Zoanthids are they toxic?

Heh... I read about the people who recovered in a day... and I'm envious. Recently here, I was removing a hairy mushroom from a montipora rock, and accidentally sliced a few zoos beneath. All unknowing, I casually wiped hair out of my face with my arm, not payin attention to the water running down from my hand to my elbow. Almost immediately after, I got a numb burn in my mouth, tingling in my fingers and toes, and my heart started doing crazy things. I got dizzy, my vision condensed, and I just waited it out. After I was sure I wasn't going to die, I went back to work. In the next week after that, my tongue swelled up, turned yellow, all the skin peeled off of it and the whole inside of my mouth, and I couldn't swallow food for two days straight. Finally when I shed all the skin out of the inside of my mouth, I went, talked to the LFS, asked if it could have been something in my tank. And he told me, oh yes, this same thing had happened to a friend of his who was fragging. So... I traded in the zoos for montiporas and gorgonians.
I can't stress enough to people that palyotoxin is nothing to take lightly.
 
I agree............especially those of u who have our children who like to help with tank chores....I love the look of zoos, but I am always very careful to make sure what i but has nothing on it in the way of zoos.

I just don't understand why we can't find SPECIFIC INFO on what types are really dangerous.....all the repy's I get are just....vague.
 
I love zo's but have avoided buying them out of fear....for my self aand my children and pets,.....also, this is a hobby where we expose ourselves to chopping these animals up for fragging.....so it is imperative that this be public knowledge........If anyone is interested in starting a "program" so to speak that prevents the importation of Toxic zo's and/or at least ma program that makes the knowledge available, please let me know I would be happy to work with you.
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breedingroom: it's fine that you are against zoas, you have no right to be mad at anyone except yourself though IMO. I have followed this thread from day one, it's sad but true we are dealing with lifeforms that until recently were relegated to only scientists and researchers. As our technology and knowledge increase we will likely see more events in which we mistakenly are injured or killed by encounters with such creatures. Meaningless bantering and fanning the flames of disinformation will only serve to heighten paranoia and fear in this growing hobby.

To this date it is safe to say that no zoanthid or any other coral has willingly jumped out of a tank and attacked anyone. In every event of a poisoning it was a simple human error. Zoanthids contain poison, yes, so do poison dart frogs, sea cucumbers, Tile Fish, box fish , puffer fish, this list goes on an on. If you don't like them that's fine but stop trying to use this as a way to spread an unfounded fear and instead use it as a way to TEACH and educate others how to safely keep such creatures if they so decide to.

My advise to anyone wanting to keep zoas is simple, wash your hands after contact, wear gloves and eye protection when fragging them and dispose of waste water immediately and properly. I tell this to people all the time and to this date have not lost a single customer to a zoanthid.

To those of you who are still afraid, I mean this with all sincerity;
Use some common sense, if you do have children and you think they are at risk by simply having them in a tank that's just not the case, if you have a child that can get in the tank then by all means stay away from zoas, personal safety is our own responsibility. However that said stop trying to ruin this hobby for the rest of us who know the dangers and are willing to take our own risks. We don't need meaningless legislation involved in our hobby and restricting corals that we know how to safely keep and others don't.

You cant get any information because only a handful of individuals are qualified to answer the questions as to which ones are dangerous. It's not like terestrial mushrooms, these things can morph and each colony can have different attributes and mutations. You can't single out just the toxic ones, you call for a ban on just some zoas and you ban all zoas and that will make you pretty unpopular in this hobby.

And as for the LFS being at fault here;
Educate yourself and stop blaming them for everything that goes wrong in your tanks, if you dont want to buy a few good books there is a wealth of free information at your finger tips on corals, needs and cares.


NOTE this is not an attack against any single individual it's all aimed at the notion that we have killer corals in our tanks that we need to be protected from which is rubbish.

BTW it should go without saying but, if you were planning on it don't eat your corals Im pretty sure about any one of them will at least send you to the ER fast.

Thats my 3 cents
 
must read!!!!

must read!!!!

I just read a great article on this subject!!, it was in
CORAL magazine volume 3, number 5 nov 06
"wallflowers of the reef aquarium hobby?" by daniel knop
gives great detail of zoas toxicity:smokin:
 
firefish, i actually agree with you to tell you the truth......I mean heck, here in th USA, we can buy guns, fireworks, and all sorts of dangerous stuff.....not to mention the gov. allows acohol and we drink it and then sometimes drive, or whatever,......not to mention cigarettes. I do not know why, I guess just the fact that they are labeled as a poison, puts a slant on it....at least to me, cause.................well I do not know why. I guess we can't buy poisonous snakes, because they are predatory and are terrestrial.

But i guess you are riight.......we need to all be responsible.

I just think that those selling them, should be obliged to INFORM the UNINFORMED of the dangers......just like anything else.

But then again, when you buy a plant at the nursery, and it produces poisonous berries and what not,....they don't tell you either....go figure, I guess i am just a little paranoid,...which is mno surprise.....Homeside reef, thanks for the info.
 
