Marine aquarium cautions

[BCOrchidGuy]

For stings etc like jelly fish or frogspawn... anything with nematocysts simply wash the afflicted area in water you made contact in, IE tank water if you got stung in your tank. A sudden change in water chemistry can trigger the nematocysts to sting again and again, so if you are going to pee on yourself you'll have to find another excuse.

Douglas

ps this is what we taught when I was a diving instructor and as far as peeing, we'd tell people it was a nice way to stay warm in our cold water just pee in your wet suit.... which is why I used a dry suit.

[justinl]

not all zoos have palytoxin. I believe they only get them when they are exposed to a diet of a certain diatom. Stings from nematocysts are best dealt with by soaking in vinegar as it deactivates the nematocysts; urine only makes them fire more. If you don't have vinegar, just rinse in saltwater.

To me, the least regarded yet likely most serious of all aquarium dangers is the microscopic kind. people tend to ignore the viral and bacterial nasties like vibrio and mycobacterium (yes, a derivative of tuberculosis). in fact, marine biologists have recently found that viruses and bacteria make up a much larger portion of the ocean's biomasss than what was originally thuoght; possibly greater than half the biomass in the entire ocean! infections from the likes of these have led to aquarists having to get their fingers amputated. NEVER immerse an open cut in your tank unless you're wearing gloves and always rinse in warm soap and water afterwards.