While waiting for a buddy to come help move my tank I decided to finally rid some rock of the ugly brown palys that were taking over. I put on my gloves and glasses and proceeded to rip the little bastards off. I had a great idea. I would run the rock under really hot water to kill every last bit of tissue that was left. Little did I know that the palytoxin was becoming aerosolized and I was breathing it in. Within minutes I was developing a bad cough. We quickly moved the tank and my buddy left to go to work. By this time (1 hour later) my lungs were on fire and I was feeling really bad. I sat down on the couch and the next thing I new it was 12 hours later. I was sicker then I've ever been and completely delirious. I managed to crawl on my hands and knees, stopping and laying on the floor a few times to make it 12 feet over to my buckets of fish and tubs of coral and dump them into the tank. I then lost conciousness again and struggled in and out of conciousness, completely delirious, barely able to breath, with the most intense cold sweats, nausia, shakes, till the next day. At some point I made it to my bed. When I finally was able to function I knew by the smell of dead coral that I didn't want to look at my tank. Complete wipe out!!! Over $6000 in coral and livestock dead. Worst of all I poured 7 of the nicest croceas and maximas(these were like ultra plus) and 2 rhizo coral down the sink. Loosing these hurt the most as they were basicly irreplacable. I wanted to cry. I wanted to kill. I wanted to smash. I yelled and screammed at the top of my lungs even tho there was know one around to hear. Everyone experiences a crash at some point I told myself. But why me? Why now? Why not when I just started and why now when I was fully stocked? I had to keep telling myself to look at the positive side that at least I was alive and now there is a lot more real estate to put stuff or I probably would have completey lost it and smashed everything.

chandigz i don't know what to say man i am really sorry for that huge loss man its not small but dude did you actually crawl out of your bed and then dump your corals into the tank (respect bro), everyone of us has had a loss one way or the other but you know i think we all have done well, we learned from our mistakes(hopefully)
but hey thanks for sharing your story

Wow chandigz....how do you follow that!

At least your still able to carry on with the hobby

Ya. I crawled hand and knees from my couch to the tank. 12 feet. I had to stop and lay down several times. It took me a while. It took everything I had to try to save my live stock. I only had enough energy to dump it in before I lost consiousness again. All my coral and clams were in tubs for over 14 hours and were now in a pile at the bottom of the tank. I figure this led to chemical warfair and a domino effect which led to the whipeout. I had just about every symptom for a fatal palytoxin poisoning. I should have been in the hospital but I live alone so there was no one to save me. I'm really lucky to be here to be able to tell my story and warn people not to try to get rid of palys with hot or boiling water.

yo man glad you are still around but dude its amazing that you still have a place in your heart for this hobby

It'll take a lot more then a near death experience and total wipeout to get me out of this hobby. If I have my way, Ill use my tank as a casket when the time comes.

you sir have a real good sense of humour +1 internets to you

wow
 

chandigz thats crazy man... im at the boiling point now, about ready to fire the tank right out the window with everything in it. But patience is key i guess

:laluot_14:

Chandigz, you the chuck norris of determined sw guys...

My story....well ill shorten it as much as possible.:pop2:

first tank had a seal burst at the exact same time as the sump shattered in my bedroom thus letting 60 plus gallons flood the basement floor and short the electrical in my sleep, good morning to me!:shocked!:

Second tank was pathetic in comparison and had nothing but problems with red slime and aptasia(months and months:neutral:)

Third tank was a DIY acrylic that had a seal burst (oh joy! I love surfing!)

Fourth tank had a heater go bad on me the same day i brought home some of the most beautiful sps and lps i have ever seen in my life (Pigs dont fly away but money sure does:wink:)

And since then i have had no problems(knock on wood with a jack hammer:twised:) and im on my seventh tank working into my 8th tank next week:biggrin:

Oh and i had many fish that ****ed me off so much that i actually tried to surprise punch them from above! Only got one ever and that fish is now the best fish i have ever owned! Polite, clean and friendly.


Sometimes it felt that as soon as i broke ahead something reach out and dragged me back:grab:. We all learn from this crap, its like any serious hobby we have and become compasionate about.

you know what they say spare the rod spoil the child
but yeah it seems everyone has had their share of leakage, it really sucks when you have hardwood floors (like me)
the damages go up and up
and yeah punching a fish or too is always a good idea, puts em in their places

well guys keep the stories coming its really good to get em out their