Hand Sanitisers & Aquariums?

[Ch4rlie]

Oh no!

Sorry for your losses @seangee

Really hope that’s the worst over and no more losses.

Did you happen to have hand sanitiser on your hands making you think that this could have been the cause for this?

 

[CassCats]

@seangee I'm so sorry to see you lost some too. Its a horrible experience and seems to be especially harsh for scaleless fish.
My barbs in the same tank weren't fatally affected, but it hit the scaleless very hard.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Arghhh - think I fell foul of this. Who said COVID won't affect our fish.
When I came back from my break this week the fish room (AKA Sean's office) had a really bad smell. The cause was lots of dead dwarf chain loach (scaleless and very sensitive). After removing the dead bodies I changed as much water as I could and have done 2 75% changes since. I have been wracking my brains as to what could have been the cause and now this makes sense.

The day I left I had loads of Amazon deliveries and also changed the water in all the tanks - that tank was first on the list. Today is the first time I have seen the survivors out and about behaving as normal. They have been in deep hiding mode for the last 3 days. I know for certain that I have 3 survivors (out of 14 ) but I am not disturbing the wood to get an accurate head count as I suspect they could do without the additional stress. Thankfully the microdevario kubotai seem unaffected. Plants are growing out of the tank with all that extra ammonium (its an acidic tank), but thankfully I had them to soak it up.

Oh I'm so sorry!

That's awful, I hate that anyone is going through these losses. I hope the people who think it's nonsense and that we're running about saying 'the sky is falling' are more willing to listen now and recognise that if it can happen to you both, it can happen to anyone. It's terrible that you've both had these losses, but hopefully this thread will help others to be more aware and careful after using hand sanitiser and cleaning wipes.

 

[seangee]

Did you happen to have hand sanitiser on your hands making you think that this could have been the cause for this?

Honestly I can't say it was 3 weeks ago. My routine for parcels is bring them in, remove and bin the packaging and then use sanitiser. Then I was using soap and water. I am usually good about rinsing my hands in hot water (no soap) before going near the fish, but can't guarantee this. We went to take delivery of a holiday lodge, so there were loads of deliveries the entire week to get it stocked up

 

[Jim Sinclair]

Due to the covid 19 that’s happening currently, there lots of folks, myself included now use hand sanitisers quite a number of times during the day every day

Have been reading about hand sanitisers and the ingredients of those seem to be high in alcohol and Aloe Vera as swell as other chemicals that helps deodorise smells etc

Obviously those are dangerous for our fishy friends.

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?

What cures or recommendations would you suggest if something like this was to happen to one of our members?

For example I would suggest the following-

Large water changes
Adding active carbon

Would even moving the livestock to a new tank be recommended as would the hand sanitiser cling on surfaces in the aquarium?

Also will the beneficial bacteria and/or filter media be affected?

Lots of questions and not much answers from my google searches so far.

Last month a guy at a nearby LFS told me he was getting a lot of frantic calls from people whose fish were sick and dying due to hand sanitizer contamination. I was certain that wasn't the cause of the problem I was consulting him about (I only use hand sanitizer when away from home, then wash my hands thoroughly with soap and water immediately upon arriving home), so I didn't find out what his recommendation would be if that were a possibility. But it seems it is definitely a problem that people are seeing now that frequent hand sanitizer use is more common than it used to be.

 

[AilyNC]

@seangee so sorry about your losses. Must've been very disheartening coming home to that.

 

[xxamyxx85]

@NCaquatics i am so sorry this has happened to you, it has been so hard to read your posts, I can feel your sadness and pain through your words. Sending lots of kind thoughts your way!

 

[vanalisa]

@NCaquatics I was thinking of you and what happened and thought I would check this thread, now I read @seangee has had a similar misfortune. My heart goes out to you both... ♡♡

 

[Jim Sinclair]

If anyone works in a place that uses these industrial ones, it would be helpful to check the brand or ingredients if you can and are able to share it (some workplaces this can be a no-no).

Maybe we can get a general idea of what is a potential problem.

I'm not sure if employees would know, below corporate management level.

Some local supermarkets here have Purell-labeled hand sanitizer dispensers at the doors and throughout the stores, but papers taped onto them saying that for cost-saving purposes they are not using Purell brand but an alternative brand that their experts have determined has comparable effectiveness. No indication of what the alternate brand is. I doubt the staff at the local stores know what brand corporate headquarters chose.

I am a poll worker at elections. This past summer at my state's primary election, polling places were supplied with hand sanitizer as well as bottles of a disinfectant solution for wiping down pens and voting equipment between users. I was looking at the label on the bottle to see what brand they were using and what the ingredients were. Someone from the Board of Elections happened to be there checking in on our station. She told me that the stuff in the bottle wasn't actually the product indicated by the label. They were refilling empty bottles with whatever new disinfectant solution they purchased in mass industrial quantities. And when I asked what brand they were using to refill the bottles, she didn't know.

