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Re: Gloves?



>Subject: germ freak needs glove suggestions
>
>I'm probably a little more worried than most about the nasties in my 
>aquarium.  I recently bought the coralife gloves but they were too big for 
>my hand and I could not trim plants well.  In fact the fingers were so big 
>they would not fit through the handles of the trimming tools I use.
>
>Does anyone have any good suggestions for aquarium gloves?
>
>Roger

If you have a compromised immune disorder(or not),  then it's in terms of
risk factors.  Using gloves will not prevent you from getting germs. It can
transfer germs just as easily as your fingers. If you wash your hands/arms
you will be fine and kill all of those nasty germs. Same goes for the
gloves. You would have to be very careful to make sure you don't get any of
the water on you from the gloves after using them or when taking them off.
Now if you cut your finger while working in the tank, well..... it won't
matter either way. You should wash BEFORE you take them off. Either way , if
your concerned, you'll need to wash(or when in doubt - wash). Most gloves,
unless stated,  are not sterile BTW. So you could be adding a non sterile
item to your hand from the start. And are your hands a source also?

A surgical supply place should have long latex/silicone gloves that you
might find much more nimble. With most gloves, it takes time to get good at
using them. Later, you cannot use anything else<g>. Well........ then you
have to get use another type again(say going from vinyl to latex). 
Perhaps this helps, perhaps this made things worse. (you can also get
sterile glove from these places too which may minimize your risk factors).
As far as risk go, driving a car, shaking folk's hands etc are far more
likely to cause you harm than a fish tank. I don't have the stat's on deaths
or illnesses caused by fish tanks but I think we can assume it is quite low.
I do not know of any verifiable cases reported to the CDC.
Regards, 
Tom Barr