Stung by Live Rock?

Gloves are good. Lots of great defense mechanisms out there. Keep a close eye on the wounds(s). Get to a doctor if you notice infection setting in. There are some nasty bacteria in tanks too and if your skin has been punctured whilst underwater, your primary physical defense has been compromised. Just be careful.

 

Well put. My bristle wounds took over a week to look normal. I get scared to put my hands anywhere near rock at this point. I know I have a fire worm in the tank so I take no chances!

 

will regular latex gloves work, or do I need something thicker?

 

Latex probably won't hold off the bites or stings. They sell gloves that go all the way up to your elbow. They are especially for aquarium use. I have these and after reading about all the things that can come out of lr I will be wearing them to touch anything in my tank. LOL

 

Very well said. We tend to forget that we are always subject to coral poisoning since we think of our tanks as our little hobby world. What we have in our tanks are still the same things in the oceans that we are warned not to step on because of chance of coral poisoning. They are pretty to look at, but they will inflict the same damage on our hands doing tank cleanings as their brothers would do if we stepped on them in the wild.

 

Even dish washing gloves help when you work with the rocks, they are thick enough. Just make sure you don't use any that were previously used for washing dishes.

 

I will always wear gloves since lately I have read some horror stories of people getting bacteria infections, nodules that had to be surgically removed, stings, bites, etc...

A guy at a LFS I go to, says he has been stung so many times that he now has severe allergic reactions, so he has to wear gloves at all times, so you don't always get immuned to it, you could actually have bad reactions to stings, bites, etc.

I say be safe not sorry! Wear dishwashing gloves or the aqua gloves..