What is your WORST sting/accident that caused physical damage from the hobby?

[Karen00]

I did go and immediately wash my hand to help try to make sure there wasn’t an infection. I even had gloves on which I honestly rarely use. They were cheap, thin gloves and offered no resistance to me being cut.

Ya, I think anything other than those thick gloves used for pruning thorny plants won't offer much protection and those thick ones probably don't offer protection from a bite. They're also so thick you can't actually do anything in the tank with them on. I think the thin gloves are probably good for people who develop rashes from the tank water but that's it. It's amazing how some corals can cut like razors.

 

[Sean Clark]

I was doing some hand in the tank maintenance on the left side of the tank. I wasn't paying attention to what was happening on the right side of the tank. A clownfish decided to give my hand a little taste. It did not hurt but it caught me off guard and startled me so much that I pulled my hand straight up, hit the light fixture mount which knocked it off of the tank and they fell into the water. I fell back off of my small stool on to the floor. I was fine, the lights not so much.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I'm lucky compared to y'all. I've just been mauled by my clownfish. Crazy little things.

 

[Karen00]

I was doing some hand in the tank maintenance on the left side of the tank. I wasn't paying attention to what was happening on the right side of the tank. A clownfish decided to give my hand a little taste. It did not hurt but it caught me off guard and startled me so much that I pulled my hand straight up, hit the light fixture mount which knocked it off of the tank and they fell into the water. I fell back off of my small stool on to the floor. I was fine, the lights not so much.

It always somehow manages to come back to the clowns. The devils of the deep! That's a crazy story! You're lucky it wasn't worse.

 

[bennyblanco]

I help out at my LFS when I can. This day I was doing husbandry. All happened within 1 hour. I first got a warning hit from a coral cat ,felt like an electric shock. Second tank an aggressive blue jaw trigger bit my hand almost fell off the ladder and finally burn lines on one hand after cleaning the anemone tank. This is the first time I have ever been stung In the nem tank. Hurt like hell but was gone in a few days . Yes this day could have been much worse.

 

[Karen00]

I help out at my LFS when I can. This day I was doing husbandry. All happened within 1 hour. I first got a warning hit from a coral cat ,felt like an electric shock. Second tank an aggressive blue jaw trigger bit my hand almost fell off the ladder and finally burn lines on one hand after cleaning the anemone tank. This is the first time I have ever been stung In the nem tank. Hurt like hell but was gone in a few days . Yes this day could have been much worse.

Wow!! You hit the trifecta that day! You're lucky you walked out of the store instead of being taken away by ambulance. That's the kind of day you buy a lottery ticket. ;-)

 

[sfin52]

I did go and immediately wash my hand to help try to make sure there wasn’t an infection. I even had gloves on which I honestly rarely use. They were cheap, thin gloves and offered no resistance to me being cut.

I've cut or ended up with blood in the water from moving rocks corals or what not. Always soak are with alcohol. Elsa my clown drew blood a few weeks back

 

[Mr Cypher]

I help out at my LFS when I can. This day I was doing husbandry. All happened within 1 hour. I first got a warning hit from a coral cat ,felt like an electric shock. Second tank an aggressive blue jaw trigger bit my hand almost fell off the ladder and finally burn lines on one hand after cleaning the anemone tank. This is the first time I have ever been stung In the nem tank. Hurt like hell but was gone in a few days . Yes this day could have been much worse.

My female blue jaw trigger bit a chunk out of the skin between my pinky and ring finger when I first put in tank very startling experience to be sure luckily was able to stop bleeding fairly quickly but now she is a sweetheart and leaves my hands alone

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Survived a shark attack. Thankfully Great Whites are a little too big to fit in the tank so it was not as spectacular as it sounds.

 

[ZAB]

Rolling pin to the side of the head,when wife saw how much I spent on corals.

