getting really sick every time I'm in my tank...

[jmillz151]

So I just switched to a bigger tank and during the move me and 2 other people came down with watery eyes runny nose congestion and chest pain... I was thinking that maybe it was a coincidence and we all got sick at the same time but then it happened again lastnight! when rearranging all the live rock last night I came down with the same symptoms, almost feels like pneumonia! now the funny thing is my girlfriend that did not help this time came down with them worse than I did... anybody have any ideas on what might be going on here?!?

 

[cilyjr]

Do you have zoas and/or palys? Palytoxins in the air maybe? But that's not what palytoxins do though. Seems I did hear of someone cutting some lr with a tile saw that had zoas and everyone in the room got really bad chest pain ect...

 

[wdebenedettojr]

Interesting. Never heard of this. Tagging along

 

[this is me]

Palytoxin can be the cause. One of the reason why I don't put zoas or palys in my tank. A lot of icky thing in our tank can make us sick.

 

[jmillz151]

I do a lot of palys and zoas! Im looking up palytoxin and it all sounds like what in going through... just weird its in the air when nothing came out of the tank this time...

 

[thomb]

I have had the exact same symptoms from trying to remove zoos from rock. I've been hoping that someone has some sundial snails (heard they eat zoos). Now I use a respirator whenever I do anything with the live rock.

 

[jason401]

I do a lot of palys and zoas! Im looking up palytoxin and it all sounds like what in going through... just weird its in the air when nothing came out of the tank this time...

Doesnt really have to be in the air, you could have had it on your hands and shared a cigarette, or anything transferred from your hands

 

[jmillz151]

Id like to find out what kind is causing this and rid it from my system! my fear is if its making my girlfriend sick from across the room what will it do to my 2yr old! I dont think i could live with myself if something happened to him because of this stupid tank!!

 

[Marshall O]

How old/deep is your sand bed? That can trap some nasty gases (sulfur for one) that can be released when you disrupt the sand bed. Also, do you run carbon? If not, I would highly suggest doing so. That can scrub the water of toxins, etc, in case it is from Zoas/Palys.

 

[lex_lutha111384]

I was going to remove a bunch of peachy palys this weekend. Now I'm nervous. Whats the best way of removing palys? Mask and tweezers maybe??

 

[higorc]

I never got sick from doing anything in the tank, but I have gotten "tingly" fingers and hands once or twice from fraggin Zoas and/or trimming Pallys in the tank. Never really bothered me to the point of wearing any gloves or taking any precautions. Don't listen to me though, I have never been the "cautioned" type. I guess the common practice would be to be careful with any kind of Pallythoas...

There are lots of stories like urs in Reef Central. It seems like when people end up going to the hospital, there is nothing doctors can do about it besides treating the symptoms (breathing issues, chest pain, cramping, etc).

Good luck and I hope the best for u and ur family...

Higor

 

[JohnK]

Here's another scenerio where someone had similar symptoms after apparently having vinegar mix with GFO.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums...n-cleaning-with-vinegar!!!!&highlight=warning

Also on the palytoxin, I have heard of serious poisioning when people have boiled rock with palys on it, in that scenerio the toxin ends up vaporizing.

 

[wdebenedettojr]

How old/deep is your sand bed? That can trap some nasty gases (sulfur for one) that can be released when you disrupt the sand bed. Also, do you run carbon? If not, I would highly suggest doing so. That can scrub the water of toxins, etc, in case it is from Zoas/Palys.

Never heard of people getting sick during fragging or working in the tank before so I'm just guessing. But what Marshall says here makes perfect sense. A DSB can hold tons of gunk that I'm sure is unhealthy for us to breath. Carbons main objective is to remove chemicals out of the water so I would assume carbon might help this situation?

 

[jmillz151]

sand bed is under 2 years old and was kinda dirty... last night i did stir it up a bit but not that bad... carbon is going in tonight!

 

[jmillz151]

I never got sick from doing anything in the tank, but I have gotten "tingly" fingers and hands once or twice from fraggin Zoas and/or trimming Pallys in the tank. Never really bothered me to the point of wearing any gloves or taking any precautions. Don't listen to me though, I have never been the "cautioned" type. I guess the common practice would be to be careful with any kind of Pallythoas...

There are lots of stories like urs in Reef Central. It seems like when people end up going to the hospital, there is nothing doctors can do about it besides treating the symptoms (breathing issues, chest pain, cramping, etc).

Good luck and I hope the best for u and ur family...

Higor

my hands are all tight and feel slightly swollen

 

[wdebenedettojr]

sand bed is under 2 years old and was kinda dirty... last night i did stir it up a bit but not that bad... carbon is going in tonight!

Not sure if it will help or anything but poly filters are also a great thing to put in your tank when your trying to pull something chemically out of the tank. Always good to keep one on hand in case of an emergency.

 

[JohnK]

Never heard of people getting sick during fragging or working in the tank before

It's actually surprisingly common. We have had a number of BRS members end up in the emergency room due to palytoxin poisioning over the years. Also many stories on RC and elsewhere, whole families made very sick, dogs and all.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2253493&highlight=dog+poison
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158730&highlight=dog+poison
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1858696&highlight=palytoxin
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums...ity-of-palythoa-poisoning&highlight=palytoxin
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums...Is-Palytoxin-In-Our-Hobby&highlight=palytoxin

 

[wdebenedettojr]

It's actually surprisingly common. We have had a number of BRS members end up in the emergency room due to palytoxin poisioning over the years. Also many stories on RC and elsewhere, whole families made very sick, dogs and all.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2253493&highlight=dog+poison
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158730&highlight=dog+poison
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1858696&highlight=palytoxin

That's why I love this hobby (not that a member and his family got sick of course!!). Been doing it about 15 years and there is still something new to learn all the time! I'm gonna have to re think how I frag my palys now, lol.

 

[jmillz151]

It's actually surprisingly common. We have had a number of BRS members end up in the emergency room due to palytoxin poisioning over the years. Also many stories on RC and elsewhere, whole families made very sick, dogs and all.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2253493&highlight=dog+poison
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158730&highlight=dog+poison
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1858696&highlight=palytoxin
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums...ity-of-palythoa-poisoning&highlight=palytoxin
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums...Is-Palytoxin-In-Our-Hobby&highlight=palytoxin

wow thank you for your help! all of you!! now i guess the next step is how the hell do i find the bad ones and get them out??

 

[JohnK]

It's more a question of how you got exposed, and how to prevent it from happening again. All the issues come from handling or otherwise getting exposed to palys outside of the tank. Just sitting underwater undistrubed they don't hurt anyone.