Anyone ever get sick from their fish??

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Fish harbor a lot of potentially dangerous microorganisms. My oncologist said there is no way they would have a fish tank in the inpatient oncology unit because of all the pathogens associated with a fish tank. After my fish bit me, I kept my hands out of our tank until after my chemotherapy treatments were completed. Infections from fish can be really serious.
 
Been keeping fish for over 40 years and never an issue with anything. Anyone who is worried about their fish tank better not even think of smoking a cigarette. Which is more dangerous than many water changes or fish tanks. People who write these gloom and doom articles have too much time on their hands. I think I'am going to spray some water from my gravel back into the sink from my mouth. LOL
 
Never had a problem in 20 years or so,and i have been eating while doing tanks and etc. I tend to wash and rinse my hands more before i go in my tank so not to hurt my fish
 
When I took over the fish room at a pet store with 80some freshwater tanks (all in deplorable condition, most without even a heater or filter, GROSS..) and 4 saltwater sytems I was concerned about pathogens and bacteria, especially since I was using razors daily to remove black brush algea that covered about half of them and I have birds that scratch my hands and arms up pretty good.
I spent up to 8 hours a day working in those tanks rinsing my hands in between tanks but never really washing or drying them until I was done or going to eat.
I did that for a year, worked in 2 more stores doing the same thing (with far cleaner tanks, thank god) over the next 2 years, plus I have my own fish.
Never had any serious problems. Some irritation working with the coral tanks, especially since I was warring to erradicate (control really) the aptaisia infestation in those first 4 salt systems. If I did a lot of work in the coral system, moving the live rock and touching some of the corals, I got tons of tiny scratches and a rash but it always went away within a day.

Had more problems getting zapped by the crappy wiring and damaged powerheads than anything..
 
I remember reading this article as well when it first got published... Definitely got me thinking since at that time my puffer was getting treated for IP's and i always wondered IF i had a cut on my hand whats the chance i could get IPs myself?


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pacu mom said:
Fish harbor a lot of potentially dangerous microorganisms. My oncologist said there is no way they would have a fish tank in the inpatient oncology unit .........
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no doubt!
I believe that our little dog got sick from licking at gravel vacc water, which drains out to the garden. she's on 6 weeks of antibiotics meant for livestock :-/ and no guarantees she can go off them without symptoms recurring.

I laughed mostly because those gloves aren't long enough to help with deep tanks.
 
Good to hear that its not common for people to catch stuff from their tanks.

I'm surprised some of you don't wash your hands after messing with your tanks. I always wash my hands right just to be clean.

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I have never gotten sick as a result of my tanks, but I do know of workers(biologists and hatchery) that have died as a direct result of nasty bacterial infections. There are some very potent dangerous things out there, but like most, they can be quite rare. I remember doing some research on a bacteria found on cold water species. I never did identify it, but it deteriorated the flesh of the infected fish and was resistant to almost every medication we tried. When I was culturing and researching it, you better believe I was wearing gloves and a facemask. That was the only time I was worried about a fish disease.

In most cases, the conditions we keep our fish tanks are probably clean enough that I would not worry about becoming sick. As long as you are buying healthy stock and keep up with maintenance, you shouldnt have a problem. There are things in the water, but most found in aquaria are not that serious and a healthy body should fight off a small infection without making you sick. My hands are always cut up, but I never wash my hands after my fish tanks or my reptile tanks. IMO you come into contact with much worse things on a daily basis than bacteria from your pets
 
Hahaha! Once I have to prime a DIY overflow pipe only to discover that there was a rotting lionchu goldfish that I have been looking for inside it. Gave me the scares that I will get flesh-eating bacteria (or something else) in my lungs or my brain through my nasal cavity. So far, there is nothing to be afraid of inside my tank as it is very clean.
 
One time I did a water change on a tank that was having a really bad ammonia spike and I had an open wound on my hand (wasn't bleeding) and it hurt from the ammonia burn

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