Reefing Tools

[seabass]

16 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

I've never cleaned mine out. 

I wouldn't say it's necessary, and I only occasionally suggest others do it.  No matter how well I maintain the substrate, it always collects detritus.  However, there's a valid argument to leave it alone too.  Again, many different ways to reef.

 

15 minutes ago, TILTON said:

Are the gloves necessary?  Will a good hand wash before sticking your hands in the tank suffice?

The responsible side of me says they will help protect you, as well as the inhabitants.  However, the practical side of me will tell you that most of us don't wear gloves when doing common maintenance (but do wear some sort of glove when fragging coral or handling sharp rock).  Wash your hands with soap and water and make sure to rinse off all of the soap (even when wearing gloves).  Then for your protection, wash your hands thoroughly afterward to get off the bacteria.

 

I once had a clownfish intent on biting me (in fact, I think I still have her).  I started wearing thick gloves, and she realized that she couldn't intimidate me anymore.  She eventually stopped trying.

[burtbollinger]

13 minutes ago, TILTON said:

Are the gloves necessary?  Will a good hand wash before sticking your hands in the tank suffice?

i've only used gloves when doing Bayer dips...or if doing heavy work with rocks with Palys.

[Thrassian Atoll]

Just now, seabass said:

I wouldn't say it's necessary, and I only occasionally suggest others do it.  No matter how well I maintain the substrate, it always collects detritus.  However, there's a valid argument to leave it alone too.  Again, many different ways to reef.

 

The responsible side of me says the will help protect you, as well as the inhabitants.  However, the practical side of me will tell you that most of us don't wear gloves when doing common maintenance (but do wear some sort of glove when fragging coral or handling sharp rock).  Wash your hands with soap and water and make sure to rinse off all of the soap (even when wearing gloves).  Then for your protection, wash your hands thoroughly afterward to get off the bacteria.

 

I once had a clownfish intent on biting me (in fact, I think I still have her).  I started wearing thick gloves, and she realized that she couldn't intimidate me anymore.  She eventually stopped trying.

Thanks, appreciate the response.

[burtbollinger]

...

EDIT: double post.

 

how the heck do we delete posts?

[Thrassian Atoll]

1 minute ago, burtbollinger said:

i've only used gloves when doing Bayer dips...or if doing heavy work with rocks with Palys.

 

Yeah, I wore some latex gloves when I dipped my montis in Bayer.  I heard that stuff is pretty bad.  I am more worried about introducing something to my tank, rather than protecting myself I guess.

[seabass]

I mostly get concerned about me when I have a cut or burn.  It's easy to get infections from your tank.  Usually I'll suspend all maintenance until my hand or arm heals.  I use New-Skin liquid bandage on the cut, and wear gloves if I must.  Hey, another reef tool:

[MockandRoll]

15 minutes ago, TILTON said:

Are the gloves necessary?  Will a good hand wash before sticking your hands in the tank suffice?

Keeping SPS in small tanks is hard enough without introducing some toxin everytime you put your hand in the tank.  You are introducing something whether you like it or not if you don't use gloves. It could be chlorine from washing your hands or lotion/soap from multiple hours before. Trace elements stay on your skin no matter how much you wash. Ever since I started using gloves religiously my corals have looked a lot better. This is just an opinion but I think gloves make a big difference in keeping SPS long-term in smaller tanks. 

[Thrassian Atoll]

3 minutes ago, seabass said:

I mostly get concerned about me when I have a cut or burn.  It's easy to get infections from your tank.  Usually I'll suspend all maintenance until my hand or arm heals.  I use New-Skin liquid bandage on the cut, and wear gloves if I must.  Hey, another reef tool:

 

I guess being in Hawaii for 4 years and getting in the ocean frequently has my brain not thinking about it too much.  I am sure I need to remove that mindset though as I bet there are a lot more things to worry about in a nano tank rather than getting in the ocean.  