This is a little off topic, but you can indeed buy and keep poisonous snakes in your home if it is allowed in your town/county/state.
Tom
 
So sorry to hear about your doggie :*(. That's awful. Ok, so I'm a few years late but a beginner to the saltwater hobby and zoas are my fav. On Nov 5 2006 friend asked "want to buy a saltwater tank?" 1st reaction - NO WAY!! She convinced me that if kept simple, they aren't that hard. I bought it, fully set up w/rock/skimmer/some mushrooms/feather dusters/other small critters. The tank was a pain, 35gal tall hex. Way too hard for me to handle. (ok so I'm 5'3 :( lol) I was totally facscinated by the whole big picture of saltwater aquariums as far as the scenery and amazing, beautiful creatures I could have and did have. She hooked me up with, whom I think is "THE BEST" reefer guy in our city. I came across another friend who was GIVING away a 55 gal tank, OHH just my luck. This would be much easier for me to handle. I took it, went to this reef store and immediately was convinced that I could do this. I was leary about the whole cycling process and running two tanks blah blah. I heard it takes weeks/months to cycle. This guy said what? months? weeks? we can get you up an running in 1 week. For under 2 grand, I have to say for a beginner I have a really nice tank already. Nothing nearly as beautiful as the "tanks of the month". I set the tank up 02-26-07, 03-06-07 1st water test--cherry. At that point, I was able to put all my old stuff in the new tank. 03-13-07 water test cherry......that day I took home boxes of corals and my cleaner crew. To this day, everything cherry. Nothing has died, old stuff is growing on new rocks, things that didnt do good in my other tank are amazing in this one. (sorry so long) Ok, so I trust this guy. He told me what to do, even gave written directions, I followed them and my tank is great. Could my tank still crash? My favorite items are the zoas. I have tons and get first pick on tuesday's when the shipment comes in. (sometimes I wait for the shipment) He handled them at the store, the other employees handle them without gloves, I was handling them daily until I got glue happy. Sometimes I call my daughter in to "stick her hand gently into the xenia and fill how soft, or feel how squishy this or that is. (ugh..yikes) I've never used gloves, I don't wash until I'm all done cleaning the tank or rearranging corals/mushrooms/rocks and feather dusters. I've never had a problem. I have never heard until this moment that they are toxic and dangerous. I plan on calling him this afternoon and checking this out, but I would hope to think that if he had any concerns he would have told me. He knows I'm a beginner. Shouldn't we be able to trust our LFS sales peeps? I see all the controversy here and I have to say it's really discouraging. It looks like we can't get a straight answer one way or the other. I work in an ER and got a hand full of surgical gloves from the charge nurse, but geez can we get some clarification here? Maybe the most toxic are the rarest and thats why there are no warnings? Maybe you can't even get them. Are some peeps just sensitive and thats why they had some reaction? Is there any new info on this subject?
 
hello, welcome to reefcentral. good info here.


My first reaction: this isn't a toy! it requires some education because there are several ways to get hurt with a reeftank.
your cavalier attitude is unnerving. you are a child-endangerer because that kid will put its fingers in its mouth.

regarding general ignorance , ignorant people get hurt. don't be ignorant. If you don't know your players, they can hurt you. If you know your players, you have hedged the odds far in your favor of not getting hurt. get educated. knowledge is power.



90% of LFS employees are clueless, also get the general consensus here before you make a move to verify even if the person seems knowledgeable.


funny, I was just thinking back to that swap, and my Kevin Cramer Pavona and how his dog died the next day after the swap. Why? yesterday was a swap, that's why. :D.
(I still don't think that's why his dog died, but we will leave that dead dog lay)



best advice: Ask boatloads of questions here. then you will get an overview of opinions and any really wrong ones will be obvious, vs one LFS dude that can tell you anything they want to sell you more crap.


edit: start a new thread so it gets the attention it deserves instead of dragging this fossil up again.
 
I'm not sure how to respond here. Toy? I didn't go out and spend all this money thinking I was getting a toy. I'm a single mom, I work full time and I go to school full time. I value my money and for once got something I have always wanted but too afraid. Blah........I'm not going to even try to defend myself here but umm I do have to respond to your "endangering children comment". My daughter is 16 going on 30, I'd hardly call her a child, more like young adult.........lol IGNORANT????? I can't stand judgemental crude remarks. I know now where I won't be asking my questions. Thanks
 
http://www.cbwinfo.com/Biological/Toxins/Palytoxin.html

Palytoxin was first isolated from the soft coral Palythoa toxica. Several species of Palythoa are used in aquariums, but do not produce the toxin. Originally, it was only found in a single tidal pool on the island of Maui in Hawaii and native Hawaiians used to coat spear points with a red seaweed from the pool. Toxin-containing corals appear to be randomly and sparingly distributed throughout the South Pacific and there is now a school of thought that suggests that the coral is simply concentrating the toxin made by a dinoflagellate (a small single-celled organism) called Ostreopis siamensis.
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9571212#post9571212 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Frick-n-Frags
edit: start a new thread so it gets the attention it deserves instead of dragging this fossil up again.
Click to expand...
Feel free to do so. But this one should keep going as well. It serves as an effective general warning. And so many have tagged along by now than any post gets a good reading.

I think I may have to go out and get the issue of Coral Magazine that discusses this topic. I was looking to change to a better magazine on the hobby, anyway...
 
Hey guys, I got algae covering my mean green zoanthids and how will i get rid of it? I can't just scrub it with a brush huh? It might upset and release toxin to the tank. What is the best way for me to get them algae off. Otherwise it cover the zoanthids, block lighting, and might die.
 
I got a reminder that you can get stung by corals the other day. A small open wound got brushed by a hammer the other day and I sure felt it.

Made me more wary, expecially considering I have many zoos and the same thing could happen with them.
 
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