Can my fish get me sick?

[Incredulous_Ed]

Can my fish get me sick? could I get some fatal or life-changing disease by keeping fish? whenever I change the water, I start the siphon by sucking on it. Is this a bad thing? some one please answer the questions!

[Abbeys_Mom]

Yes, your fish can make you sick. The water can carry salmonella.

[Neithan]

Well.. I'm not trying to spook people, but there is the possibility of fish TB. If your fish are fine you shouldn't have anything to worry about from that though.

If you're worried about contracting something, get a siphon you don't have to start by sucking. If you're extremely worried, get long gloves for when you have to put your hands in the water. I know some people who have allergies use them to prevent getting rashes from the tank water.

[Glasstapper]

Just like water that is good for humans is not good for fish, water good for fish is not good for humans. Just think....they poop in that water.

You probably should see about getting one of those siphons that start with just a rapid up and down motion. I think I bought mine for $5 US.

[Abbeys_Mom]

Or you can start your syphon by filling the hose with water and plugging one end with your thumb till it is over the lip of the tank and below the water line.

[Lady Hobbs]

I syphon mine as well but have learned to get very, very fast at getting my mouth off it. Not so fast in the beginning but one needs to step up the pace after getting a mouthful a few times. I can hear the water starting up the tube now and no longer have that problem.

[Severus]

Or you can start your syphon by filling the hose with water and plugging one end with your thumb till it is over the lip of the tank and below the water line.

That is what i do, i just stick the entire hose in with one end plugged and it builds up enough pressure to start siphoning itself

[Neithan]

I have one with a little squeezable hand pump thingy on the other end, just waiting to see how long that thing actually lasts before the plastic decides it's had enough =P

[kimmers318]

EEEWWWW! Starting your siphon with your mouth....never considered it, there is a much simpler way! Have your bucket ready in reach....your vac ready to go into tank. Your gravel vac should have a large tube attached to a smaller hose. Simply fill the large tube by submersing it under water in the tank with the opening pointing up, as you pull it out of the water gravity will take the water downhill towards the end of the hose which you should have above your bucket with thumb ready to stop the flow. Once water is coming out the end of the hose cover it with your thumb, re-submerge the vac tube under water, once the vac tube is full again, simply turn it upside down and you are ready to vacuum...it will start siphoning water as soon as you release your thumb from the end of the tube. There is no chance of you drinking your tank water and if you can keep your thumb ready to stop the flow you never have to worry about objects being sucked up that you don't want sucked up (small fish, decor), if you simply plug the end of the hose with your thumb stopping the water flow, whatever is in your vac will fall back into the tank from simple gravity. For higher tanks I just set the bucket on a chair to keep it within reach.thumbs2:

[jeffs99dime]

for getting my cannister started, i stick a turkey baster in the outlet side of the hose and squeeze the ball.

[Lindsay_D]

we do that in shop all the time. i've accidently swallowed the water but never got sick. even though it tasted nasty!

now we have freshmen do it or do what abbeys_mom said and submerge the hose

[Incredulous_Ed]

Thank you everyone for the tips.
As hobbs said, I have siphoned with my mouth so much that I can avoid getting water in my mouth.
Kimmers, you're idea is great, but I have a small 5 gal tank that requires frequent water changes and the vac does not fit all the way into it, so I can't use that method. But I'll use it on my larger tanks, so thanks. :)
So thanks everybody. :)
What exactly is fish tuberculosis, and how would it be transfered to me?

[Lindsay_D]

oh yeah i forgot you can't just go and grab a freshmen can you! lol

[Incredulous_Ed]

oh yeah i forgot you can't just go and grab a freshmen can you! lol
I could always get my little sister to do it.
My brother always made me do that when I was young. I hated it. I alwways got water it my mouth and had to gargle mouthwash for 2 minutes.

[Lindsay_D]

sorry ed...my older brother was more into skateboarding than fish...

i was the first one to do anything in my family...(go to a tech school, not try to go to college right after school, not make honor roll) its crazy

[Neithan]

What exactly is fish tuberculosis, and how would it be transfered to me?

Some info on it:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/universal-viewid40.html

http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/mycobacteriummarinum.htm

[Incredulous_Ed]

oooh....
One of my Zebra Danios has a curved spine. is this normal, or is it TB?

[Abbeys_Mom]

wow, I am so glad I read that. Looking back now, I realize that one of my tanks had T.B. ( several years ago). Lucky I never got sick from it. I knew something was wrong with the fish back then, but I would never have guess TB.

[Neithan]

Curved spines can come from a multitude of reasons, TB being the less likely one. Specially if the fish are healthy otherwise.

The 2 most common causes for curved spines I've heard of are an over exaggerated, heavy tail fin and keeping fish that have been bred in hard/alkaline water in soft/acidic water.

Just because there is something like fish TB, doesn't mean that it's lurking right around the corner =P

[Nautilus29]

I think one of my aunts fish had tb. Its body looked like this:

oooo
oooo

about half way through it just took a 90 degree turn and then the back half of it was about a half an inch lower than the front. It ended up dieing. It slowly kept getting worst untill it died. The fish was only about 1.5 inches long too so thats how far down the tale was.

[Neithan]

Ahem. If one fish has TB, it's more than likely that ALL of them have it. The only way you can be certain of TB is to send the fish to be examined.

[jeffs99dime]

tuburculosis is an airborne disease anyway. you have to be exposed to it for long periods of time. the chance that you will contract the disease, especially from your aquarium fish is slim to none. also, if you're really worried about it you can go to your doctor and request a p.p.d. test, which will discover if you have t.b. or not.-- i used to work in a hospital and my mother is a specialized nurse. i was subjected to all kinds of vile stuff, never got sick once (three years)

[Incredulous_Ed]

I see. The zebra danio with the curved back is the dominant fish in the school, so I don't think it has TB.
Also, I just read that zebras get a curved spine when they are older, so I guess it's not TB.

[Neithan]

The human tuberculosis probably is airborne, but the fish variety isn't - how else could fish get it? =P

[jeffs99dime]

there is oxygen in water

[Neithan]

Mycobacterium marinum can be transmitted from fish and marine animals directly or indirectly through water or contaminated equipment such as aquarium tanks and water-syphoning tubes to humans. So, this infectious agent is a Zoonosis and protective measures should be taken during handling to prevent transmission.

Human and fish TB are two different diseases, so what goes for one doesn't necessarily go for the other. Even the symptoms are different between the two.

[jman]

Well.. I'm not trying to spook people, but there is the possibility of fish TB. If your fish are fine you shouldn't have anything to worry about from that though.

If you're worried about contracting something, get a siphon you don't have to start by sucking. If you're extremely worried, get long gloves for when you have to put your hands in the water. I know some people who have allergies use them to prevent getting rashes from the tank water.

wow allergies from fish water has got to be a bummer.

[WCMMinnow]

Can my fish get me sick? could I get some fatal or life-changing disease by keeping fish? whenever I change the water, I start the siphon by sucking on it. Is this a bad thing? some one please answer the questions!
ack! lol.... u use ur mouth?

i gotta syphon and i put it on the bottom of the tank with both ends facing up to get as much air out of it as possible... then i take the small end and cover it with my thumb... then take the small end out of the water, put it over a bucket, move my thumb away and u should get some water flow..... ur tank has gotta be up higher than the bucket

[lamonsas]

i suck on the hose aswell mate, its the easiest way, and i never had water in my mouth, besides i ALWAYS wash the syphon with hot water before i change water and after i finish using the syphon

[Incredulous_Ed]

I started this thread a year ago. I haven't been using my mouth to siphon for about a year, lol