pain and numdness only lasted about 20mins.talk to colby a elite about it he says the mushrooms mucus and me being a mechanic with cuts on my hand i probably had some kind of reaction he said i should wear gloves to be safe.he said hes gettin some to.

yup gloves and tongs would definitely be a good idea. Palytoxin? bristleworms? zoos? nudis? anemones? there's a virtually endless list of what can make you sick that ends up in an aquariium and that's not even including allergic reactions or physical injuries like bites. At any rate, I think it's a good idea to know as close as possible exactly whats in there and what possible dangers they might pose. Glad to hear you're feeling better anyways. Even better to hear that you're learning from this little episode.

Does the thought of this just scare one a bit? Can you imagine being killed by something in your fish tank? Heavens, that would NOT be a way I'd want to die. Especially by something such as a bristleworm =/

"Man dies fiddling in his tank, his friends told him not to but he was stubborn and just had to get that rock formation right. Now he's dead. By a worm. A little, tiny, worm."

I don't think a bristle worm sting can kill you though. They just hurt like hell.. Of course if it was an alergic reaction to the bristle worm sting then thats different.

Just wear gloves and go on your merry way. Also, when fragging, good idea is to wear a face shield, Zoa's etc tend to squirt when fragged :)

Ive been stung by bristle worms many many times, i wouldnt consider it hurting like hell, just some swelling and inchyness. More an annoyence then anything.

On a side note does anyone remember the story of the persons dog who ate some zoos and passed away.

Yes I remember that. So sad.

Shortly after reading that, I was stung by a wasp in the hand. Being a complete idiot, I then used that hand to move some stuff around. I figure it was the combination of toxins, but my pulse went into complete overdrive, every vein in my body was swelled out. I looked like a steroid junkie after a hardcore workout. There was lots of pain followed right away by numbness and vomiting. Off to the E room we went. Not my favorite day.

I think the dog just drank some of the water the guy was using for fragging.

Some peoples definition of hurting like "hell" may differ.. Personaly, I don't feel a thing but I have been stung by a fire coral! that sucker hurt.

I got nailed by one of the spines on my Foxface. Can't say it hurt that bad. I would compare it to being stung by a Wasp. But then again I don't react as badly as some people do to wasp stings.

I spoke with one of the top allergy specialists in Calgary about palytoxin. There is no evidence in the world wide database about palytoxin death except by eating triggerfish.....

Seriously, consider the many people who handle rock and zoos, you'd have had a fellow reefer die by now.

Some people are more allergy prone than others and may be reacting to any of a number of things.

Use caution if you feel a danger. I know people allergic to saltwater.