Well that's one less worry on my hands as i can't use the stuff having Raynaud's but i always wash my hands before i mess with my tanks.

 

[Ch4rlie]

I think most of us have the habit of cleaning our hands and arms in just tap water, no soaps etc.

But it’s so easy to forget that you have hand sanitiser on your hands, especially if you routinely use hand gel throughout the day going out to shops, for work and the usual daily tasks everyone does when out and about.

Don’t forget, a lot of us have children, my son is 6 years old and I can imagine it’s all too easy for him to forget to wash his hands before feeding the fish or doing anything with the tanks.

Not that I teach him to do anything with the tanks, after all he’s only six. Accidents happens.

This is one reason why I put up this thread as this can happen to anyone and think would be good if we all can research or learn a little about this to see what one can do if their tank gets affected by hand sanitiser

 

[CassCats]

Well that's one less worry on my hands as i can't use the stuff having Raynaud's but i always wash my hands before i mess with my tanks.

I'm a stickler about it too. I'm so paranoid about anything contaminating the tanks. I work in kitchens, you don't know half the chemicals I come into contact with on the job. Before leaving work I Scrub up to my elbows and rinse like a crazy woman, my coworkers give me weird looks. Ive been off work since March but its still so ingrained.

At home too, anytime I go to feed the fish, handle anything related to the fish, I wash and rinse rinse rinse and then let thoroughly dry before hand.

But I didn't catch my kid in time.

 

[Tez_20]

At home too, anytime I go to feed the fish, handle anything related to the fish, I wash and rinse rinse rinse and then let thoroughly dry before hand.

This is exactly what i do wash them but keep rinsing and when i have shower no way do i touch inside my tanks at all because of the moisturizer i have to use, as i know it would hurt my fish.

What do you mean you didn't catch your kid in time if you don't mind me asking.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I wash my hands with dish soap before touching the tanks, rather than regular or liquid soap. I feel like it removes residues and grease, and with a thorough rinse, doesn't leave anything on my hands, and hasn't caused a contamination problem either. So I do think it's wise to wash your hands before (and after) touching a tank, but being sure of what you're using and how well you're rinsing is of course important. Those of us with long nails have to remember to scrub under those too, that hand sanitiser definitely left a sticky feeling residue under my nails.

Of course, none of this helps figure out what to do after something like this has happened, and it's so easy for it to happen, especially with young kids around, and the constant use of hand sanitiser now. I'm sure we're going to see a lot more cases as time goes on.

 

[CassCats]

What do you mean you didn't catch your kid in time if you don't mind me asking.

We had just got home and I started putting groceries away. Kid ran off and went and played, but then came back and told me he was letting the fish nibble his hands in the 55. It wasn't even 10 minutes being home.

Hes 5.

Its hard to not be really angry with him, because im furious with him, but he didn't realize he had stuff on his hands. I have to be rational but man I want to ground him until he's an old man for this.

 

[Tez_20]

We had just got home and I started putting groceries away. Kid ran off and went and played, but then came back and told me he was letting the fish nibble his hands in the 55. It wasn't even 10 minutes being home.

Hes 5.

Its hard to not be really angry with him, because im furious with him, but he didn't realize he had stuff on his hands. I have to be rational but man I want to ground him until he's an old man for this.

omg i bet that was a worry for you as i know it would be for me, i've got no children myself but i'm totally strict with the grandchildren when they did turn up, i always feel like i'm on patrol don't touch this or that.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hes 5.

Its hard to not be really angry with him, because im furious with him, but he didn't realize he had stuff on his hands. I have to be rational but man I want to ground him until he's an old man for this.

I get that, I really do

Don’t be too hard on him.

We love our kids with all our hearts and more but sometimes, just sometimes, just grrr ‘that kid!!!’