Getting Stung by carpet anemone

[kg221]

So I was accidentally stung about 2 months ago by my carpet anemone on my wrist and there'ss still a scar. The itching and burning lasted a good 2 weeks. So I purchased some more rock and I was in my tank last night re-scaping a few areas and I started to feel the burning feeling all over my arm to my elbow to my wrist. I saw on my arm these neon green strands no more than a centimeter long and my carpet is a haddoni green carpet. Now this morning my whole arm itches and burns like the smaller sting I had before on my wrist. I guess my question is do carpet anemones expel out into the water stinging tentacles? I wasn't even near the carpet either. Let me know what you all think.

Kyle

 

[t4zalews]

I'd suggest in buying gloves when you work on your tank

 

[nickman]

you are prob allergic or especially sensitive to the nematocysts in general. im not familiar with carpets extending tentacles out into the water but it is possible you are sensive to other corals and their excretions or stings as well.

Either way +1 on the gloves

 

[kg221]

Thanks for the input. Ya i'm definitely going to invest in some gloves that go up to my elbow. This stuff is nasty, up most of the night with intense burning and itching sensations all up my arm. Oh well live and you learn.

 

[cdsheid]

I touch my carpet to show people how its stick and never got stung. I dont do this all the time but my guess would be since you were moving live rock is that you came in contact with bristle worms or worm and itching it spreads it unless you pull the bristles off with tweezers.

 

[deangelr]

My gig did the same thing to me once... I was cleaning and i got hit on the underside of the wrist...

Damn anemone nearly took my arm off

 

[t4zalews]

I've gotten some tentacles stuck on the back of my fingers once from my gig..luckly I had no reaction. But ever since then I wear gloves when moving stuff around..or if I'm just grabbing soemthing that fell..i be careful and make sure to not run into it

 

[phender]

Forearms and wrists are very sensitive and anemones seem to be able to adjust their sting for defense vs. feeding. I had a haddoni that had a mild sting, but when I would try to move it, it would zap the heck out of me. The one time it stung me on the forearm, I had welts for a month.
I have felt the same sensation you describe when cleaning tanks with anemones, BTAs in this case. It felt like I was being mildly stung even though I didn't touch the anemones or come in contact with any worms, etc. I think I read somewhere that anemones can release nematocysts into the water, but I can't confirm it with any references.
I know that when I cut my carpet in half and put it back in the tank after several rinses, all the fish except the clowns died. Their symptoms were very similar to fish that had been stung. If it was a poison or pollutant that had been released, I would have expected the clowns to die too. Since the clowns had not adverse effects at all, I assumed the other fishes deaths might have been nematocyst related.

 

[kg221]

Yeah I think it expelled stingers out into the water because when I pulled my arm out I had very small thread like particles all over my wrist, forearm, and up to my shoulder. The thread like particles were the same color as my carpet; green. Is this a bad thing for the other fish in the tank? This happened 4 days ago and all fish are alive and happy so idk how it effected me and not them.

 

[aleonn]

Ya, definitely wear long gloves. I think Coralife makes a heavy duty one.

 

[JasonD]

I recently purchased a Haddoni at Petco took it home and as I was putting it into the tank it grabed my wrist and wouldn't let go. This is the first time that it really hurt and it hurt afterwards. I've been stung before but nothing like this.

Respect them:mad2:

Jason

 

[kg221]

Ya it's terrible. Day 5 its all over my arm and at its worst part its like torcher not being able to scratch it.

 

[kg221]

I can't get benadryl to help and over the counter itching creams dont help. Anyone have any remedies for anemone stings?

 

[jonnybravo22]

don't know any remedies but after 5 days if its still bad or even worse i would say the obvious which is go see a doctor. sure you've already considered it but think about whats important.

 

[phender]

Its probably too late at this point, but when you first get stung urine, meat tenderizer or really hot water seem to work to denature the protein in the poison.
At this point it is probably your body's reaction to the sting that is giving you problems and not the sting itself.

 

[kevantheman35]

try some vinegar, I have had reactions where it would work when no creams would

 

[devilsthird]

Would duct tape work on these kind of stings like it does with bristle worms?

 

[ezhoops]

water as hot as you can handle it, soak as long as you can handle it. Follow with a soaking in vinegar for 10 minutes. avoid long sleeves or anything that might rub or irritate the area.

hope this helps

 

[kg221]

thanks for all the help everyone...the hot water and vinegar seems to be helping

 

[kkiel02]

You are definitely allergic. My blue carpet(rip) never left scar or even really stung me. It wouldnt let go of my hand but that as close to a sting as I've ever gotten from any anemone. Like said above treat it like a jellyfish sting.