Something in my tank is burning my eyes.

I have the same problem, the water really irritates my skin. I've got a pair of coralife aqua gloves, but it is very hard to work in the tank with them. Small pieces of live rock and corals and hard to hold onto.

I've added disposable armpit length gloves to my supplies. They work great until you touch something, then they start to leak. Overall they work well though, if I just need to move something quick they work fine. Plus, if you stir up the sand bed with them on it feels cool.

 

i get itchy when i put my arms in the water , i got some gloves like what jason suggested and they work well no more rashes ....

 

When you work on your tank, are your lights on? Depending on your lighting setup adn type, and if they are on, it is possible that your eyes are being exposed to UV light which will cause your eyes to burn. If the lighting is intense enough, the whites of your eyes will be burned red, and will be irritated for several days (just like sunburn).

Other than that, and what is presented in the other responses, I can't think of any other sources for your irritation.

P2B

 

I vote bacteria, because my arm (only use one) gets super itchy after pruning plants in my FW planted tank.

 

Er what aint poision in your tank

Hi,
well after reading all the articiles about the bacterial soup we call a fish tank its a miracle anything can live in it.
Let face it the water recycles thru some pads and maybe pretty nasty, I have heard about some nasty Marinum AFB can live in your tank sand, and most of the animals may have chemical defense, Some of those soft corals can kill if it gets in your blood.
I ve been stung by my anemones I ve heard a few people can go into shock from a allergic reaction I just itch like I was using fiberglass ..
SOOOOO who knows what I can tell you is if you have a saltwater tank you probably have a damp wall that could grow mold and everyone seems to be sensative to molds.
MAybe its the mold in carpet not your tanks.:
HEHE
Doug

PSPS I ve worked aroung allergy clinics and the more you react to something IE irritant/allergin the more sensative you can become so maybe the gloves is a good idea.
And some benadryl incase you have a bad reaction or difficulty breathing can mke a big difference on you way to the DR, I can't tell you how many people i knwowho are allergic to cats and have them..

 

It's the salt, It does the same thing for me... When ever I touch my salt, mixing water, or cleaning my tank my eyes start watering. My skin starts breaking out too. Take a shower when your done cleaning your tank.

 

Possible Explanation:

So when this happened my wife had told her boss about the whole situation and how I was up all night freaking out and everything. Well its been a while now and tonight she came home and told me that her boss was talking to her about this show she watched on the discovery channel and in part of that show they were talking about these little microscopic jelly fish. They said that when these things sting, its most direct affect is in the peoples eyes and a select few people that swim in the ocean as well as people that keep saltwater tanks seem to experience this and may not even know they get stung unless they were aware of the capabilities of the jellyfish affecting the eyes. If this was common I thought I would have read about it by now but it was an interesting theory and I would really like to see that show.

 

I have these gloves. They are good for moving things like rocks for aquascapes. They are a bit to inaccurate for anything else. Good buy though if you are getting bad reactions. I usually use latex (non powder) gloves.

 

Likely its the bacteria from your tank. I had some issues with this a couple years ago. It seemed like I was constantly going through eyedrops (although mine were only about $12 a bottle, the polysporin antibiotic behind-the-counter ones). Anyway, I finally linked it to my tank. So now I've turned into one of those compulsive hand washer types. I never do tank stuff right before bed, always a few hours before and I end up washing my arms and hands right away (they're usually in the water up to my armpit anyway). Then I wash my hands a few more times before bed and use a nailbrush under my nails. If you know youre not going to be messing around with the tank again (like definitely) use dishsoap and lather it up really well. I know it sounds a bit OCD but I think my eyes have become pretty damaged after the repeated infections and they're the only ones I have

 

i would wonder how jelly fish would get in your system unless your water or sand are coming straight from the ocean since you said you had no corals at the beginning of this thread