Almost killed myself, wife and dogs. Novices, Please read!

[superrmario]

Originally Posted by brandon429

You know what else is interesting about this

For the palytoxin to be vaporized and carried throughout the house means every contact surface in the house is contaminated with settled palytoxin, it doesn't just evaporate. So it makes sense to expect every surface in the house as a source of reinfection, thats interesting if it only got you sick through the air and then no thin film exists on all surfaces if air was truly the vector./

I did a full cleanup with Lysol and sprayed my fabrics with chemicals. Washed the dogs food bowls completly and then put them in the dish washer. Anything and everything that has a top on it was cleaned from top down so any residuals were killed off. Any food items that were on my counter are now in the garbage and my dishes and silverware are making its way into the dishwasher for a full cleaning. I feel at this time my home is safe. Thanks for the heads up! Its much appreciated!

Originally Posted by aandfsoccr04

What a crazy story. A good reminder that as much pleasure as our reefs give us, they can also be deadly as well. We need to be careful and always pay attention. Glad you and your family are ok!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Chriskk

Wow what a scary story. Thanks for the info, and lets try to keep this thread bumped so others can read this. Glad all are o.k....Nice tank btw!

Thanks and scary for sure. Thanks for the Kudos on the tank as well. I hope this thread is stickied.

Originally Posted by brandon429

Im thinking you might get sick again...sheets, bed, floors etc?

Cleaned!!

Originally Posted by EricShane

Try boiling them..

Nah, lol im jk. Glad your okay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ_R-G_i4Xk&noredirect=1

Originally Posted by bsilvest

thank you for this post I too am a newbie getting into it so far never thought of boiling live rock and as a process engineer and some what of a chemical understanding I see how this could be a problem, would I have thought about it at first too probably not. Although we all know a lot of what we deal with are poisonous and as said before masters of chemical warfare your story can help many more of us to not do or take for granted the idea that we rule them all the time, I myself have had a few stings and rough nights but glad that your all OK and good. Thank you for this post!

This is exactly what I wanted this thread to do. Make new guys such as yourself aware of the dangers in this. Please wear gloves when moving are handling anything in your tank. I am happy you took the time to read. Good luck in your ventures!

Originally Posted by m2434

"Going back to the point of boiling, I do not recall if there were any polyps on the rocks. I can tell you I quickly examined them for any life just out of curiosity. I guess I missed something. "

Sorry to hear this, this is awful. No,you didn't necessarily miss a polyp, many organisms , especially algae and even some bacteria, cyano etc.. contain very toxic substances and boiling will vaporize them. Some dinoflagellates have recently been found to even contain s substance almost identical to palytoxin and just because you don't see dinos doesn't mean there aren't some there. Never, ever boil rocks! I don't know how often i need to post this. Boiling does not necessarily remove organics and can even cause further binding to some extent and does not remove phosphate or other metals etc...

It DOES vaporize toxins.

Bleaching rock is the safest and most effective way to remove organics. Muriatic acid the most reliable way to remove phosphate and metals. Period, never any need to risk you life boiling rocks.

Thanks for the info on the other baddies in and on rock as well as the advise. I appreciate it as will many others!

[ADDsalt]

I really appreciate you posting this. I never knew any of it. And I am glad you were able to recognize the symptoms and research it in time to get everyone out. Kudos to you for being quick on your feet. Glad everyone is ok.

[specvjeff]

I had a very similar situation not too long ago. I was fragging a lot of Nuclear Greens and I had the exact same reaction but not as severe. It started with a runny itching nose and throat. Turned into a lot of sneezing and coughing. I went home, and the sneezing and coughing stopped. Shortly after eating dinner, I started to get the shivers and severe muscle aches in my lower back. I felt pretty crappy till the next day. It was either the Palys I fragged or the Flu shot I got the day before. Still not 100% sure which it was.

[specvjeff]

I'm not a nooby and I was wearing gloves. I think the Palys toxin is much stronger than that of zoas.

[moondoggy4]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and I am grateful that everyone is doing better. I have some live rock some of my best pieces that are covered with aptisa's and a funny looking algae I was thinking about doing a bleach treatment I will not try the boiling treatment.

[REEForBANG]

Sorry to hear that you guys are lucky Good info for anyone looking to clean there rocks

[Sugar Magnolia]

I hate to read stories like this. The guy who accidently poisoned himself from our club still sufferes breathing difficulties.

[tektite]

Originally Posted by superrmario

My next approach is just letting them dry out.

