Originally Posted by debbaDEEra (Post 370334)

I knew that some corals are toxic but I had NO idea that zoos were this toxic. I have never worn gloves and was not told I should by any other the LFS. I do and have had swollen glands on one side of my neck that the doctors are watching and the next step is more tests. Could this be from me handling EVERYTHING in my tank wo gloves? I did months of research before we got the tank but I guess I missed this tutorial!!

Originally Posted by Scythanith (Post 377640)

Do you know of any scientific evidence to support this?

Originally Posted by fishytime (Post 369842)

Working at a lfs I am amazed at how many people are surprised to learn about some of the things that could make you at the very least sick (and worse:surprise:) that we keep in our little eco-systems. Im hoping perhaps this thread could become a sticky and be used as a guide for new (and possibly old) hobbyists. People need to be aware of some of the hazards the we commonly keep.

I thought maybe other canreefers could add to the thread if they had a picture of the fish,invert, etc and provide a link to the pertinent information. In thinking about the list of potential "baddies", I realized I have only one thing in my tank at the moment that could "get" me. Not really comforting considering the one thing I have is probably the only thing that could potentially prove to be fatal.

Zoanthids.

A coral touted as being a good choice for beginners and both easy to keep and frag. While all this is true zoanthids contain a deadly substance called palytoxin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palytoxin. Extreme caution should be used when handling your zoas.

-wear gloves
-if you cant wear gloves wash your hands thoroughly after
-do not handle your zoas without gloves if you have an open cut on your hands.
-while fragging your zoas, wear eye protection.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMGP1390-1.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...1455_large.jpg

Originally Posted by daniella3d (Post 528994)

In the Coral magasine, they mention that to this date there has not been any palytoxin found in zoanthids. So far there is no proof that zoanthids or even what we have in our aquarium that we call paly actualy have the toxine.

I frag my zoa and paly all the time without glove, even have scratches and wounds sometime and I never been sick from a bit of zoa mucus. Wearing eye glasses is important though because they can spit in the eyes and I read that this is not pleasant...although not deadly!

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo (Post 529023)

About 2 years ago I read a report on RC where a guy's dog ate some zoanthus/palythora out of a bucket while he was doing some tank maintenance then died. Maybe later when I have a little more time I can do some searching and find it again. He obviously wasn't a scientist doing research so it wasn't properly documented. But that was proof enough for me.

Originally Posted by daniella3d (Post 529247)

I remember reading that and I think it was some sort of brownish palythoas and the dog drank the water the polyps were fragged in, so it was probably a variety of palythoas that contained the toxine and there was probably a large amount of it. Is that true? not sure as a lot of things we read are just made up.

But zoanthids have never been proven to actualy contain the palytoxine. Palythoas maybe yes, but not the 3 varieties of zoanthids (even what we call paly are still zoanthids) that we use in aquarium.

Of course if you start eating your coral, you might get very sick from most of them. I never ever read or heard anytyhing about people getting sick from toutching zoanthids with their bare hands and I never felt anything from toutching and fragging them with my bare hands, even with cuts and wounds and scratches on my hands. I even once scratched my finger badly while removing zoanthids from totoka liverock and only after one hour of fragging I realized that I was bleeding from that scratch yet no metallic taste in my mouth, no dizinnes, no nosea etc..

I am not saying it cannot happen but we should not be histerical either.

Originally Posted by PoonTang (Post 475526)

MMMMmmm recycled beer :)

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo (Post 529269)

Being cautious around what we do not fully understand is not what I would consider hysteria. How many people in this hobby do you figure can accurately identify what is a zoanthus and what is a palythora? The vast majority of people that I've encountered just call everything zoos. Anthony Calfo poisoned himself on more than one occasion after handling some kind of zoanthidea and then directly or indirectly touching his mouth.

Originally Posted by Coleus (Post 529330)

after got sting serveral times by my long spined urchin, now everytime i always watch where he is before putting my hand in.

Got sting by anemone, long spined urchin, bristles worms. Out of three, anemone was the worst, it last for days.

Originally Posted by daniella3d (Post 529520)

Interesting. I toutched my rock flower anemones tentacles many times but never felt anything other than the tentacles are sticking to the skin but no sting and no pain. I guess that rock flower anemones do not sting?

Originally Posted by no_bs (Post 529600)

Just dependes on how sensitive you are to toxins. Everything stings, that's why they stick. Some are more potent than others. I will not let anyone touch my green carpet, he has the nastyest sting in our tank. I work with my hands and it's sting hurts, the harder he latches on the worse the sting. So i can imagine what sensitive people go through. We have seen people with large rashes and lesions from coral stings.

Originally Posted by daniella3d (Post 529942)

Well if they sting I am immune to it because I can't feel a thing beside the tentacles sticking to my skin when I pull away. Same result with my duncans as the tentacles often stick to my skin but I don't feel anything remotely painfull.

The people at the LFS when I bought both anemones were handling them out of the water and into the bag with their bare hands, toutching it quite a bit. Did not seem to hurt either of them.

Originally Posted by Alberta-newb (Post 370382)

I can attest to the hammer coral's sting..no long effects but wasn't pleasant.

Should also add all species of rabbitfishes to the caution list, I have never been stung (yet!) but I understand the sting from their spines can be quite painful. I'm always watchfull where my rabbitfish is in my tank when working inside.

Originally Posted by dacookster (Post 606056)

Anyone ever accidently got aquarium water in the mouth? My aquarium is small and difficult to syphon from so usually I start it manually. Wasn't paying attention a few times and ended up with a mouthful. Anyways, I'm still alive but was wondering if i'm the only idiot to do such a thing.

Originally Posted by fishytime (Post 369842)

Zoanthids.
-wear gloves
-if you cant wear gloves wash your hands thoroughly after
-do not handle your zoas without gloves if you have an open cut on your hands.
-while fragging your zoas, wear eye protection.