Letter to the Editor of the Acton Exchange
By Erik J. Heels
First published 2025-11-02; ActonExchange.org; publisher: The Acton Exchange.
Friends of Acton,
We recently rehomed 30 fish and our 55-gallon freshwater aquarium after twelve years of having an aquarium. Here’s why.
In late May, I was doing a routine water change in the tank when I scraped the back of my right thumb on the lid of the aquarium. I put topical antibiotic and a bandage on my thumb and didn’t think any more about it. About three days later, the first signs of infection appeared. (The day before the aquarium work, I had been working in the gardens with saltwater marsh hay, so the initial theory was that the wound was a spider bite.)
A few days later, red stripes appeared on my right arm. I went to my Primary Care Physician (PCP), who ordered lab tests and prescribed antibiotics. The striping got worse, and my PCP advised that I should go to the emergency room (ER) of a major hospital with a significant Infectious Disease (ID) department.
I went to the ER of a major Boston hospital and described my history and symptoms. Within fifteen minutes, I was being seen by a team of physicians. There were 100 people ahead of me in line. This was the first that I realized the seriousness of my situation.
I was admitted for three days and put on multiple intravenous (IV) antibiotics, one called the “antibiotic of last resort.” After discharge, I remained on antibiotics and had various followups with ID doctors and my PCP.
Twenty-three days after one of the uncommon tests ordered by my PCP, the lab results finally came back. I had a rare (about two in a million) infection called mycobacterium marinum (also known as fish tank granuloma). It’s rare but curable. It is related to tuberculosis, which is also caused by mycobacteria.
As I write this, I have been on antibiotics for five months, and I will be on them for several more months. The side-effects are unpleasant. And all of this could have been avoided by wearing aquarium gloves.
So if you are an aquarium owner, please wear gloves.
-Erik J. Heels, 17 Forest Rd, Acton
About Erik J. Heels
Erik J. Heels is an entrepreneur, veteran, and the founder of Clocktower Law LLC (Clocktower Law) (https://www.clocktowerlaw.com/), a patent and trademark law firm in Great Boston (not a typo) that caters to startups. He earned his BS in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and his JD from the University of Maine School of Law (Maine Law). Except for a one-year failed stint from 2024-2025, Erik has never belonged to any political party. As it says in the ‘political views’ section of his Facebook profile: ‘Independent. I vote for the smartest candidate. It doesn’t always work out.’
