Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping => General Fishkeeping Chat => Topic started by: Sue on February 05, 2013, 08:38:23 AM

Title: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 05, 2013, 08:38:23 AM
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?
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: ColinB on February 05, 2013, 09:20:39 AM
I go on holiday for two weeks and just leave the tank - it's fine when I get back.

So you could...

a) reduce the feeding to reduce waste and leave it for another week

b) wrap a number of waterproof plasters around your finger and do the water change

c) do the water change one handed

d) get your husband to do it as it was his sarnies you were making

e) just do it and risk a hideous infection and your finger dropping off

f) a combination of any of the above.

Totally unhelpful - but I was bored. :)






p.s. if you keep piranhas then don't do e)  ;D
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: TigzFish on February 05, 2013, 09:30:22 AM
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.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 05, 2013, 10:09:49 AM
I had to laugh at your list Colin  ;D

a. The prefered option, the tanks will just have to look a mess.
b. Knowing me, the plasters would fall off into the tank and the fish would try to eat them
c. I'm clumsy enough anyway (hence the cut finger) and I'd probably damage something
d. My husband, do water changes  :o :o :o One spot of tank water and he scrubs whatever it landed on to within an inch of its life. I should never have used the word bacteria..........
e. Once the cut closes up, this is the other option. I have to take an aspirin a day and it takes ages for a cut to stop bleeding and close up so that option is a couple of days away



The betta's tank would be OK to leave as it never looks messy and with 1 betta in 25 litres it is very understocked. I wouldn't risk this tank anyway as this is the fish with the very odd looking growth, which probably isn't infectious to humans but.........


The other two are the problem appearance-wise. Both tanks have sand. Both tanks have wood. Both tanks have snails. Both tanks have Salvinia.
Debris just sits on sand and looks a mess.
Have you ever seen what wood that's been through a snail's digestive system looks like? The wood in both tanks is surrounded by little black pellets that are quite heavy and don't get moved around by the filter flow.
And individual Salvina plants - small floating plants - are always dying off and getting stuck to the filter. They just multilpy faster than they die so I'm always throwing handfuls in the compost bin.


Of course I was going to have to be careful with the 125 litre anyway as the apsitos spawned last week and the female seems to be guarding wrigglers somewhere in the depths of the wood.




I think I'll leave the tanks a couple of days and go and clean the bathroom & en-suite & downstairs loo instead. I always wear rubber gloves to do those anyway - I get eczema from the cleaning products.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Helen on February 05, 2013, 12:19:07 PM
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.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 05, 2013, 12:51:46 PM
I can imagine your problems reaching into the tank at the moment - you will give us details of the result of your bump in due course?  ;D

I think the answer is going to be to wait until it stops oozing blood then do as much as I can without putting that hand in the water. The cut is right on the tip of my finger and everything I touch pulls it open.





I've just had a horrible thought - I won't be able to do any cross stitch!!!!!! If I put a plaster on, it'll get in the way of the needle, if I don't I risk bleeding on it  :-\
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Helen on February 05, 2013, 01:09:54 PM
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?
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 05, 2013, 06:56:23 PM
I'm going to see on Thursday if I can do the water changes. I'm at the hairdresser tomorrow getting a cut'n'blowdry.
I keep doing things like this on water change day. Last time it was a burst blister from sweeping snow off the drive.


I have problems with thimbles, usually on my right hand though. I do a lot of sewing and quite often I manage to insert the blunt end of the needle into my finger tip pushing it through something a bit too thick. If it put a thimble on the damaged finger, I instinctively use another one to push the needle through. It has to be the way my brain is wired. My mother can use a thimble with no trouble, as did my grandmother who was a tailoress as a young woman.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Natalia on February 05, 2013, 09:57:40 PM
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.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 06, 2013, 09:11:03 AM
Hi Natalia, the main thing that makes me panic about cuts is that I had a 'fish tb' scare last year. I had a circle of tiny lumps come up on my forearm which quickly merged into a large nasty looking patch. It was right on top of a brown pigmented area (freckle? mole?) and touching a scar from where I caught my arm on the pointy bit of a door latch a few weeks earlier. I went straight to the doctor because of the mole/freckle. I had skin cancer* in the 1980s and I am well aware that changes to moles should be taken straight to the doctor. She discounted melanoma, but was very concerned it could be a mychobacter infection - she even called another doctor in for a second opnion. While I was waiting for the appointment with a dermatologist, the lump disappeared completely. The doctor never worked out what it was.

