Holy ouching cow!

[treesprite]

 

 

I was pulling out the little pieces of rubble and caulerpa from the back section of the hex, not able to actually see where I was reaching or what I was grabbing to pull out. The only pair of tweezers I have are some rusty ones I had been using to pull feather dusters off the liverock a few weeks ago. I pulled a bunch of the bristles out with those using a magnifying glass, then got out the masking tape to try to get the ones i couldn't really see. I can still feel some in there that I can't see and couldn't remove.

Edited July 14, 2010 by treesprite

[Hilary]

Youch!!

[iceman]

duct tape will do wonders...

[hypertech]

Soak it in vinegar. The bristles usually dissolve. It will stay a little red for about a day.

[flowerseller]

ooh,

get new pair of tweezers from fishnreef.com

[zygote2k]

Hydrochloric Acid works best. A quick dip dissolves all the spines, then rinse in water.

Nice picture by the way.

[Quantum Aquaria]

Been there, done that. Spent two hours pulling everything I could. It was painful and red for a couple of days but eventually was ok after a couple of days

[Coral Hind]

Wouldn't the tweezer or duct tape method be best since it pulls them out instead of just dissolving what is on the outside?

[zygote2k]

Wouldn't the tweezer or duct tape method be best since it pulls them out instead of just dissolving what is on the outside?

No- it dossolves the stuff that's inside your skin as well. I learned this from Justin- while fragging one day, I grabbed a big bristle worw and he said to go dip it in HCL and it worked very quickly and no rash or anything.

[truestelf]

done something similar myself i used tweezers as i don't have acid laying around the house...

[Origami]

Great picture, Forrest. Sorry for the incident. I like the acid idea, whether it's vinegar or diluted muriatic acid (HCl).

[TonyD]

No- it dossolves the stuff that's inside your skin as well. I learned this from Justin- while fragging one day, I grabbed a big bristle worw and he said to go dip it in HCL and it worked very quickly and no rash or anything.

 

Dissolved everything including parts of his finger.....that's why they call him nubby.

[treesprite]

Finger is good as new now. I was a little panicked when I caught all those spines - I have never had it happen before, so I had no idea what to expect.

 

Anyone know what the spines are made of? They remind me of tiny pieces of fiberglass - anyone who grew up in the days of old fashioned fiberglass insulation and had incident to handle it without gloves, might know what I'm talking about - it too was prickly and ouchy.

 

It is a cool pic, huh? Maybe it could go in the newsletter under "hands-in-tank safety". It would be nice if someone would write an entire book on aquarium reef-keeping hazzards. Would also be nice to have a presentation on the subject at a future meeting.

[reefmontalvo]

I think they are calcium based. Any mild acid will dissolve them away and besure to use a triple anitbiotic cream just in the event some bacteria didnt get washed away.

[Coral Hind]

This is just another good reminder for me to wear gloves when working in the tank. I'm glad your finger is all better!