Hives

[VikingPrincess]

So I have something very odd just happen.

I was cleaning out my 29 gallon tank,scooping water out and I noticed my arm became really itchy and inflamed. I then noticed very itchy hives all up my right arm.

I have owned fish and aquariums for many,many years (since I was 11...I am 27 now) and never had this happen to me before. What would cause this?? It is weird. I dunno what I would be allergic to? This is not a new tank or new fish,there are no live plants in the tank...I dunno...?

I tried looking up Google,but found nothing. This is new to me.

[Oldfishlady]

It sounds like some type of allergic reaction-it may or may not be related to the tank...the water or additives in the tank may have aggravated it.....are you allergic to anything or anything new added to the tank-new fish food like bloodworms....lots of people can be allergic to bloodworms....

[hedgehog]

Had you recently added any chemicals? I've noticed that if I work in the fish tank shortly after adding water treatments (within 24 hours) I get hives. In my case I'm certain its the specific additive because after I stopped using it I stopped having problems. I used it again this weekend and lo and behold I had an allergic reaction.

[Spook]

This actually happened to me just this morning!

My first instinct was to blame the bloodworms, because I've never had a problem handling them before, so I tend to use my fingers when feeding. But then I remembered that I'd stuck my arm into my brand new 30g tank to fix a plant, right before I fed the bloodworms to my betta in the smaller 5 gallon. I've been handling the bloodworms for weeks now with no complications, so I guess it must be something in the water of the larger tank?

I'm actually leaning towards blaming the substrate I put in the tank. I noticed that the itchy feeling was worse after I dusted off a few of my plants which had collected substrate dust (the tank was extremely cloudy the first night, so some dust had settled on the leaves).

[Bombalurina]

I fed my goldfish bloodworms for quite a while before I started having a reaction (a good six months), but when I did, it was really bad (it has a terrible effect on my eyes, rather than my skin). It may not be bloodworms, but you can be doing something the same way for years and then get a reaction from it for no discernable reason.

[Spook]

Oh my... I guess I'll start being more careful about handling bloodworms from now on, just in case.

[VikingPrincess]

Thanks for the input guys. I took some Benadryl and it cleared up pretty quick.

I do feed my fish bloodworms (both freeze dried and frozen/thawed). I never got any reaction like this before. It happened while I was emptying the aquarium,scooping water out and my arm was submerged into the water. I was doing a bit of reading and apparently food/feces trapped in the filter can cause an allergic reaction to us...so that also could be a cause.

I don't use any soap or chemicals on my tanks,so it was not that.

[Bombalurina]

It's funny, I can handle live bloodworms just fine, handfeeding them to my fish, but I can't even be in the same room if someone opens a can of freeze-dried bloodworms without my eyes exploding.

[dramaqueen]

I'm glad you had Benedryl on hand to stop the allergic reaction.

[Sena Hansler]

My manager, used to care for the fish section in our walmart. she said, that one employee during water changes, netting fish, or getting rid of dead fish, would have hives along her arm... They didn't clue in, until they did a test - she was allergic to the fish. It's very possible - some people have different reactions to fish - especially live fish. Do you think this could be a possibility for you?