[seabass]

When I was a kid, I wiped out on a moped on Sanibel Island (off of Florida).  I was all cut up, and had a mild burn on my leg.  The next day we went jet skiing in the Gulf; tore off all my scabs.  Didn't think much about it.  Still, I did get an infection from the ocean once (nasty puss and stuff), had to go to the doc.

[Thrassian Atoll]

4 minutes ago, seabass said:

When I was a kid, I wiped out on a moped on Sanibel Island (off of Florida).  I was all cut up, and had a mild burn on my leg.  The next day we went jet skiing in the Gulf; tore of all my scabs.  Didn't think much about it.  Still, I did get an infection from the ocean once (nasty puss and stuff), had to go to the doc.

 

Nasty haha

[seabass]

I'm not sure if you remember the classic style jet ski (where you don't sit down).

Those were sure a lot of fun.

[Thrassian Atoll]

4 minutes ago, seabass said:

I'm not sure if you remember the classic style jet ski (where you don't sit down).

Those were sure a lot of fun.

 

Never road one but I remember those.  

[seabass]

You're missing out.  Although at my age, the sit down version suits me just fine now.  Although last time I road one of those, I broke 60 mph (with a cell phone, my wallet, and my car's key fob in my pockets).

[MockandRoll]

5 hours ago, seabass said:

I'm not sure if you remember the classic style jet ski (where you don't sit down).

Those were sure a lot of fun.

I had one of those as a kid. I could never stay on after going airborne. 

[Clown79]

I cut my knee on liverock snorkeling. I cleaned it well for fear of infection. There's a ton of bacteria in the ocean.

 

I wear gloves because I frequently have cuts on my fingers, i'm very sensitive and I react quickly so for me it's just safer to wear gloves.

 

 

 

[Ebn]

Some of the tools. Obviously missing some key stuff, like the Flipper that I use every other day.

 

[seabass]

That's impressive.  Mine are scattered all over.  I've probably spent a half an hour looking for something that I knew I had somewhere.

 

I'm going downstairs to clean it up now.

[MockandRoll]

1 hour ago, Ebn said:

Some of the tools. Obviously missing some key stuff, like the Flipper that I use every other day.

 

Nice set!!

[xthunt]

I've got the same yellow gloves thats in the original post. Got them after smelling rock thats exposed to air, because I got tired of washing my forearm before and after, and one of the clowns started nipping. 

 

Flashlight is handy too for peeking in the sump area to see the filter pad, seeing if it (the sump walls) needs to be cleaned, looking at something in display with white light, and using red light to check on tank at night. 

 

I probably use the pipettes that came with refractometer the most. Dosing something, sucking pellets (whenever Im too lazy to feed meat) out of shotglass to feed under water, cleaning frags. I found a straw like extension that fits the tip perfect and lets me suck up pellets that fall to sand, or even target feed anywhere. 

 

I do need to find some nice forceps, tweezers or some grabbers. 

[Lula_Mae]

On 8/6/2017 at 9:57 AM, seabass said:

Then there are chemicals.  I have bleach, muriatic acid, 3% and 35% hydrogen peroxide, and vinegar.  Not to mention reef supplements, and fertilizers (like iron, nitrate, phosphate, etc).

Do you have the SDS for all those chemicals?

On 8/9/2017 at 4:52 PM, burtbollinger said:

...

EDIT: double post.

 

how the heck do we delete posts?

I believe we have a certain infamous Derrick to thank for the loss of that privilege...

 

I had a couple specks of salt get on my forceps because I accidentally left them near the tank, and they rusted.

[seabass]

3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Do you have the SDS for all those chemicals?

A couple of them are pretty scary in their undiluted state.   And don't even consider mixing. 

[Thrassian Atoll]

Wish they stuck with MSDS's and didn't switch to SDS.

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, TILTON said:

Wish they stuck with MSDS's and didn't switch to SDS.

I know, right?  Makes no sense to me!