Saltwater harsh on fingernails....

Liz

Liz

AC Members
Mar 25, 2005
691
0
16
37
Sorry if this has already been discussed, I did a search and skimmed a few pages and didn't find anything so I am hoping it hasn't.

Besides keeping my own brackish (hopefully soon-to-be-marine) tank, I (despite lack of knowledge) work part time at a mainly-marine LFS scrubbing down algae for the most part. This is pretty harsh on my fingernails, which used to be pretty long and strong. I have thought about using gloves, but I would need ones that would go up to my elbows.... I am the only female working there, so I know I would look a little bit like a pansy wearing big old gloves to protect my nails. Any other ideas or tricks of what I can do to keep the damage minimal, or to compensate for the damage to my nails?

I was thinking of rubbing some oils into my nails/cuticles before and after to help protect them, but I know some of them are irritants and such and probably not safe for fish.
 
A lot of people use long gloves to protect them from marine toxins, and to protect the livestock from soaps and stuff on our hands. Long latex gloves that don't have coatings will do the trick.
 
IME< It depends. The saltwater isn't what's harsh, it's the contact with the rock and corals and sand. The SW is actually good for your skin, as long as you rinse and lotion following working in the tank, but the abrasion from working with rock and sand can really rub and damage. Wearing the gloves is probably going to be the only way to protect your ahnds--there won't be anything you can rub on that will prevent the abrasions.

If someone comments on you wearing gloves, tell them to shove off. As long as the job gets done, it shouldn't matter if you choose to protect yourself during the task, and frankly, OSHA would bust butts if they found out the business requires you to work with potentially lethal animals without protective gear. Some people have serious allergic reactions to a whole rash (pun intended) of aquatic items, from salt mix to coral toxins to bloodworms. A little caution can go a long way, for both genders!
 
OrionGirl said:
IME< It depends. The saltwater isn't what's harsh, it's the contact with the rock and corals and sand. The SW is actually good for your skin, as long as you rinse and lotion following working in the tank, but the abrasion from working with rock and sand can really rub and damage. Wearing the gloves is probably going to be the only way to protect your ahnds--there won't be anything you can rub on that will prevent the abrasions.

If someone comments on you wearing gloves, tell them to shove off. As long as the job gets done, it shouldn't matter if you choose to protect yourself during the task, and frankly, OSHA would bust butts if they found out the business requires you to work with potentially lethal animals without protective gear. Some people have serious allergic reactions to a whole rash (pun intended) of aquatic items, from salt mix to coral toxins to bloodworms. A little caution can go a long way, for both genders!
Click to expand...

Yeah, the LFS is definately very casual... a bit too casual. They didn't even alert me about the Lionfish, which I thought I remembered hearing they were poisonous but I trusted that if they were, someone would have told me... but then they were probably just assuming I knew. So I stuck my hand in there to scrub the algae and some customers got really quiet and watched me so I figured that basically confirmed that idea which I had pushed to the back of my mind about them being poisonous.

Then we've got a cone snail recently... ick

I'd be more comfortable wearing elbowgloves but its not the standard there... and I'm the biggest (only) n00b there so they'd probably think I was being overly cautious and all that.
 
Nevermind what they think, gloves are the way to go. Take it from someone who 1) works in a LFS and 2) has had a reaction to something toxic in my tank, gloves are a wonderful thing. Not only will your nails stay nice, you'll also be safer :D
 
would vasilone be harmful to fish? seems that you could put that on your hands but then your hand would be greasy ick lol
 
I wouldn't use any grease or lubricants of that kind in the tank. It would wear off, rise to the top, and at minimum contribute to a greasy slick on the surface of the water.
 
During work yesterday I went to publix to check out some gloves. I found some yellow ones that come about halfway to the elbow. A lot of them were treated with antimicrobial stuff and whatnot, but I found a generic pair that, so far as the packaging can tell, is plain old latex gloves.

Would vinyl gloves work? Do they make vinyl gloves that come up your arm? I suspect I have a slight latex allergy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom