Marine aquarium cautions
 

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

I would have agree and also recomend gloves!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...025_edited.jpg

I was stung by a large euphyllia (hammer coral) in my tank last year, as a result I suffered from a severe skim rush and infection that I'm still fighting off. I use to think people over reacted about this subject but it true, trust me.

It's also very hard to receive proper treatment for coral stings when you don't live near the ocean and it takes a long time to get an appointment with a dermatologist.

Useful Links for First Aid
 

Here are a few-but I am sure there are more out there:

http://www.ehow.com/how_9376_identif...jellyfish.html (and other stings)

http://www.e-med.co.uk/diving/dive_q...php?sub_cat=67 (first aid at the end of the response)

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/ven...a/aa042798.htm (about fish)

HTH-
~M

i heard someone loosing their dog to zoa's, so that is defiantly a big one. i cant remeber if it had ate a frag or licked someones hand that was fraggin zoa's.

A year ago, while I was cleaning a tank, there was some kind of "smoke" that came out of a rock when I moved it. I have no idea that was. Anyway, it was painfull.
It's hard for me to explain this in english. At first, it was just painfull but after 20 minutes, it was like my hand got scrubed on a hard surface. I immediately washed my hand but it did not stoped. The "scrubbing effect" of that smoke have last for about 20 minutes. I was a little worry let me tell you. That was weird and I would love to know what that was.

Urchins are another one to be careful with. http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dyn...2Ftopic158.htm

Again best handled with gloves.


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This has been known to happen to many saltwater addicts

http://s417.photobucket.com/albums/p...mptywallet.jpg

:lol: Perhaps the second most important hazard.:lol:

Don't forget Bristleworm Sting. I picked up a rock and the underside had a worm lodged in with its bristles out. Ended with about 500 little spines across three fingers. They swelled a bit and were sore but I could feel the effects for a month. Getting the spines out also were not easy.

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!!

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.

all zoo's are toxic the more colourfull the more toxic. the Giant sun polyp ( Protopalythoa grandis ) was used by Hawaiian natives to tip spears in for mortal combat.

Make sure you don't wipe your face with a towel you used to clean up when fragging if you get it on your lips, they will go numb and you will taste nothing but copper for hours, if you actualy injext it... who knows.

Steve

There seem to be three seperate health hazards that corals can cause...
1) Toxins from the coral- eg:Zoas
2) Stings from the coral caused by nematocysts- Hammer, fire (similar to jellyfish stings)
3) Infection from a cut from a coral

I wonder if the cure for the sting is the same as for jellyfish? The cure for the sting of a jellyfish is vinigar or urine. They also recommend you wash with salt water and not fresh as fresh will make it hurt more.

Oh and I forgot the fourth hazard of keeping corals...
My wife finding out how much money I have sunk into this already and will in the future....THIS may be the most painful of all the hazards..

I have some links that I saved from when we were heavy into its discussion on RC or somewhere.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1105126-overview

http://www.cbwinfo.com/Biological/Toxins/Palytoxin.html

http://www.provet.co.uk/health/disea...iummarinum.htm

Pretty good reference links for what we are discussing here but I take them just as that.

In all my years in the hobby I have never encountered many of these things. I did get an infection from an urchin poke and the tank water getting into it.

Plus when I handle a lot of live rock, esp. well seasoned rock, my hands and fingers swell. Sometimes so bad I need some meds for it.

Thanks for posting that. I was about to respond that not all zoas have palytoxin, but it is in your second link.

I'll add bristle worm spines to the list. They are finer than hairs, and irritate like hell.

That can hit an aquarist really bad. I tried everything without succes. Maybe I should get a better job.

i must be very lucky ive handle all my corals by hand and even touch them on purpose sometimes, and nothing happened to me, but now i will definatly be more caution, anybody know of those white doctor gloves where to pick some up also what is the right kind to pick up.

Get Nitrile gloves. Similar to plain latex gloves but stronger and designed to keep chemicals off your skin. Any automotive or safety supply store should have them.

for bristle worm spines soak your hand in viniger for a while, it will desolve the spines.

Oh and the Urin for jelly fish stings, Mythbusters proved it false.

Steve

I love mythbusters it is such a great show! Thanks for the upadate.
I'll refrain from urinating on myself in the future...

LOL I say that every day but as I get older (Darn timmies)

Wish I had of read this yesterday, my boyfriend got two fingers full of bristle worm spins :sad: FYI tweezers don't work to well.

As for the urine, I always wondered if it was really true or not. Thanks for the info.

YEs peeing opn your feet or hands will kill all bacteria. I wouldnt do it on my hands since I bite my fingers. :lol:

But in Afghanistan I had soem infected feet so when i got achance I would do the nasty on my feet and it works..

How did we go from jellyfish stings to bacteria? :mrgreen: I thought we were talking about salt water problems not hygiene LOL what about the bacteria that is in your pee that they test for when you are sick? its still alive as they do cultures..

Steve

See Steve it all started from you some one took it the wrong way like hairytank,...

Your own healthy urine is sterile to you.


But... we have soap here y'know ;)

And in response to the bristlewormthing: My own fav pic


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...Untitled-2.jpg

I still love telling people to try the pee thing. Cracks me up to think of them peeing in there hand for no reason. lol

Do you know of any scientific evidence to support this?

.

"zoo's" are only bad for you if you jump in the lions cage...."zoa's" on the other hand...

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.

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.

I was born with a low tolerance to venom and stings. I've had hundreds of immunity boosting shots so that bee stings won’t kill me anymore. So naturally I keep a Volitan Lionfish. lol Watch out for the spines on top, if you're like me they can kill you. Or if you're lucky it will just hurt like hell for a few days.

I wear Coralife Aqua Gloves whenever I'm messing around in the tank and I always try to keep an eye on where the lion is.



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Be careful when working on your tanks and handling other pets, children etc. Last year I gave my parrot a bacterial infection by cross-contamination by putting nori in my tank and hand feeding my bird without washing my hands first :redface:. The bird is fine now, but my wallet took and major hit.

Thanks for the info.. I only know of a few things to beware of...I will pay more attention in the future!

great thread Doug

Bristtle Worms
 

Yeah, I know wear gloves. It was on the underside of a rock I picked up.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...RD2DAY/217.jpghttp://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...RD2DAY/219.jpghttp://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...RD2DAY/222.jpg

Awesome thread. I thought I'd add this bit of scientific information:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XARb8Cmkac


Cheers :)

well what in the heck!

earlier in the week i was at my gf's and kept spitting up this nasty metallic/salty taste that would not get out of my mouth. it even got me feeling very thirsty. after taking the dogs out i came home and ran to the bathroom and gargled water. nope, didnt work. then i literally got a bar of soap, jammed it in my mouth and swished it around. DIDNT WORK!!! it took all day to get out of my mouth, it drove me crazy.

the only thing i can think of is that i might have wiped my face with the towel that i had placed a piece of liverock on.

learned my lesson.lol

i now have the sudden urge to go and buy a pair of gloves.