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Do you use gloves?

r0ck0

r0ck0

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Does anyone use full arm gloves when working in their tank? I do because if I reach in the tank bare handed the oils from my skin make the skimmer overflow. Do those of you with bigger tanks notice this or not because of the water volume difference. The gloves I use are from Sam's animal feed and supply in san jose, .15cents each, thin plastic that go up past the elbow. The only problem with these gloves is they are not tight fitting so its hard to do fine detail work.

questions:
Do you use gloves?
Do you think its better for the tank, besides the skimmer overflowing.
Do you know of a place to order (or better, purchase locally) tight fitting latex elbow length gloves?

Thanks again!
 
That's odd.. Skimmer head usually are effected the opposite... IE killed by oils. What skimmer do you run?

I want to use glove, but I keep forgetting to get new ones. My old ones got brittle (Coralife) years ago so i tossed them. I upgraded to "disposable" nitrile ones that I use many times, but I ran out and even though I routinely see my sister, I always forget to ask for more.

I don't think natural human oils effect the tank much if any.

I usually ask my DVM sister for those, she gets very nice Nitrile ones.
 
GreshamH said:
That's odd.. Skimmer head usually are effected the opposite... IE killed by oils. What skimmer do you run?

I want to use glove, but I keep forgetting to get new ones. My old ones got brittle (Coralife) years ago so i tossed them. I upgraded to "disposable" nitrile ones that I use many times, but I ran out and even though I routinely see my sister, I always forget to ask for more.

I don't think natural human oils effect the tank much if any.

I usually ask my DVM sister for those, she gets very nice Nitrile ones.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree its odd that it makes the skimmer overflow. Whenever I feed the skimmer just dies down, I put my hand in and it overflows. Its a deltec MCE600.

I've seen the coralife gloves but they seem too thick and bulky. I've searched google but the only thing I can find are manufacturers and alibaba type wholesale sites. I have boxes of exam gloves but they only go to the wrist.
 
Dr's usually do go shoulder deep into a patient, but DVMs do ;) Check livestock suppliers, they sell them.

The Coralife ones suck. I only used them as they were FREE :lol: They are too thick but still get punctured. They get brittle over time as well.
 
GreshamH said:
Dr's usually do go shoulder deep into a patient, but DVMs do ;) Check livestock suppliers, they sell them.
Click to expand...

I got the shoulder gloves I have currently from a feed supply store but they are the loose plastic type, not latex. I will keep searching.

Gomer said:
This may sound odd, but any chance you don't rinse the soap off your hand well enough?
Click to expand...

Before I got the gloves I would rinse my hands with fresh water without soap to remove any soap residue from earlier in the day and get any dirt and oils off. It didn't help.
 
I suspect it overflows not from more bubbles but rather due to more water and less bubbles being pushed through (increasing the water height in the skimmer body).
 
GreshamH said:
I suspect it overflows not from more bubbles but rather due to more water and less bubbles being pushed through (increasing the water height in the skimmer body).
Click to expand...

Yeah that would make sense but it doesn't do that when I wear the gloves!
 
r0ck0 said:
GreshamH said:
Dr's usually do go shoulder deep into a patient, but DVMs do ;) Check livestock suppliers, they sell them.
Click to expand...

I got the shoulder gloves I have currently from a feed supply store but they are the loose plastic type, not latex. I will keep searching.

Gomer said:
This may sound odd, but any chance you don't rinse the soap off your hand well enough?
Click to expand...

Before I got the gloves I would rinse my hands with fresh water without soap to remove any soap residue from earlier in the day and get any dirt and oils off. It didn't help.
Click to expand...

Yah those don't work so hot.

I wish this link would tell you more about there's... http://www.southpointesurgical.com/gloves.aspx

Here's 12"... http://www.criticaltool.com/high-five-nitrile-exam-gloves-long-powder-gree-n893-n892.html

http://www.neogen.com/AnimalSafety/AS_IE_Product_List.asp?Catagory_ID=6d

Dang, yeah, nitrile shoulder length are hard to find on google :(
 
r0ck0 said:
GreshamH said:
I suspect it overflows not from more bubbles but rather due to more water and less bubbles being pushed through (increasing the water height in the skimmer body).
Click to expand...