 

[NoahLikesFish]

mantis shrimp skewered my foot, no i was not letting it clean my feet like one of those cleaner fish spas, it was an unprovoked attack. i told the DA to lock him up but the revolving door system let him back out the next day


(why did they r̶u̶i̶n̶ change the emojis? they legit removed half of the emojis)

 

[SauceyReef]

Survived a shark attack. Thankfully Great Whites are a little too big to fit in the tank so it was not as spectacular as it sounds.

Wow! Can you tell us the details?

I've also had a wild clown that was crazy mean. Somehow the fish know to bite the webbing of your fingers/hand where it hurts the most..

 

[jfoahs04]

Not a sting, but I did end up with a nasty bump. My old 40b had several built in shelves above it so I had to duck under the lowest to reach things in the tank. I was attaching a coral to some rock and was holding it in place to allow the glue to set. My tailspot blenny either thought my arm hair was hair algae, or he was just annoyed I was in his territory so he snuck out of his hole and nipped my arm. I had my eye on the clowns and my cleaner shrimp - both of which I knew would nip/crawl on me, but I never expected the blenny to do anything. It didn't hurt at all, but it surprised and scared the HELL out of me and I jumped up fast, knocking my head on the underside of the shelf. It blew up pretty bad. I also knocked the frag over and had to remount.

That was the first of several nips the blenny gave me. A first with that fish type (though not the last). I know to look out for them now.

 

[kdx7214]

Wow, is that the typical reaction for a lionfish sting or is it person by person? Do epi-pens work for that in an emergency?

I doubt it is. I just have an unusually large collection of allergies lol

 

[reef6111]

I have been in the hobby 12 + years, and accidents are rare so far, but I do have a couple stories now. I just got stung pretty bad last night on my finger and not even sure what it was. Felt like a bee sting, and my finger is still pretty swollen this morning. Once about 7-8 years ago a RBTA, or LPS caught my underarm pretty bad and it at one point became borderline necrotic. Almost had to go to the hospital for that one..

Anyone else have any sting stories or other crazy accidents?

I have a large maroon clown ( about 5 inches +) in a 55gal. frag tank ( it owns a RBTA also in the tank). We have to establish dominance every time I clean the glass. If I go after her with my hand a few times, and chase her away, she will leave me alone to do the maintenance. If I don‘t go after her, she doesn’t hesitate to give my hand a nip, to let me know I’m to close to the RBTA. So far no real damage or pain, but sooner or later she will likely get me with one of those spikes right behind her head.

I have been in the hobby 12 + years, and accidents are rare so far, but I do have a couple stories now. I just got stung pretty bad last night on my finger and not even sure what it was. Felt like a bee sting, and my finger is still pretty swollen this morning. Once about 7-8 years ago a RBTA, or LPS caught my underarm pretty bad and it at one point became borderline necrotic. Almost had to go to the hospital for that one..

Anyone else have any sting stories or other crazy accidents?

 

[vlangel]

I worked at a lfs for 12 years and a teenage boy wanted to see one of our eels. It was not a snowflake or banded eel but a type with a more viper like nose. Anyway I foolishly swished my hand in it's lair to try to get it to come out. Instead it chomped down on my finger and immediately the 180 gallon tank turned red with blood. I closed my hand into a fist and headed to the office for a first aid kit. When I washed it off and cleaned the area of the bite there were 3 rows where the skin was sliced and part was to the bone. I sterilized it, put Neosporin on it and butterflied it closed. It actually healed well and has never been a problem and this happened backed in 2004. Needless to say, I never tried to swish an eel out of its den ever again, LOL.
PS. The teenage boy did not buy that eel either, ha ha!

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Yikes!

 

[Spare time]

Elegance coral on an open cut that I didn't realize was there.

 

[Spare time]

Bristle worms are my least favorite. My fingers get swollen/inflamed

 

[vlangel]

Yikes!

I know but it sounds worse in the telling than it seemed at the moment. I was in my mid 40s at the time and so not easily rattled. Plus my husband was dealing with infection ( from cancer treatment) and on antibiotic through a pic line that I was administering every 6 hours, which is why I never went to the ER for it. Anyway hubby and I are both fine now, so it's all good.