Entire family hospitalized due to palytoxin

Ben Pedersen

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There are multiple scientifically documented cases of palytoxin poisoning hundreds of people as a result of it becoming a marine aerosol naturally.

Mass poisonings:
A formerly unknown derivative of palytoxin, ovatoxin-a, produced as a marine aerosol by the tropical dinoflagellate Ostreopsis ovata caused hundreds of people in Genoa, Italy, to fall ill. In 2005 and 2006 blooms of these algae occurred in the Mediterranean sea. All those affected needed hospitalization. Symptoms were high fever, coughs and wheezes.

 

Proteus Meep

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An interesting read

 
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Taxus812

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An interesting read


So I have seen a lot of comments. And the first hand accounts are eye opening. However I’m not seeing a lot of pictures of dangerous zoas and palys. Not any pictures of safe ones either l. (I have also read all of the links and have a horrible headache now. ). It’s a bit of a blur.

So to a new reefer is the recommendation to don the hazmat suit and remove them all from your tank if you have any? so if it looks like a flower get rid of it basically.
 

W1ngz

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So I have seen a lot of comments. And the first hand accounts are eye opening. However I’m not seeing a lot of pictures of dangerous zoas and palys. Not any pictures of safe ones either l. (I have also read all of the links and have a horrible headache now. ). It’s a bit of a blur.

So to a new reefer is the recommendation to don the hazmat suit and remove them all from your tank if you have any? so if it looks like a flower get rid of it basically.

They're perfectly safe in your tank. It's in mishandling them or coming in direct contact with the skin or worse-the liquid inside them that the problems come up.
 

mattzang

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Idk from what I’ve read it has to have direct route to blood..

I do find something interesting though. Just throwing this out there as it makes more sense to me.. you have chlorine in tap water (as well as many other cleaning agents) that you were using to wash off super dirty items from a crashed tank likely lots of detritus with built up ammonia levels in a small unventilated room of your house using possibly hot steamy water..

Sounds like you possibly created mustard gas.

There is one thing in common with what your saying though and that’s introducing water vapor in some form. I’ve never boiled rock to clean it. I see the risk of many other things by doing this even best case you’re standing over a pot of boiling ammonia which alone can burn your lungs.

LOL

just stop man, i'm starting to think you're trolling
 

rkpetersen

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So to a new reefer is the recommendation to don the hazmat suit and remove them all from your tank if you have any? so if it looks like a flower get rid of it basically.

And my new nano setup is exclusively zoas, palys and a few acans.
I guess I'm doomed, lol. :D

In all seriousness though, it's real and no joke.
The mechanism of action is toxic to all vertebrate cells.
The amount that will have a noticeable effect is incredibly small.
It is very toxic if it enters intravenously, as through small cuts (such as you might get when handling rocks.)
Somewhat less toxic if inhaled as an aerosol. Very easy to aerosolize salt water.
Still less toxic if ingested, or enters through other mucous membranes (rubbing your eyes, for example.)
No antidote. Treatment is supportive.

Keep zoas and palys all you want, but if you tear down a tank, take appropriate precautions.
Also never boil live rocks. (Why would anyone think this is a good idea?)
 

Nicholas Dushynsky

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20190807_221536.jpg
 

Sailfinguy21

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Good reminder for everyone. Had they not called emergency, they would not have woken up. Stay safe.



Ive been exposed to it once... i had a major headache... chest pains i couldnt breathe.. it did go away after a few hours. I got it by simply handling palys got their black juice on my fingers out of the tank so i breathed it in too probly and then eithin an hour i had symptoms


I do agree their needs to be a warning for this like she said in the article
 

blasterman

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Only a few specific species of Palythoa contain appreciable levels of the toxic substance, and this has been verified by several reputed studies. While it may sound simplistic stating that 'if it's pretty, it's likely not toxic' it's a pretty good general rule.

Where I disagree is the species that have been verified to have the toxin in my experience are quite commonly sold in reef shops. They are dull, olive green in color with long skirts and grow quite rapidly. They need to be banned.

No self respecting zoa or paly collector would want them because they are unattractive, which means they are mostly sold to beginners looking for cheap corals to put in their tank and will happily take the 100 head wild cluster for a cheap price just to get something in their tank. Combine inexperienced reefer with deadly coral and we know where that goes.
 

Rollnduff

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Is anyone good at identifying the toxic types? I got these from a lfs about 2 years ago and they looked great. After I had some parameters get out of wack these ugly ones just appeared and took over. Any thoughts...

20180606_133044.jpg 20190810_115444.jpg 20190810_115405.jpg
 

Taxus812

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Perhaps we start a sticky with pictures of palys known to have significant toxin and ones known safe.

I imagine there are different concentrations as well.

Beginners like me are bumbling around in our tanks. Probably should avoid ones with significant toxin levels

A more advanced reefer May have the experience to safely manage ones with higher levels of toxins.

However doing it blind is a train wreck waiting to happen In my opinion.
 

Jay Z

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Is anyone good at identifying the toxic types? I got these from a lfs about 2 years ago and they looked great. After I had some parameters get out of wack these ugly ones just appeared and took over. Any thoughts...

20180606_133044.jpg 20190810_115444.jpg 20190810_115405.jpg
Eat one. If you post back up tomorrow, then it was the non toxic one.

But seriously. Don’t eat one. Just use caution when working in tour reef tank. A million other things that will hurt you in it besides working with pallys.
 
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Proteus Meep

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Is anyone good at identifying the toxic types?

I don't think anyone can give you a positive identification based purely on visual identification on which ones contain it but when i have read about people which have been effected it does always seem to be the texas trash polyps and that kind similar looking ugly, fast growing paly's that are involved....i would certainly treat the ones in your photo's with extreme cautious respect
 

SeaDweller

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Is anyone good at identifying the toxic types? I got these from a lfs about 2 years ago and they looked great. After I had some parameters get out of wack these ugly ones just appeared and took over. Any thoughts...

20180606_133044.jpg 20190810_115444.jpg 20190810_115405.jpg

I have those junk palys in my tank too. So annoying. They’re encroaching my acros after I thought I killed them all.

Btw, I’ve left them in freezing weather in TAP water and they survived 5-6 weeks, just closed up and that was it. I let them bake in the sun and they shriveled up obviously but still didn’t dry out.

Can someone ID his protopaly/palys as I have the same one?

Anyone know if they’ll overtake growing acros?
b5bdf10ec8ee6da9f497194c8bdada92.jpg

They’re the ones in the upper right corner
 
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Stigigemla

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The one that caused most poisonings in Sweden is light grey. (a little brownish in tanks with a lot of phosphate).
But we have the brown and green too.
But remember other kinds of Zoanthus and Palys can carry the poison too. Just not that much of it...
I dont think we can say any of them is totally safe.
 

Daniel@R2R

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I dont think we can say any of them is totally safe.
I think this is basically it. I agree some are more dangerous than others, but we should be cautious of all of them and be smart when handling them.
 

Tamberav

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Short version.. the bright colorful corals we buy are not toxic.. the ones that are not bright and have white specs on the polyps are.. and they are very rare to come across..

Nuclear green and purple death are still sold and traded and are of the toxic variety...just prettier.

I bought someone else's system and it had the toxic brown ones in it I am still plucking off.

I agree though most are not toxic or at least not very toxic but they are still out there.
 

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