Genuine concern: should I be afraid of what’s in my tank?

[alicel]

Maybe I’m overthinking...
But I do know that I’m still a newbie with years and years of more knowledge and experience to obtain.
I had no idea that palytoxin was a thing... and I’ve been seeing so much about it the last week or so.
I have “zoas“ in my tank. I don’t know how to distinguish the difference between zoas and palys.
So my genuine concern is whether or not I should be afraid of what’s in my tank since I really don’t know what it is (to be honest, considering I don’t know the difference)
Or - am I just an idiot newbie with every-day anxiety that’s bringing that anxiety into my hobby when it’s not necessary.
Can someone talk me off of this worry ledge and tell me it’s okay or tell me that my concern is valid?

 

[Cavalina]

Better safe than sorry I suppose, but my guess is you might be over-thinking. I have zoas and palys and have never had issues. Many others are the same. But there are "good" palys and "bad" palys. I prune Palythoa Mutuki in my tank frequently, However, if I had P. Heliodiscus or P. Toxica I would be much more cautious. Here's a good article that breaks it down very nicely...... https://reefs.com/2015/09/14/the-dangers-and-myths-of-zoa-toxicity-part-1/

I guess my disclaimer in this is that everyone reacts a little differently. So know the facts of course. But hopefully this helps.

 

[phillybean]

Nothing to worry about, but take proper precautions when handling them or fragging them. I buy a box of "Grease Monkey" mechanic gloves and put a new pair on anytime I put my hands in the tank. It's a good practice not just for Palytoxin, but also bristle worms and in my case my clown fish that attack my hands any chance they get. If you get to the point where you are fragging Zoa's, read up a little bit on extra precautions to take. But day to day, nothing to worry about, very rare to have problems with Palytoxins. That said, always worth taking the extra precautions to minimize the risk. Just like why we wear seat belts.

 

[ZoWhat]

Covid has made everyone a worrywart and a germophobe.... seriously....

I've worked with Palys and Zoas for over 10yrs. Unless you get slime all over your fingers from touching a pissedoff paly and then wipe your eyes or mouth, you are fine.

And as a general concern, unless you plan to hold your head under the water inside the tank for 10mins, I don't think you have anything to worry about

You should be 1000x more worried about the amount of MONEY you're spending in this hobby over any accidental mishaps

.

 

[Timfish]

Palytoxin is a real thing but if you wear gloves if you have any open wounds, don't use any heat on anything from your tank and don't do anything that might aerosolize anything from you tank you'll be fine. Palytoxin is in SOME palies not all, unfortunately we don't have a test to know which (it's also found in other animals but nothing is mentioned about them). Palytoxin is thermostable so heating it up doesn't neutralize it and can in fact ceaate a deadly aerosol. Drilling and cutting paly colonies will do the same.

To be honest, I'm more worried about getting a C. diff infection after taking antibiotics. There's an estimated 15,000 deaths per year caused by it.

 

[JessenD]

It’s a real thing but not something to fear just use common sense ie Keep your hands out if you have open wounds on them, frag with gloves…. Don’t put them in your mouth lol . Ive been zapped before and it can be severe.

 

[Goaway]

Wear powder free gloves. I regret when ever I don't . I get stung often.
Edit: there's other stuff you got to worry about, sometimes.

 

[JessenD]

Palytoxin is a real thing but if you wear gloves if you have any open wounds, don't use any heat on anything from your tank and don't do anything that might aerosolize anything from you tank you'll be fine. Palytoxin is in SOME palies not all, unfortunately we don't have a test to know which (it's also found in other animals but nothing is mentioned about them). Palytoxin is thermostable so heating it up doesn't neutralize it and can in fact ceaate a deadly aerosol. Drilling and cutting paly colonies will do the same.

To be honest, I'm more worried about getting a C. diff infection after taking antibiotics. There's an estimated 15,000 deaths per year caused by it.

Seriously lol C.diff is no joke that and H. pylori.

 

[Timfish]

Oooops! Correction to my initial post, I went back and checked my refferences and C. diff was linked to almost 30,000 deaths in 2011. I guess the moral here is always wash your hands. Always. Here's a couple links:

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1408913

https://www.cdc.gov/cdiff/pdf/Cdiff-Factsheet-P.pdf

 

[alicel]

Better safe than sorry I suppose, but my guess is you might be over-thinking. I have zoas and palys and have never had issues. Many others are the same. But there are "good" palys and "bad" palys. I prune Palythoa Mutuki in my tank frequently, However, if I had P. Heliodiscus or P. Toxica I would be much more cautious. Here's a good article that breaks it down very nicely...... https://reefs.com/2015/09/14/the-dangers-and-myths-of-zoa-toxicity-part-1/

I guess my disclaimer in this is that everyone reacts a little differently. So know the facts of course. But hopefully this helps.

Thank you so much!

 

[alicel]

Everyone - thank you all so much for help! And thank you to those that provided links. I have some homework to do..
The R2R community never fails to amaze me.

 

[WVNed]

The LFS here has a display tank that has a 3 foot growth of the poisonous kind, the ugly brown ones. It is just marked NOT FOR SALE and they haven't touched the tank in years.
I really think they just don't know what to do with it.