Zoanthid Coral Poisoning!!

[dbriceno]

Most know that zoathids are toxic but most do not realize just how deadly they can be. After spending the last 8 days in the hospital I now know. It's Sunday 12/16/2012, How to get rid of those nasty brown zoas that grow faster than any others in your tank? Well I used my water change vacuum hose and sucked up a load of the buggers off the tank. I then found myself with a couple medium sized rocks covered in the unwanted coral. I removed them from the tank and placed them aside in the sink. Using hot water and a small wire brush I attempted to remove the bulk of the corals from the rock before dropping the rock in a bleach bucket. This is where my problems started. Within an hour my eyes were bothering me and I found myself coughing quite a bit. Coughing continued and a few hours later I had a high fever. My wife, calling me a wuss though I was overreacting to the flu or something. Until she also started feeling bad. Six hours after cleaning these rocks I was in the ER along with my wife & daughter. Even the dog was showing some symptoms. I didn't want to kill my dog. My wife & daughters exposure was minimal and they were released after 2 days in the hospital. Tuesday night my oxygen levels start dropping. They boost me up to +85% oxygen. Next step is a lung machine. With much prayer, my 02 levels stabilized. Hallelujah! God is good! I'm home now (need to do a water change).

Please, learn from my mistake. DO NOT try to kill your zoas under hot water! They WILL fight back.

I'm blessed to be home now. Merry Christmas everyone and be careful out there.

...Dan

 

[yesjenks]

Wow! That's crazy! Glad you're ok!

Happy Holidays!

 

[edd]

wow, very informative story, happy to see you are all feeling better. we take that palytoxin for granted, we wouldn't play with rattle snakes that easy and i think palytoxin is more deadly. after reading your story I'm sure a lot of us will be more careful.

 

[ducati335i]

I was actually speaking to Dan about this bot too long ago. Crazy s++t... Same thing happened to me and they almost opened my lungs up.. Somehow all the fluids in my lungs vanished in 24hrs.. Was the most physically painful experience in my life and the docs wanted Ti hear nothing about corals.. I had 5 specialists and all left it a mystery...
Did docs confirm coral poisoning?

 

[NL146]

Wow!! Good to know you and your family are ok.

 

[PeteTheGreek89]

wow glad your ok! and so is every one else!, i guess the dog it good to right?

damn im always scared of those damn zoas.

enjoy ur holidays! at home and well!

 

[Geraud]

Good to know you are OK. The image with the rattle snake is a very good one... we do host a large number of animals that have venom, and they can produce from a scratching to death...

 

[fishman1069]

Thats messed up dude! I heard a similar story a while back . That palytoxin is no joke. Glad to hear all is well

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

I have heard of his happening a few time!!! And I'm glad your family is ok!!

 

[Gwiz3005]

To this day I refuse to frag a zoa colony....I remember reading a story just like this one about a year ago here. Doctors in Brooklyn probably have never seen anything like it. I would be SOL.

I'm definitely a wuss...was cleaning my sump today without gloves (of course!) and nearly grab a bristleworm that was the length of my palm. It's tough to imagine a foe that I can't even see could hurt me worse. Hope the recovery continues to progress well!

 

[Gwiz3005]

I have learned to love my brown zoas/palys...they make the colors pop on the others even more.

 

[smoq]

Those palys are serious danger, there is at least one other member who landed in hospital after breathing vapor they produce. Here's a picture of them, if you have them in your tank please be careful when you remove them:

 

[Flushtown Reefer]

Is there some type of immunity to it? although I've never fragged zoas or palys I have touched them with my bare hands (never use gloves) and also bristle worms have no affect on me.. the bristles make my fingers itch a little but it goes away in like 15 mins? I'd like to know just in case I've been lucky so far. I can't afford to spend 8 days in the hospital.

 

[ducati335i]

Is there some type of immunity to it? although I've never fragged zoas or palys I have touched them with my bare hands (never use gloves) and also bristle worms have no affect on me.. the bristles make my fingers itch a little but it goes away in like 15 mins? I'd like to know just in case I've been lucky so far. I can't afford to spend 8 days in the hospital.

Possibly I did it for 10 yrs before getting sick.. I guess no way of knowing

 

[ming]

Is there some type of immunity to it? although I've never fragged zoas or palys I have touched them with my bare hands (never use gloves) and also bristle worms have no affect on me.. the bristles make my fingers itch a little but it goes away in like 15 mins? I'd like to know just in case I've been lucky so far. I can't afford to spend 8 days in the hospital.

I never heard of just touching the paly's to get sick, it has some fluids which if it goes into your body (mouth, eyes, etc), which will cause the sickness because its essentially poison as a defensive mechanism.

 

[Alex]

This is an all too common situation. Do a search and you will find plenty of stories,yet most of us take little heed in the warnings.

Glad to hear you and your family are doing well.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

You also need to treat a bucket if some polyps were accidentally left in it the same way. Throw out the frag, bring the bucket OUTSIDE of the house and rinse the bucket with COLD water. This way you'll be covered and even if you mess up your other family members pets included will be 100% safe.

Also always use reef sleeves or at least good latex gloves to safeguard yourself from them.

 

[greenlawns]

Glad to hear you and the family is ok. Happy holidays

 

[shmibly]

holy crap and they said it was palytoxin?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

I never heard of just touching the paly's to get sick, it has some fluids which if it goes into your body (mouth, eyes, etc), which will cause the sickness because its essentially poison as a defensive mechanism.

if you have a open cut or scrap on your hand or arm and your hands are in the water you can get it im glad everyone is ok in your family i guess lessoned learned