Be very careful with this route too, they remain dangerous even after being dried out. Heard one story awhile back of a guy's dog either getting extremely sick or dying after eating palys that had been dried out for a few weeks.

[Chinch Bug]

I have a bunch of those Sea Foam green palys in my tank also many on rocks with lots of coral. Any natural predator that eats them (false cowrie, nudibranch, fish?) or is that a bad idea also?

[Chinch Bug]

I have a bunch of those Sea Foam green palys in my tank also, many on rocks with lots of coral. Any natural predator that eats them (false cowrie, nudibranch, fish?) or is that a bad idea also?

[aleggett321]

Just a comment on the muriatic acid mentioned in earlier posts. If anyone were to consider it, Make sure you use it OUTSIDE!! With nitrile gloves and eye protection. It is highly effective for organics on the rocks and phosphates in the rock but extremely caustic and dangerous without proper precautions.

[MurphysLaw]

wow, I am glad everyone is ok! I read you should wear gloves and eye pro when handling Zoas but I had no idea. Very scary stuff, definitely glad you shared your experience I hope everyone reads your thread.

[Spyderturbo007]

I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing better! I've read similar stories here and always wear gloves and safety glasses when working with anything in my tank. My wife walked in one day when I was dipping some zoas fighting a nudibranch problem.

She started giving me a hard time about my safety gear. I then explained to her that some Zoanthids can contain Palytoxin, one of the most toxic organic substances on the planet. She proceeded to back away from what I was doing and asked if I should be wearing a mask of full face shield.

[dotcommer]

wow, thanks for the post, this can definately help others out. Glad to hear everyone is ok.

[KayHouse]

This is crazy! Great post, very interesting. And scary, glad you are all alright.

[Allmost]

wow glad ure fine !

[ganjero]

Did you guys get the metal taste in your mouth? That’s one of the most common symptoms from Palytoxin poisoning.

I believe there is a good amount of people that actually boil rocks and IMO this is a mistake resulting from people hearing about the “cook the rock” procedure where you don’t literally cook the rock but rather place the rock in a dark container and do frequent water changes. The bacteria will consume all of the excess waste and purge the rock in the form of detritus.

I'm glad you are ok and wish you and all your family a fast and full recovery.

[magic028]

A member in our reef club (NJRC) had taken a bunch of rock with the green palys on it and left it in a bucket outside for a year. When he went to get the rock there was a little water in the bucket which he dumped out and splashed on his arm giving him a chemical burn that scarred him. Nasty stuff!

Bob

[rrasco]

Originally Posted by Spyderturbo007

I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing better! I've read similar stories here and always wear gloves and safety glasses when working with anything in my tank. My wife walked in one day when I was dipping some zoas fighting a nudibranch problem.

She started giving me a hard time about my safety gear. I then explained to her that some Zoanthids can contain Palytoxin, one of the most toxic organic substances on the planet. She proceeded to back away from what I was doing and asked if I should be wearing a mask of full face shield.

Reminds me of the first time I was fragging palys. They were on a large piece of LR and I didn't want the rock in the new tank, just the palys, so they needed to be fragged. I got out a chisel and a hammer, set the rock on my table and right before I started fragging, I thought to myself "I know they always say to wear glasses, but I'm only going to break this real quick, no biggie." Well, I took a swing and BAM. LR and Paly juice shoot right into my eye. It couldn't have been more perfect the sequence of events. I ran to the sink and flushed my eye out. Never got poisoned and the LR didn't do any damage, thankfully. My point is, wear some freaking goggles.

[superrmario]

Thanks guys. It is much appreciated.

An update. Wife and I are doing well as are our dogs. We are both are around 95% recovered and the Muscle Pain from the violent coughing is subsiding. My lungs as well as Stefanies Lungs are a bit clogged like Broncitis. I am still suffering from headaches and sleepiness. I really should have taken the day off today, but I went into work anyhow.

Someone asked if we tasted metal in our mouths. I dont recall in my case and Stefanie never mentioned it.

[HaiD888]

Thank you for sharing your story. I once put a live rock in the microwave to get rid of a worm. I will never do that again.

[cugly]

Glad that everyone is ok...thank you for sharing..

[cugly]

Glad that everyone is ok...thank you for sharing..

[CrazyEyes]

Hey man, I'm glad to hear yourself, wife and 2 dogs are doing better. Thank you for posting your experiences. I've known about palytoxin for some time but I would have never guessed it could happen from boiling rocks. Thanks again.

[FTDelta]

Definitely needs to be stickied. Glad to hear all is well.