Cut Finger

Just a general query - how do other members do a water change with a cut finger?

My husband wanted sandwiches made from left over Sunday joint, so I made them while he ate his breakfast. The meat was too thick for a sandwich so I had to slice it thinner, and being half asleep managed to slip and the knife went into the top of my big finger on my left hand.
The problem is, it's water change day on three tanks. Members of the old forum might remember the scare I had last year with a possible fish tb infection on the site of a cut on my arm (I caught it on a door latch!) so I'm now very reluctant to put damaged skin into a tank.

So what do I do? Risk an infection in an open cut? Try and use a rubber glove on that hand, though I'll most likely get the glove full of water? Or let the tanks go however long it takes for the cut to heal when it's already a week since the last water change?





PS, ever tried typing with a plaster wrapped round the end of a finger?

I use disposable gloves (thicker but similar to surgical gloves) and make sure that the damaged hand only handles equipment and does not get immersed in the water.  It is a little awkward working as though you have one hand in a sling, but getting an infection rare as it may be, isn't something I want to experience.  Plenty of anti-bacterial hand-wash on hand too, as per normal.

Would a half hearted water change with one hand be possible? Just changing the water instead of the cleaning the bottom thoroughly? It wouldn't get past it looking perhaps a bit unsightly, but it would keep a hold on the water conditions getting too extreme?

As my baby bump has got bigger, I have discovered that my arms don't reach into the tank very well, so I've been gradually developing water change techniques that require me to only put one hand in the tank at a time. I also have no hope of reaching the back of the tank! (The gap I left down one side, is now too small for me to get in to reach the back corner) Because I can't reach all the tank to clean it, I have been doing slightly larger water changes - where possible. I do have a syphon that you move up and down to get going, so that means I can usually get pretty close to the bottom of the tank without completely immersing my hand, even if I can't reach to vacuum the non-planted areas.

I guess because I have a fairly heavily planted tank, the plants tend to help keep the muck under control in the areas I can't reach. And also I have a fantastic husband that moves and empties buckets of water for me.

I realised this weekend that I'd not cleaned my filter for way too long. But bigger water changes seemed to have helped to keep my tank under control, even though the muck has obviously been building up. (I normally rinse the filter media and parts every couple of weeks in one bucket of water. This time took two buckets and looked like really good fertiliser for the garden!)

Hope you find a convenient solution and your cut heals well.

I was thinking about posting the results of the bump in the 'other pets' section!    Hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Probably with a bizarre time stamp!

Would a plaster and thimble be the solution for the cross stitch? I'm thinking the thimble might help to keep the plaster in place and stop the would opening.

I hadn't realised from your other posts that the cut was still oozing. It is really difficult to seal cuts on the ends of fingers. Could you use the finger of a stretchy plastic glove (like a decorator's glove, or the ones they use in labs etc) and wrap sticky plaster around the finger to seal it? So the glove bit would actually be doing the job of covering and sealing the wound, but the sticky has something to secure to?