(If someone will post a reminder for me on November 3, I will ask again what brands of hand sanitizer and disinfectant are in the bottles and will report back on whether anyone knows the answer.)

I think the best practice is to wash hands very thoroughly with plenty of soap and water immediately upon coming home. That's good hygiene practice anyway, whether or not you have fish, whether or not there's a pandemic.

Also maybe wear gloves when out, and see if the shops that require and monitor sanitizer use will accept your using their sanitizer on your gloves instead of on your bare skin.

And obviously this wouldn't have helped in NC's situation where a young child made unauthorized contact with aquarium water, but for adults doing routine maintenance, you can wear gloves for that too (only powder-free ones, of course). I've worn gloves when doing water changes for years, mostly because I don't like to have fishy-smelling hands afterward. But it can also protect the fish from anything that may be on your hands.

 

[CassCats]

I'm not sure if employees would know, below corporate management level.

Some local supermarkets here have Purell-labeled hand sanitizer dispensers at the doors and throughout the stores, but papers taped onto them saying that for cost-saving purposes they are not using Purell brand but an alternative brand that their experts have determined has comparable effectiveness. No indication of what the alternate brand is. I doubt the staff at the local stores know what brand corporate headquarters chose.

I am a poll worker at elections. This past summer at my state's primary election, polling places were supplied with hand sanitizer as well as bottles of a disinfectant solution for wiping down pens and voting equipment between users. I was looking at the label on the bottle to see what brand they were using and what the ingredients were. Someone from the Board of Elections happened to be there checking in on our station. She told me that the stuff in the bottle wasn't actually the product indicated by the label. They were refilling empty bottles with whatever new disinfectant solution they purchased in mass industrial quantities. And when I asked what brand they were using to refill the bottles, she didn't know.

(If someone will post a reminder for me on November 3, I will ask again what brands of hand sanitizer and disinfectant are in the bottles and will report back on whether anyone knows the answer.)

I think the best practice is to wash hands very thoroughly with plenty of soap and water immediately upon coming home. That's good hygiene practice anyway, whether or not you have fish, whether or not there's a pandemic.

Also maybe wear gloves when out, and see if the shops that require and monitor sanitizer use will accept your using their sanitizer on your gloves instead of on your bare skin.

And obviously this wouldn't have helped in NC's situation where a young child made unauthorized contact with aquarium water, but for adults doing routine maintenance, you can wear gloves for that too (only powder-free ones, of course). I've worn gloves when doing water changes for years, mostly because I don't like to have fishy-smelling hands afterward. But it can also protect the fish from anything that may be on your hands.

Thats a scary thought, so who the heck will even know whats in the chemicals theyre adding to their hands.

The glove idea is a good one though to prevent things.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

There is a plant tong for planting the former. It saves you putting in your entire arm.

When you feed the fish, do you use use your bare fingers or a measuring spoon to give them the dry food ?

https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aqua...MIjde6vajS7AIVaRoGAB36lgRNEAQYASABEgKE7PD_BwE

 

[HoldenOn]

There is a plant tong for planting the former. It saves you putting in your entire arm.

When you feed the fish, do you use use your bare fingers or a measuring spoon to give them the dry food ?

https://www.aquaristikshop.com/aqua...MIjde6vajS7AIVaRoGAB36lgRNEAQYASABEgKE7PD_BwE

Keeping your arm out of an aquarium is impossible after a certain amount of time. Eventually you are going to have to put your hand in, whether it be to adjust something, remove something in a hard to get spot, or even just re-decorate.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

Keeping your arm out of an aquarium is impossible after a certain amount of time. Eventually you are going to have to put your hand in, whether it be to adjust something, remove something in a hard to get spot, or even just re-decorate.

How about using long plastic gloves?

Segolike 1 Pair 75cm Industrial Anti Chemical Acid Alkali Rubber Gloves Light Yellow | Wish

Buy Segolike 1 Pair 75cm Industrial Anti Chemical Acid Alkali Rubber Gloves Light Yellow at Wish - Shopping Made Fun

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[HoldenOn]

How about using long plastic gloves?

Segolike 1 Pair 75cm Industrial Anti Chemical Acid Alkali Rubber Gloves Light Yellow | Wish

Buy Segolike 1 Pair 75cm Industrial Anti Chemical Acid Alkali Rubber Gloves Light Yellow at Wish - Shopping Made Fun

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Might leach over time, not to mention it would make everything far more difficult.

I'm just saying it is highly impractical to do maintenance on a tank without using your hands, or covering them in thick gloves .

 

[Gypsy Tart]

Might leach over time, not to mention it would make everything far more difficult.

I'm just saying it is highly impractical to do maintenance on a tank without using your hands, or covering them in thick gloves .

I sort of got a hunch that my ideas are not very good ones.