Hi all, just trying to clarify some information or concerns about paly toxins I have read about.
I work in the science department of a school with a few large aquariums, one of which is a reef tank. These get professionally maintained so I have minimal knowledge of the corals and don't do any serious maintenance like fragging or cleaning inside the tank itself.
We have quite a few bunches of zoa as per the picture below, and was wondering if this was a concern? Is this a type that produce larger amounts of the toxin? The kids certainly aren't putting their hand in the tank (I mean it's possible, their kids, but unlikely). Anything else to be thinking about with these in the tank?
Thank you!
I work in the science department of a school with a few large aquariums, one of which is a reef tank. These get professionally maintained so I have minimal knowledge of the corals and don't do any serious maintenance like fragging or cleaning inside the tank itself.
We have quite a few bunches of zoa as per the picture below, and was wondering if this was a concern? Is this a type that produce larger amounts of the toxin? The kids certainly aren't putting their hand in the tank (I mean it's possible, their kids, but unlikely). Anything else to be thinking about with these in the tank?
Thank you!
but really didn't get much attention until jargon about "cooking" (when quarantining is what is meant) was taking literally by newbies who boiled rock unintentionally aerosolizing the toxin which is thermostable. The toxin is actually made by a genus if dinoflagellates and is found in many other animals than just pallies or zoas. Most individuals are poisoned from eating contaminated sea food, ie ciguatera poisoning. Palytoxin isn't absorbed through the skin but can be abosrbed into cuts, ingested or inhaled if aerosolized by cutting or drilling or heated. Here's some links if you're interested:
