IMARCS staff course · Module 24

Biosecurity (current version)

How to protect yourself, and how to stop disease getting into a system or moving between systems. Every IF has a THEN.

1. Two things to protect
2. Your skin and the water
3. Electricity and water
4. How disease travels
5. Clean first, then disinfect
6. The iodine cup
7. Moving animals and water

1. Two things to protect: you, and the animals

Almost everything that goes wrong in this module is invisible. Bacteria, parasites and viruses are too small to see. You can't see them in the water, on a net, on a pen or on your hands. So "it looks clean" tells you nothing. What protects you and the animals is doing the right thing every time, and understanding why, so you still do the right thing when a situation is new.

Every rule in this module is cause and effect. Each one exists because of something that will happen if you skip it. Read every IF and its THEN. If you understand the THEN, you won't need to remember the rule.

IF You can't see a problem

THEN That doesn't mean there's no problem. Germs are invisible.

IF You follow a step because you understand it

THEN You'll still get it right when something new happens.

IF You follow a step only because you were told to

THEN The first time something is different, you won't know what to do.

Think it throughYou used one net in four systems today without disinfecting it. Tomorrow one of those systems has sick fish. How many systems could have the problem? How would you know which ones?

Up to all four. You can't know by looking. All four now have to be watched, because the net was the link between them. One skipped step turned one problem into four possible problems.

Remember: Clean-looking isn't clean. Every rule has a reason. Learn the reason.

2. Your skin and the water

Aquarium water is full of living things, including bacteria that can infect people. They need a way into your body. Unbroken skin keeps them out. A cut, scrape, crack or fresh wound lets them in.

Two examples

Mycobacterium marinum lives in fish and aquarium water. It gets in through cuts and scrapes and causes lumps or sores, usually on the fingers or hands. They can last for months. Vibrio bacteria live in salt water. A Vibrio wound infection can become serious quickly. Both are the reason for the rules below.

OPEN WOUND, CUT OR SCRAPE? Cover it completely with a waterproof bandage and wear gloves, or keep that hand out of the water. If you cut yourself while working in the water, take your hand out right away and wash the cut with soap and clean running water.

Gloves

Wear gloves when your hands go in the water or touch fish, fish water, or equipment that has been in fish water. Wash your hands with soap after you take the gloves off. A glove protects your hand. It doesn't protect the next system. A wet glove carries water from one system to the next, exactly like a net does (see section 4).

When to see a doctor

A cut that becomes red, swollen, hot or painful, or a lump or sore on your hand or finger that doesn't heal, needs a doctor. Don't wait for it to go away.

IF You have a cut and put that hand in tank water

THEN Bacteria in the water have a way into your body.

IF You cut yourself while working in the tank

THEN Hand out right away. Wash with soap and clean running water.

IF You take off your gloves and go eat

THEN Whatever was on the gloves may be on your hands. Wash first.

IF You wear the same wet gloves from one system to the next

THEN You carry that system's water into the next one.

IF A sore or lump on your hand doesn't heal

THEN See a doctor.

Think it throughYour gloves have a small tear in one finger. You have no cuts. Is it fine to keep working?

Your skin is fine today, but tank water is now on your hand. If there's a crack you didn't notice, it's an open door. And the torn glove still carries water from system to system. Change it.

Remember: Cuts covered. Gloves on. Hands washed after.

3. Electricity and water

Salt water carries electricity very well. Every system has pumps, heaters, lights and controllers plugged in right next to it. Water and electricity must never meet.

The habits that keep you safe

Drip loops. Every cord dips below the outlet before it goes up into it, so any water running along the cord drips off at the low point instead of running into the outlet.
Dry hands. Dry your hands before you plug in or unplug anything.
Unplug before you work on equipment. Unplug a pump or heater before you take it out of the water. A pump or heater that runs dry can damage its seals, and a damaged seal is a shock risk when it goes back in the water.
Power strips up and dry. Mounted to a surface, away from splashes, never lying on the floor. Never plug one power strip into another.
Salt creep. The white crust that builds up near the water is salt. Salt carries electricity. Clean it off, and never let it build up on plugs, strips or outlets.
Earth leakage breakers. A normal outlet doesn't cut the power when electricity leaks through a person. An earth leakage breaker (GFCI in the US) does. It's a backup, not a reason to be careless.

IF A cord has no drip loop

THEN Water can run along the cord into the outlet.

IF You unplug something with wet hands

THEN Water and electricity meet at your hand.

IF A heater or pump is taken out while still plugged in

THEN It runs dry. Its seals can be damaged and it becomes a shock risk.

IF Salt crust builds up on a power strip

THEN Salt carries electricity. Shock and fire risk go up.

IF A power strip is plugged into another power strip

THEN Not safe. Never do it.

IF You feel a tingle when you touch the water

THEN Take your hands out and keep them out. Something is leaking electricity into the water.

Think it throughA cord runs perfectly straight from a pump to an outlet that sits lower than the top of the tank. There are no drips today. Is it safe?

No. Safety is about what happens on the day there IS a drip: a splash, a leak, a skimmer overflow. With no low point in the cord, that water has nowhere to go except the outlet.

Remember: Dry hands. Drip loops. Unplug first. Keep salt off anything electric.

4. How disease travels

Germs live in the water. Anything that carries water carries germs. Each system is its own island: its own water, its own animals, its own germs. If one system gets sick, the others stay safe, as long as nothing carries water between them.

What can carry water from one system to another

Carrier	How
Nets	Wet mesh holds water and slime.
Buckets, cups, hoses, siphons	Water left inside, drops on the outside.
pH pens, salinity pens, test tubes, droppers	Dipped in one system, then the next.
Hands and gloves	Wet skin or wet gloves going from tank to tank.
Splashes and spray	Bubbles bursting and water splashing can throw tiny drops into nearby tanks.
Shipping bags	Bag water from a shipment can carry many germs.
Animals	An animal brings its own water and its own germs with it.

IMARCS RULES. Never mix water between animals or between systems. Never move equipment between animals or aquariums without disinfecting it first. Work on one aquarium at a time: do everything for that aquarium, log it, then move to the next.

Order of work

Biosecurity guidance is to care for the most vulnerable animals first and quarantine areas last, after the resident animals. That way you never carry something from quarantine into a healthy system.

UV doesn't stop it inside a system

A UV sterilizer doesn't stop a disease from spreading between animals that share the same water. Once a problem is in a system, every animal in that system shares it.

Dead animals

Remove dead animals right away. A dead animal rots in the water, adds waste, and can spread whatever killed it.

IF A net goes from system A to system B without being disinfected

THEN Water from A, and anything living in it, goes into B.

IF A pH pen is dipped in system after system

THEN It carries a little water from every system into the next.

IF Quarantine is worked on first and healthy systems after

THEN You can carry a quarantine problem into healthy systems.

IF One fish in a system gets sick

THEN Every animal in that system shares the water. UV doesn't stop it inside the system.

IF A dead animal is left in the tank

THEN It rots, adds waste, and can spread what killed it.

Think it throughTwo systems share no water and no plumbing. Both get the same problem in the same week. What should you look for first?

What moved between them: a net, a bucket, a pen, gloves, a person, an animal, splashes. If no water connects them, something carried it.

Remember: Anything that carries water carries germs. One aquarium at a time.

5. Clean first, then disinfect

Cleaning removes dirt. Disinfecting kills germs. Always clean first, then disinfect. Slime, algae and detritus protect germs from the disinfectant and use the disinfectant up.

Scrub and rinse first. Remove everything you can see.
Give it time. Disinfectant needs contact time. A quick dip does almost nothing. Equipment soaks for at least 10 minutes.
Rinse after. Disinfectant that stays on a tool goes into the next system.
Never pour used disinfectant into a system or a sump.

IF A slimy tool goes straight into disinfectant

THEN Germs under the slime survive, and the slime uses up the disinfectant.

IF A tool is dipped for a few seconds

THEN It isn't disinfected. Disinfectant needs time.

IF A tool isn't rinsed after soaking

THEN Disinfectant goes into the next system.

IF Used disinfectant is poured into a sump

THEN You poison the system you were trying to protect.

Think it throughA bucket is soaked in disinfectant for 10 minutes, but it has a ring of dried algae inside. Is it disinfected?

Not under the algae. Clean first. Then the 10 minutes counts.

Remember: Scrub, soak 10 minutes, rinse. In that order.

6. The iodine cup: shared pens and tools

Some tools are shared between systems, like pH pens and salinity pens. They touch the water of every system they test. Between systems they go through the iodine cup.

THE IODINE CUP. 1. Measure 5 ml of 10% povidone-iodine in a graduated measuring cup and add it to 250 ml of fresh water. 2. Rinse the tool in fresh water first. 3. Soak at least 10 minutes, with every part that touched tank water under the surface. 4. Rinse well in RO water before it goes into another system. 5. Mix fresh every day, or sooner if the color fades. 6. Never pour used iodine water into a system. 7. pH pens: 10 minutes, rinse, back into the storage cap. Never leave a pH pen in the cup.

Read the color

Iodine is brown. As it works, it gets used up and the color fades. Slime and dirt on tools use it up faster.

IF The iodine is poured without measuring

THEN The strength is a guess. Too weak and tools still carry germs.

IF A tool goes in without rinsing first

THEN Slime uses up the iodine. The cup gets weaker for every tool after it.

IF The color has faded

THEN The iodine is used up. Pour it out and mix fresh.

IF A tool soaks only 2 minutes

THEN Not enough contact time. 10 minutes minimum.

IF A pH pen is left in the cup

THEN It belongs in its storage cap. Soak, rinse, cap.

Think it throughThe cup was mixed at 9 a.m. By 2 p.m. it's light yellow. Five pens went through it after 1 p.m. What do you do?

Mix a fresh cup. The pens that went through the weak cup may not be disinfected, so put them through the fresh cup before they go into any system.

Remember: 5 ml measured into 250 ml. 10 minutes. Rinse in RO. Fresh every day.

7. Moving animals and water

Every animal that moves brings its water and its germs with it. The right animal goes to the right system, acclimated properly (Module 26 covers how). The water it came in doesn't go with it.

Shipping bag water never goes into a system.
Quarantine water never goes into a display. Move the animal, not the water.
Acclimation cups, drip lines and containers are equipment. Disinfect them between animals and between shipments.
Established gigantea rule. Once a gigantea anemone is healthy and established in a system, a new anemone never goes into that system's water, including the sump. New carpet anemones finish quarantine first.

IF Bag water is added to a system

THEN Every germ in that bag is now in the system.

IF Water from two systems mixes

THEN It can't be undone. Both systems now share everything.

IF The same acclimation cup is used for two shipments

THEN Shipment one's water goes in with shipment two.

IF A new anemone goes into a system with an established gigantea, even just the sump

THEN That breaks the IMARCS rule, and the water is already shared.

Think it throughA fish is moving from quarantine to a display. A coworker scoops it out with a cup and pours fish and water straight into the display. What went wrong?

Quarantine water went into the display. The fish was supposed to move. The water wasn't. That can't be undone.

Remember: Move the animal, never the water.

8. What you see, and what it means

Hand with a cut goes in the tank	Bacteria have a way in. Cover cuts with a waterproof bandage plus gloves, or keep that hand out.
Lump or sore on a finger that doesn't heal	See a doctor.
Gloves off, straight to eating	Wash hands with soap first.
Same wet gloves from system to system	Gloves carry water like a net does.
Cord with no drip loop	Water can run along it into the outlet.
White crust on a power strip	Salt creep. It carries electricity. Clean it.
Heater or pump lifted out while plugged in	Runs dry, seals can be damaged, shock risk. Unplug first.
Tingle when touching the water	Electricity leaking into the water. Hands out.
Same problem in two separate systems	Something moved between them: tools, gloves, a person, an animal, splashes.
A net moved between systems	Not allowed without disinfecting first.
Iodine cup pale or nearly clear	Used up. Mix fresh. Re-soak anything that went through it.
Iodine poured without measuring	Strength is a guess. 5 ml in a graduated cup, into 250 ml.
Tool dipped for a few seconds	Not disinfected. 10 minutes minimum.
Used disinfectant poured in a sump	Never. It goes down the drain, not into a system.
Shipping bag water poured into a tank	Never. Move the animal, not the water.
Dead animal found	Remove it right away.

9. Words to know

Biosecurity	Everything we do to stop disease getting into a system or moving between systems.
Pathogen	A germ that causes disease: bacteria, virus, parasite or fungus.
Fomite	An object that carries germs from one place to another: a net, a bucket, a pen, a glove.
Cross-contamination	Germs moving from one system or animal to another.
Disinfect	Kill germs on a surface. Needs a clean surface and enough contact time.
Contact time	How long the disinfectant must stay on the surface to work. For the iodine cup: 10 minutes.
Povidone-iodine	A common iodine disinfectant. The label gives its strength in %.
Organic matter	Slime, algae, food, waste, detritus. It protects germs and uses up disinfectant.
Quarantine	Keeping new or sick animals apart, in their own water, with their own equipment.
Salt creep	Dried salt crust that builds up around a tank. It carries electricity.
Drip loop	A dip in a cord below the outlet so water drips off before it reaches the plug.
Earth leakage breaker	A breaker that cuts the power when electricity leaks out, for example through a person. Called a GFCI in the US.
Mycobacterium marinum	A bacterium in fish and aquarium water that can infect cuts on hands and fingers.
Vibrio	A group of salt water bacteria. Some can cause serious wound infections.

Sources

The quiz for this module opens when quiz grading goes live.

Staff Course