Yeah that would make sense but it doesn't do that when I wear the gloves!
Click to expand...

That makes me think you really don't understand what I said as what you just said is in favor of my post :lol:

When a venturi pulls air into the water it displaces the water (less water). Some skimmers when the air is unable to create bubbles, or is interrupted, the water level rises and can flood the collection cup. A prime example of a skimmer that does this is the Elos.
 
Honestly... I wish I did use gloves more. I have the orange "animal" gloves that allow you to go shoulder deep, but those things quite honestly suck if you touch just about anything in the tank as they're very thin and leak quite readily. I like the latex type gloves that fit.. well like a glove, as they are a bit thicker... still quite easy to puncture though, and unless I have weird shaped wrists water gets in unless I put a rubber band around so tight that my hand turns purple.. (slight exaggeration but pretty damn close).

I'm not terribly worried about what from me will go into the tank, I mean with all the dusty that you see on vertical surfaces its kind of silly to think none of that goes in your tank too, not to mention I occasionally see bugs flying around. I am worried about potential bacteria from the tank going into me though, I have had some nasty almost deadly wounds happen while in the tank, and it got me being a lot more careful while in the tank, although there have been times when I'd grip a rock really hard with my hand to hold it still and I remember how stupid that is.

The BAYMAC talk on this was absolutely great, however unless I can find a pair of sturdy gloves that ALSO allow for finger dexterity (the above mentioned coralife gloves are far from it) I doubt I'll do much more, hell in fact about the only thing that changed from that talk was now my wife won't allow me to use anything from the kitchen on the tank, or any of the "good towels" (which at this point is every towel even the ratty ones)... which is why I bought the costco box of Shamwows
 
I rarely use gloves... I got the coralife ones a long time ago and they were kind of thick and I didn't have enough feeling when trying to move corals, etc. It's definitely safer to... but I probably won't.
 
I have the big coralife gloves.
I use those when I need to pick up a rock or something where I might get cut.
Otherwise, I usually just don't bother.
Agree that so much junk goes in there, what is a little oil. And not like I stick my hand in
the tank that often anyway.
 
You have oily hands!!!

I don't use gloves. I like to feel anemone sliming me up and swallowing my whole hand.
I like clown fish pulling hair one by one from the back of my palm.

It's part of the hobby ;-)
 
zepplock said:
You have oily hands!!!

I don't use gloves. I like to feel anemone sliming me up and swallowing my whole hand.
I like clown fish pulling hair one by one from the back of my palm.

It's part of the hobby ;-)
Click to expand...

Yes!

I do get a kick out of my cleaner shrimp zipping over to my hand and getting down to business.
That led to my kid naming them "Tickle".

My clown fish is quite friendly though. Never had any issues like I read about.
Although "Rocket Pack" (my Bicolor Dottyback) is not always so thrilled to see me.
 
rygh said:
zepplock said:
You have oily hands!!!

I don't use gloves. I like to feel anemone sliming me up and swallowing my whole hand.
I like clown fish pulling hair one by one from the back of my palm.

It's part of the hobby ;-)
Click to expand...

Yes!

I do get a kick out of my cleaner shrimp zipping over to my hand and getting down to business.
That led to my kid naming them "Tickle".

My clown fish is quite friendly though. Never had any issues like I read about.
Although "Rocket Pack" (my Bicolor Dottyback) is not always so thrilled to see me.
Click to expand...

The female clown I have goes nuts as soon as anything touches water. She bites pretty bad and goes after everything.
I was showing my tank to my 8mo daughter and she touched water with her hand - clown zipped to the surface and actually jumped out trying to catch her hand.

p.s. I blame fingerwinkles for his crazy home-bred clowns ;-)
 
I had the same experience with the bulky Coralife gloves that other members mentioned. When doing a lot of maintenance in the tank or aquascaping, I use a pair of yellow cleaning gloves, with rubber bands near the top, partially cutting off circulation to my forearms.
 
I only use Coralife gloves to spot feed, get the nori clips or when I am working close to my zoa/paly garden where a bristle worm lives. :O Sometimes I put them on when I get a frag that has fallen off the rack. But when I do a cleaning I don't use them.
 
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