Hi all,
I am going to be an “odd one” yet again on this forum.
Disclaimer: Please, do NOT take this as an advice and in NO way I am recommending the below as a course of action – this is just personal thoughts and experience! 
I had to write this in the current day and age when I can be sued! Ha-ha.
What would I do if I cut my finger and a water change is due? Well, we have received a letter from the water supply Company that they will be doing pipe flushing very soon. So, I am in a race against my spare from work time to do water changes on all the tanks. Whilst doing my smallest one today, I managed to cut my finger in the process – don’t ask me: I have no idea why a relatively non sharp piece of plastic can create such a deep and a truly bleeding cut. What did I do – I continued only being worried that my blood may contaminate the tank’s water! I had to stop for about 10 mins and put a paper kitchen towel to the cut to stop it bleeding – and then carried on. The cut is on my right hand thumb, just at the tip, so there was no way I could cover it (plasters do not work when you do something under water, by the way!).
There is an excellent article by famous Diana Walstad on Mychobacteriosis which state, apart from other things, that the fact the water supply is treated to kill bacteria it creates a lovely and cosy environment for Mychobacteria to multiply as they like in our everyday water supply. Mycobacterium are not killed but bleach or other treatments used. The other bacteria does get killed – freeing the space for Mycobacterium to multiply! We actually DRINK water infested by Mychobacteria every day... I do not remember the link straight away but if any of you interested just google “Diana Walstad Mychobacteriosis” – it should come up in the search.
Sue, with all respect to your husband, I think his attitudes are bringing the mankind to extinction. “Dettol protects” generation lives their lives in a sterile environment, which results inevitably in the humans with weakened immune system. It is when all those Science Fiction movies come to life: a BIG BUG or BACTERIA comes along and destroys the humankind because the humans lost their immune system due to sterile environment.... Personally, I do not bother washing fruit and veg unless they have obvious particles of compost on – I have not died so far. On the contrary, I have spent next to nothing time off work due to illness (do not remember when it was last time!). My husband, luckily, supports this opinion, so I have no domestics over that. Both my husband and I developed some sort of eczema last winter. We did think it was the tanks water (I do maintenance but he likes to fiddle around “his” tank moving decor and CO2 dispenser). HOWEVER, this eczema, as we discovered, does NOT coincide with dipping our hands in water. In my case (confirmed by nurses visiting my work) it is simply stress (I had a lot of it last Autumn with all my problems coming up together).
Again – all of the above is just a personal opinion. All of us are grown up people – so, please, make your own judgements/decisions!
P.S. Helen , posting the news on “other pets” !  I wish you all the best – please let us know when it is over and you have a lovely addition to the family.

I am going to be an “odd one” yet again on this forum.

Not on your own Natalia - Im right behind you with this one 

What did I do – I continued only being worried that my blood may contaminate the tank’s water!

Just what I would do! Heaven forbid I harm my fish!

With no disrespect to anyone elses opinions, whilst reading this thread I was thinking that sea water is probably more disgusting than whats in a fish tank yet a lot of people dont give a seconds thought to jumping in the water at the beach, cut or no cut.

That said, I know exactly where you're coming from Sue. Once you've had a scare like that, you do tend to be very cautious in avoiding situations that has the possibility of repeating a bad experience. Thats human nature. I hope your cut heals very soon.

P.S. Helen , posting the news on “other pets” !  I wish you all the best – please let us know when it is over and you have a lovely addition to the family.

Hear Hear! Good luck Helen  (I had to laugh at you posting in the "Other Pets" section - love it!  )

He'd probably enjoy that so long he was then allowed to fry said wet fish in a bit of garlic-infused oil 

P.S. Helen , posting the news on “other pets” !  I wish you all the best – please let us know when it is over and you have a lovely addition to the family.

Not that I have any experience in this field but "When it's over" is when it all begins isn't it?

Steve is quite right. I have two sons born 2 years 4 days apart (same due date, the first was 3 days late the second a week late) and I can vouch for his statement  Even at 32 and 30 they can still cause problems 


I'll have to take some more photos. I still have the pics that were on the old forum, but things have changed since they were taken.

And the apsito wasn't too distressed by the water change. My husband had the day off today so we've been in and out all day. I noticed when we got back for the last time at about 3.30 that she wasn't guarding the wood any more, but she was chasing away any fish that got too close to a plastic root ornament that is covered in java fern. After a bit of fish watching I spotted one fry in there  Exactly 7 days after the eggs were laid.
They won't be there tomorrow with loaches in the tank. I'm not too concerned about this as the parents are brother and sister. I know breeders mate mother/son and father/daughter all the time, but sibling mating isn't really approved of.

Hi Chuck,
I am really pleased you support me on this one...  My wound was in the very awkward place on my thumb – REALLY very difficult to heal: whatever I did, pulled the skin a little and the wound would come open yet again... I did my water changes anyway (2 tanks each evening after 10 work no matter if I was coming home late). What helps, as I discovered, is to wrap microporous tape around your finger really tight and in a couple of layers – it just keeps put for a sufficient time and keeps the wound from opening again whilst “fiddling” with the equipment. It does get soggy eventually and needs to be taken off but it did help me.

P.S. Sue, with your husband’s attitudes, you must be a saint!