Coral Handling Safety

Tank2379

Tank2379

Active member
Hi everyone,

I just want to inform everyone just to be safe when handling there corals reguardless of how long you have been doing it and how much time and effort you have taken to frag corals the ins and outs of doing it. This can happen to anyone even you savvy Vets. The other day I was moving some Zoanthids around and I had a colonie of Fruit Loops in my hands as I was talking with a friend and since I am alway grabbing and taking coral out of the water to move them to another tank or just trying to find a spot, while talking with my friend I didn't even relized I still had them in my hands, them it happened BAM I got squirted right in the face.

I got lucky, some of it came really close to my eyes which might have gotten in a little bit. I quickly ran to the bathroom Wash my hands in ice cold water and soap and grab a towel and clean my eyes out fast also with water. The next day my right was eye was crusty and closed shut, it was slightly red but nothing to bad. I call the eye doctor told him what had happened and he gave me eye drops with some type of aniboctic not sure but it cleared up in a day. I think I just got enough out in time who know what else could have happened.

Going forward I will be wearing a mask and glasses when handling these little guys, we all need to be mindful when handling any Zoanthids that they pose a thread of Palytoxin reguardless if you never been hurt in 20 years or 15 years one day you can slip and BAM you got Whacked by a Paly. This could have been worst but I guess I got most of it out ASAP. Guys be safe and Happy Reefing!:wave:
 
Man... I'm glad I never get squirted in the eye! Lol u need to change ur lifestyle!

Lol jk

Hope everything is cool Frankie
 
Yup... I've now determined Im pretty sensitive to palytoxins. There have been several occassions now that I go to frag some Z/Ps real quick and dont wear gloves/etc to wake up the next morning feeling like complete @$#^@... Today is one of those mornings lol. But I've also ended up w/ severe flu-like symptoms for several days afterwards - Guess its gloves and a mask for me.
 
I was fragging & moving corals for about 4 hours, 2 1/2 weeks ago. I'm not sure if this is related but I've been having fevers every day since then. I did have reconstructive knee surgery 6 weeks ago & was out of the country before that. The Dr is clueless as to where the fevers are coming from.
 
I agree. This stuff is nothing to mess around with. There are so many different kinds of bacteria, pests, etc. that we can be unaware of in our reef tanks. One thing that comes to mind is red tide.

We can never be sure what exactly we can be allergic to. I have a friend who had never been stung by a bee, said that there is no way he is allergic to bee stings, but when he gets stung by a mosquito, it swells up like a big grape is under his skin. One day he got stung by a bee. I'm sure you can imagine what happened.

I've stuck my hands in many aquariums, reef as well as fresh and have never experienced a reaction. But I'll tell you one thing, I won't frag znps without eye protection and latex gloves on!

The one creature that really scares the crap out of me are cone shell snails. Nassarious snails look so similar that they kind of scare me lol! One tiny little harpoon from a cone shell will kill you. There are so many stories of people getting killed by them. I've always feared that one would end up in my tank somehow and nail me as I'm screwing around in my tank. It's highly unlikely but it still crosses my mind hahaha!
 
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