As for my husband, he is a cleanliness/tidyness fanatic. Yet another odd medical condition manifested itself a few years ago - ingrowing eyelashes. The first time it happened the doctor thought I had an eye infection. Husband's reaction - I must have splashed some nasty infected fish water in my eye. It turned out an eyelash had started growing inwards towards my eye and was rubbing on it causing it to go red.
He drives me mad on occassion accusing my fish tanks of all sorts of things. There is no way I'd be allowed to use a python for water changes and have tank water going down a sink. I'm not allowed to empty the buckets down the sink, I have to go outside come rain, shine or snow. I use a separate bucket to refil the tanks, and a jug to ladle the water in (I have been known to miss the tank puring water straight from the bucket!), and he objects to me putting my nice, clean, 'infected' refil jug on the worktop. What can you do with someone like that  :-\

The only thing to with fish tanks I seem to react to is frozen bloodworm. I get itchy fingers if I touch the cubes. It's not because they are frozen as someone once suggested as I have no problems with frozen daphnia and brine shrimp.

I am going to wait till tomorrow to do the water changes though because the tip of my finger stings badly when it gets wet  ;D


* The cancer was basal cell carcinoma on the side of my nostril. Usually, these lesions are just cut out and the sides of the hole stiched together. But I had to get it in one of the two most awkward places. You can't do that when the skin is over cartilage, so I had to have plastic surgery. I now have a strip of cheek skin running down the side of my nose. Because I was so young and had never been abroad the surgeon said it was not caused by exposure to sunlight. Scars from chemical and radiation burns are very prone to developing this cancer and since I have studied chemistry and worked with radioactive iodine, he reckoned that was the cause.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Chucklett on February 06, 2013, 12:41:16 PM
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!  ;D )
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: ColinB on February 06, 2013, 03:05:01 PM
As for my husband, he is a cleanliness/tidyness fanatic. Yet another odd medical condition manifested itself a few years ago - ingrowing eyelashes. The first time it happened the doctor thought I had an eye infection. Husband's reaction - I must have splashed some nasty infected fish water in my eye. It turned out an eyelash had started growing inwards towards my eye and was rubbing on it causing it to go red.
He drives me mad on occassion accusing my fish tanks of all sorts of things. There is no way I'd be allowed to use a python for water changes and have tank water going down a sink. I'm not allowed to empty the buckets down the sink, I have to go outside come rain, shine or snow. I use a separate bucket to refil the tanks, and a jug to ladle the water in (I have been known to miss the tank puring water straight from the bucket!), and he objects to me putting my nice, clean, 'infected' refil jug on the worktop. What can you do with someone like that  :-\

eek! That's more OCD than cleanliness.  He needs a good slap with a wet fish! ;)
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 06, 2013, 03:13:35 PM
He'd probably enjoy that so long he was then allowed to fry said wet fish in a bit of garlic-infused oil  ;D
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 07, 2013, 06:30:16 PM
I did my water changes today. I managed very minimal water contact with my left hand. The hardest part was trying not to knock over the wood in the 125 litre. It is very unstable so I usually take it out for the duration, but I couldn't do that today as the female apisto has her wrigglers stashed in one of the holes  ;D
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: SteveS on February 07, 2013, 09:00:34 PM
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?
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Helen on February 08, 2013, 05:03:52 PM
Tee hee Steve, I think you might be right. I think the fish will be hoping that it isn't the case, as they'll suffer a bit less neglect!

Sue, can we have some pics of your tanks?  :P  I know you had some on the old gallery and there are some of your lovely apistos and danios, but it would be nice to see your tanks too?  :)
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 08, 2013, 05:16:12 PM
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  ;D Even at 32 and 30 they can still cause problems  ;D


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  :D 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.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Natalia on February 08, 2013, 08:06:00 PM
Hi all,
Of course, SteveS, Sue and Helen herself are right – this is just a beginning. What I meant: the wait is over, being bigger than usual is over...It is sooo easy to get misunderstood, indeed...
Of course, a new period of life will start – and it is especially difficult to spare some time to a fish tank (to ANYTHING) when one has a baby to care for... On my “other forum” there are mostly males posting – dedication to planted tanks is huge. So, they all go about “the wife” objecting to one thing or another because they have young children... So, again, Helen: I wish you all the very best and the best of luck for being able to stay in the hobby with a baby to care for and take all your priorities from anything else....
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Natalia on February 08, 2013, 08:11:47 PM
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! :)
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Nat on February 08, 2013, 08:37:04 PM
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?

