[promod69camaro]

My foxface recently got sick, after about 2 healthy years in my tank. I decided to take him out for disposal before he was completely dead, so he would not drift back in the rocks where I could not find him and foul up the tank. I forgot that the spines were venomous. The LFS sales person said its not a big deal, that is like an ordinary bee sting.

That was a flat out lie!!! Be very careful!!! That fish packs a wallop. I picked him up with my bare hands and lifted him out of the aquarium. About half way across the room, he started to thrash around. I was not expecting that because he was just floating around. When the spines are rigid, they are very sharp. They cut my right hand and little finger in four locations.

You would not believe the burn, especially in the little finger. It was so intense that I thought about going to the emergency room. I was afraid that I was allergic to the venom. I was not expecting a sting like that. I used a cold pack first, and with my hand numb, it still burned. Then I tried as hot of water as I could stand. That worked much better than cold did.

Its been over 12 hours and my hand is still burning some. My little finger is swollen to about the size of my thumb. The stings now feel more like bee stings. Twelve hours ago, it felt like I put out cigarettes with my right hand. I have been stung by a small house scorpion, and it didn't hurt any more than this does and a scorpion usually only gets you in one place. From my experience, the Foxface sting is worse than a volitan lion fish sting. The pain is more intense, last much longer, and has more swelling. Although I have never picked up a volitan lion, just bumped one while cleaning.

I like the foxface because of the junk alge they eat, but I am re thinking getting another one. So be careful and don't let the LFS tell you that a Foxface sting is mild. They really pushed this fish to me, because of its alge eating ability. I have been having an alge problem.

I just thought I would post this warning and maybe prevent another person from being careless around this fish and getting stung. I will probably have another one because of their cool nature and cleaning ability. I am just better educated on their sting now and will be much more careful when working with this fish in the tank.