Nepthea Tree Question
- Thread starter JoeRonda
- Start date
sneeyatch
Active member
You should be OK, but if you're concerned about it, wear gloves. Or do what I do and wash your hands thoroughly before and after messing with corals. I've noticed that some leathers feel slimy compared to others but I've never had any effects after handling them like I do with palys.
gflat65
New member
Some zoas and palys (very little is known how much and which ones aside from Protopalythoa toxica) contain palytoxin. Some gorgonians contain small amounts, too. Leathers don't contain palytoxin. They do contain other nasties that can cause issues, if you are sensitive to it (each person is different).
If you use common sense and wash hands before putting your hands in your mouth/on food, etc., you will be fine. That's a good rule to adopt for contact with any animal, esp. anything in our aquariums. With so many unknown bacteria and unknown counteractions with the numerous bacteria, it's always better safe than sorry.
Many have said that they had palytoxin poisoning, but the fact of the matter is that if that were true, they'd most likely be dead... The research the Army did on palytoxin as a weapon showed that when subjected to it, the animal's systems shut down and death occurred somewhat rapidly. However, since so little was known about where to find the toxin and since generally so little is present (if at all) in most zoas, the experiments were dropped due to infeasibility of isolating enough of it for practical purposes of weapon use.
If you use common sense and wash hands before putting your hands in your mouth/on food, etc., you will be fine. That's a good rule to adopt for contact with any animal, esp. anything in our aquariums. With so many unknown bacteria and unknown counteractions with the numerous bacteria, it's always better safe than sorry.
Many have said that they had palytoxin poisoning, but the fact of the matter is that if that were true, they'd most likely be dead... The research the Army did on palytoxin as a weapon showed that when subjected to it, the animal's systems shut down and death occurred somewhat rapidly. However, since so little was known about where to find the toxin and since generally so little is present (if at all) in most zoas, the experiments were dropped due to infeasibility of isolating enough of it for practical purposes of weapon use.
piercho
New member
IMHO use a pair of disposable gloves every time you will handle coral. I buy 100-packs of nitrile gloves from Lowes. Take care not to touch your face with your gloved hands while working. When handling rock and other items that might tear through the thin gloves wear fish fillet gloves (polypropylene mesh gloves) over the nitrile gloves to protect the nitrile gloves. The fish fillet gloves can be put in the washer.
Palyotoxin is only one of a plethora of risks that have been associated with handling coral/rock/stuff from reef tanks. Bacterial infections from coral slime (and any marine source) can be extremely difficult to control. Repeated exposure to nematocysts can cause long-term numbness in the fingers, I myself have developed a sensitivity to hammer corals and have had numb fingertips for weeks - which is one of the things that convinced me to stop being such a 'tard about safety precautions when maintaining my tank.
Palyotoxin is only one of a plethora of risks that have been associated with handling coral/rock/stuff from reef tanks. Bacterial infections from coral slime (and any marine source) can be extremely difficult to control. Repeated exposure to nematocysts can cause long-term numbness in the fingers, I myself have developed a sensitivity to hammer corals and have had numb fingertips for weeks - which is one of the things that convinced me to stop being such a 'tard about safety precautions when maintaining my tank.
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