what do you wash your hands with?

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eric b 125

Guest
so we all know not to use things like dish soap to clean our tanks/equipment, and dont use lotion on our hands before sticking them in the tank, but a lot of times when we wash our hands, the soap leaves behind a residue on our skin after rinsing. what do you think is the best soap to use before going in the aquarium?
 

stanlalee

Active Member
any soap that is actually soap (fat and sodium hydroxide) . If hands are washed and just as importantly rinsed properly there is little chance of anything being left from soap (that was soap does suspend and encapsulate dirt, oil, bacteria ect in water and washes it away hydrophilically with rinsing, hence the dirt leaves and stays out of your clothes and goes with the water in a washing machine). this is why "anti bacterial" soap is one of those useless inventions that serves marketing more than function (calcium supplemented anti-acids fall into that category as well since calcium isn't efficiently absorbed once you neutralize stomach acids. a few things I learned in nursing school). washed properly 99% of bacteria is already removed and the antibacterial agents arent in contact with your skin long enough to do anything anyway unless you wash your hands for several minutes. If regular soap wasn't efficient in removing bacteria anti-bacterial soap would have been a mainstay a long time ago by neccessity. anyhow what ever is left on your hands is either from hard water, improper rinsing, chemically unsound soap or attached to your hands strong enough to not come off in your tank. soap scum ect is from hard rinse water and/or incomplete rinsing.
 

doc308

Member
warm saltwater and a scrub brush prior to working in the tank. antibacterial soap afterwards.
 

goinbroke

Member
i was almost going to start a post like this yesterday!
im a tobacco farmer and always have my hands in the dirt so my hands are always dry. i use hand lotion all the time. i've forgotton to wash them before putting them in the tank with lotion on them! is this very bad? i'm going to start washing with soap and water before digging around in my tank. than wash afterwords and re-apply lotion. think hand lotion causes algae?
i have noticed that my skimmers will stop producing foam somtimes after i put my hands in the tank. probally from the lotion.....
 

small triggers

Active Member
clear liquid softsoap. and my husband thinks its weird now that i dont wear any perfumes or lotions anymore. If i do, then not only do i wash even better i use my gloves and wash the insides when i am done. The only reason i dont wear perfumes anymore and lotions is when i had my 35g jsut set up, i wasnt thinking and put my hands in the tank, later it looked like an oil spill and i killed my 1st 2 fish
So now i am diligent
 

flower

Well-Known Member
I actually nearly killed my entire tank once with puff plus lotion tissues. I had a bad cold and handled my rock looking for a coral eating worm. I did lots more damage than that stupid worm.
Perfume, underarm deodorant, lotion, house cleansers, glass cleaner and tobacco...are poisons to your fish tank.
Rinsing with good hot water WITHOUT soap is the best thing. Even your cloths that have been dried with dryer sheets is dangerous.
The smelly good things your release in the same room (like Lysol) could cause problems if it is airborne too close and settles on the aquarium.
 

uneverno

Active Member
Hot tap water followed by RO water rinse. Dry w/ paper towels - otherwise I invariably end up w/ cat hair in the tank...
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by uneverno
http:///forum/post/3008544
Hot tap water followed by RO water rinse. Dry w/ paper towels - otherwise I invariably end up w/ cat hair in the tank...
Dog hair from my shepherd just floats on the air and gets in there
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
I hate antibacterial soaps. They aren't good for you you know.
Really hot water unless my hands are actually dirty. I like to use dove soap and rinse under hot water until the smell of the soap isn't present...then I wait a little while and rinse once again.
 

oceansidefish

Active Member
Hot water here too, if you dry your hands I don't see any need to rinse them in RO...Your not going to really get anything in the tank that way
 
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vinnyraptor

Guest
rinse with hot tap up to the arm pit and make sure my pits never go in the water(deodorant) i smoke so i run my hands under for atleast 2 minutes. i keep a small fan running 24/7 overtop of my tank blowing out so no aerosols, smoke, carpet fresh, etc get into my system. i have had film on the water before though i just use a powerhead on the surface and let the skimmer get it.
i dont think tanks are that fragile just rinse real good and use common sense. if you were using a harsh chemical like paint remover or varnish keep your hands out of your tank for a few days and scrub like a surgeon.
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by VinnyRaptor
http:///forum/post/3009581
rinse with hot tap up to the arm pit and make sure my pits never go in the water(deodorant) i smoke so i run my hands under for atleast 2 minutes. i keep a small fan running 24/7 overtop of my tank blowing out so no aerosols, smoke, carpet fresh, etc get into my system. i have had film on the water before though i just use a powerhead on the surface and let the skimmer get it.
i dont think tanks are that fragile just rinse real good and use common sense. if you were using a harsh chemical like paint remover or varnish keep your hands out of your tank for a few days and scrub like a surgeon.
They aren't that fragile in general, but really small tanks could be devastated by dirty hands.
 

uneverno

Active Member
Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
http:///forum/post/3009573
Hot water here too, if you dry your hands I don't see any need to rinse them in RO...Your not going to really get anything in the tank that way
Prolly true - I'm just paranoid
 
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