The Garden -- Rakies shallow SPS cube

The palytoxin thing is dramatically overhyped. Is it real? Yes. Can it hurt you? Absolutely. Do the paly's in your tank have it? Kind of...

The one's that are dangerous are the big brown and green ones that are invasive. The ones that come on live rock, that nobody would ever buy on purpose because they're frankly ugly as sin.

Additionally, the way these have seriously harmed people have been under very specific circumstances where people were being intentionally foolish with them. In one case by putting live rock in an OVEN. Another case by BOILING live rock on the stove in fresh water... And in yet another case, by people trying to kill them by brushing them off with a steel wire brush, literally shredding them to bits.

If you do things like this, specifically with big ugly wild palys, you may be in trouble.. Regular zoas and palys for some miraculous reason, tend to not have those levels of palytoxin. Making them inherently safer than their wild, ugly counterparts.

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With all that in mind, here are my basic tips that will solve all your worries.

1) Do it in the garage, or back patio
2) Have lots of light, especially blue light so you can see where the polyps are clearly
3) Have a fan. It helps, a lot.
4) Wear gloves
5) Buy a cheap piece of acrylic that's like 2x2', and do your work under that. It's literally a clear shield that solves all the problems.
6) Have lugols to put the fresh cut frags into
7) Use a razor blade before cutting the zoas with bone cutters or cable cutters. A clean and complete smooth cut is less traumatic on the coral flesh. Since doing this I have had zero zoas/palys squirt on me. Then the bone cutters aren't making sloppy cuts that tear and stress the zoa, they are just cutting the rockwork.

To use the acrylic shield all you need is to put up two small boxes on either end to hold it up, and cut the zoa under that. It's crystal clear, will protect your face from any splatter better than any goggles will. And doubles as a great table to put your tools. From a plastic shop or even from Home depot, it will give you all the piece of mind you want.

While working on frags I typically have a cup of frag plugs, 2-3 sharpies, 2 pairs of tweezers, a cup of Lugols dip to put the fresh cut corals while the glue cures, lots of glue, and lots of razor blades.

 

Amazing tips! Thank you! I’m going to do that tomorrow for sure!

 

Here's a few pics of my work space. The little brown box is full of sharpies, glue, extra tweezers, razor blades. It's a grab box of everything really.

Last picture shows the acrylic I use as a shield. I lost my second little box or I'd have shown you how I set it up, but it's pretty easy to imagine.

The blue light helps me make clean cuts, and make sure I didn't accidentally butcher a zoa or something.

 

Very nice !! I need this all! Lol

 

May need to take some of those frags off your hands. It must be a burden caring for them all .

 

The second I got my frag tank it was full. 2 days after I upgraded to a larger frag tank, full. So I definitely need to do less hoarding and more selling! I've dropped off at least 10-12 zoa species at my buddies to hold onto already lol.

 

Seems you are more a practical man than a business man.

 

I just do bother miserably lol.

Zoas all open. Trauma free fragging.

 

Want to take a road trip and come do my sunny ds?

 

Yeah I'll bring the blender

 

Keg is up and running

 

I got a mug

 

I got a mouth and a strange willingness to drink whatever is handed to me...

 

I've got moonshine!

 

Who don't???? can buy it at the liquor store up here.....

 

I have Popcorn Sutton's. In the jar.

 

The Ole Smokey moonshine is sold up here right next to the salty caramel whiskey....

 

I have been moving a LOT of zoas locally. The responsible thing would be NOT to get a pack from @bubbaque. . . We'll see how that goes >_<

 

I say live dangerously, get a pack.

 

Enabling is fun. You know you want one.