I use Elastoplast Aqua Protect, £3.25 (pack of 20) from Lloyds Pharmacy, but I've also seen them in Boots. They are actually water repellant and don't unstick in water.

Nat
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Anna Robinson on February 09, 2013, 10:18:43 AM

The only thing to with fish tanks I seem to react to is frozen bloodworm. I get itchy fingers if I touch the cubes. It's not because they are frozen as someone once suggested as I have no problems with frozen daphnia and brine shrimp.
You may already be aware of this, Sue, but this is a fairly well-known allergy. Brief summary here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1567285 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1567285) It would be best for you not to handle bloodworm, frozen or dried, if you get a reaction.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 09, 2013, 12:40:26 PM
Thanks for the link Anna. I had a discussion on another forum with someone who said there was no such thing as allergy to blood worm, I was just reacting to touching something cold even though I don't react to frozen cubes of anything else. I had read something once about such an allergy but couldn't remember where - now I have more than just a vague reference but an actual link!

I still use blood worm but I hold it with tweezers to cut a section off
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Flatdog on February 20, 2013, 06:51:48 AM
A bit late but here's what I do with cuts.
Clean it and then close the cut with "superglue" ( Cyanoacrylate ). It stops the bleeding and the cut heals in less than half the time. You could also use a surgical glove and close the open end with an elastic band. Hope this helps.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on February 20, 2013, 08:34:18 AM
That's an interesting idea, Flatdog! Would the glue seal a cut tight enough to stop bacteria getting through? I know cyanoacrylate glue is fish-safe as you can use it to make tank decor with.
One problem I have is that cuts etc bleed a lot and for a long time (I'm on daily aspirin to prevent blood clots, and it does stop blood clotting!) and I'd also be worried if blood got in a tank.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Flatdog on February 20, 2013, 03:18:19 PM
Not too sure about the bacteria but I do know from experiance that it does stop the bleeding completely, even cuts that needed stitches, so I think it should stop the bugs.
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: chester1o66 on March 02, 2013, 08:15:56 PM
Ive kept fish for 8 years now - i'm always cutting my hands on something or another, and ive never contracted anything from the fish tanks. I swim in the sea in Hastings.....maybe im immune!!
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Resa on March 03, 2013, 02:38:12 AM
Hi Sue,
Thinking about your cut finger....I was wondering if you could go online and get such a beast as a full arm rubber glove like the vets use when exploring the rear end of a cow!  Mind you, you might want to be careful what you put in to the search engine ;D!  I'm glad you have mentioned about cuts and fish water as I am always taking lumps out of my hands, just today I have managed to slice 1/2" out of my finger on a paint can and I already have various cuts to my other hand...they are extremely sore.  Like you, I have a problem with my blood and have to take anticoagulants after having a pulmonary embolism last year closely followed by a bout of pneumonia.  Fortunately, because I live in France I was taken care of very well.  I had 5 days in intensive care followed by 3 days on a normal ward.  I say normal, but it differed from the UK experiences I have had by virtue of no wards are bigger than twin rooms, (I had a single) all results, blood, x-rays, cat scans etc are back the same day, sometimes within the hour.  Oh, and of course, you get wine with your meal!  Anyway, I shall be sure to be careful when dealing with water changes when I have fish.
Hope your finger is feeling better today.

P.S. That's a good tip from Flatdog, the hospitals use a superglue!  Though actually, I prefer ColinB's suggestions!!!
Title: Re: Cut finger
Post by: Sue on March 03, 2013, 11:48:44 AM
I cut another finger a week and a half ago, on water change day yet again  :-[ This time it was quite deep, right in the joint at the top of my little finger (trying to break a thread that wouldn't). 8 days it took to heal over. I did try Flatdog's glue idea but it peeled off the next day.

Last year when I had the fish tb scare I bought some pond gloves. They cover the whole of my arm. Perfect, I thought, till I took them out of the pack. There is no way I would put something that smelled that bad into my fish tanks. Even now a year later the greenhouse (ie glass shed) still stinks.

I do have medical problems but nothing like you had Resa. I just have type 2 diabetes, still diet contolled 13 years after diagnosis, which is why I have to take aspirin (I don't take any medication for the diabetes itself, but I do have to take medication to prevent side effects like heart attacks and strokes). But I am also supposed to take care not to let cuts etc get infected. This is why I get paranoid about putting cuts into tank water.