Don’t Contaminate Your Saltwater Aquarium!

When we think about toxins in a marine aquarium, the first thing that usually comes to mind is ammonia or a toxic allelopathic chemical released by a coral—in other words, a biologically produced toxin originating in the tank itself. But sometimes hobbyists are unwitting sources of harmful compounds or pathogens from outside the aquarium.

正如人们可能想象的那样，水族馆的意外污染可能会伤害甚至杀死有价值的标本。问题是，业余爱好者没有实用的方法来测试大多数污染物，因此在这种情况下通常不可能确定“异常”疾病或损失的原因。

旧的谚语“预防值得一磅的治疗”绝对适用，因此，让我们看一下您可以采取的一些预防措施，以使盐水系统没有外部污染物：

Avoid toxic handiwork

Hobbyists’ hands are probably the most common mode for transferring contaminants into aquariums. After applying lotion, handling garden chemicals, pumping gas, waxing your car, cleaning the tub, polishing the silverware, or otherwise contaminating your hands, it’s all to easy to completely forget and then absentmindedly reach right into your aquarium to rearrange or retrieve something.

It’s wise to develop the habit of washing your hands (taking care to rinse the soap off thoroughly, of course) before reaching into the tank for any reason. If necessary, post a small reminder note on or near the tank that reads, “Have you washed your hands?”

理想情况下，除非绝对必要，否则您应该避免将手放在坦克中（只要可能，请使用水族馆安全的钳来纠正或从水箱中取出物体）。如果您必须用手，那么戴防护手套是一个好主意。

避开喷雾

Cleaning sprays, cooking sprays, pesticides, room deodorizers, and other finely aerosolized products/chemicals can drift over your aquarium and then settle onto the water. Some of these chemicals can prove deadly to fish and/or invertebrates. Others may form a film on the water surface that interferes with proper gas exchange. Avoid using any such sprays near your aquarium or even in adjacent areas if there’s any possibility that the airborne product will drift into the vicinity of the tank.

实施吸烟禁令

我会承认偶尔会享用雪茄（最好是来自佛罗里达州圣奥古斯丁的JC The Cuban滚子），但只有在户外，烟雾很可能会到达我的水族馆。我不知道（如果有）烟草烟可能会对海鱼和倒转有什么影响，但是为什么要抓住机会呢？如果任何吸烟者试图在您的水族馆周围亮起，请将他或她的包装发送（双关语）！

防止坦克污染

Quarantining new specimens is vital if you want to prevent the accidental introduction of disease to an established aquarium. But even the most conscientious in this regard can occasionally stumble and forget that using the same aquarium brush, tongs, scraper, or other tool in both the quarantine tank and display tank can transfer a pathogen or parasite from the former to the latter.

这是一个明智的爱好者，他保留了两套完整的水族馆工具 - 一种用于隔离，另一个用于展示系统。如有必要，以防止两组工具混合和混合，例如，通过用彩色胶带包裹工具手柄的末端，以某种方式清楚地标记一组。