REMINDER: Infection's Suck!

[Phyto4life]

I sliced myself good with a parring knife while carving zoo's off live rock

 

had the toxin squirt directly in my eye's

 

and I put my hands in the tank all the time with cut's

 

maybe some people are immune maybe not I lean more towards not having people with weak immune system's like the elderly,kids,the sick or pet's eat/handle paly's

[neanderthalman]

That or some of us have horseshoes up our asses.

 

I should probably go and buy some elbow length gloves.

[Noonan]

Scary. I work on tanks daily, 5 days a week, and maintain about 5 reef tanks a day.

 

I always have hang nails and open sores cuts

 

I actually had a reaction recently to zoas. My fingers doubled in size and felt difficult to bend (probably from the size of the fingers). and I'm actually allergic to amoxicillian so I just took benadryl

 

Also have heard about people boiling rock with zoas on it for some reason and unknowingly inhaling the fumes.

 

..probably the worst way to come in contact with palytoxin.

[Uhuru]

I sliced myself good with a parring knife while carving zoo's off live rock

 

had the toxin squirt directly in my eye's

 

and I put my hands in the tank all the time with cut's

 

maybe some people are immune maybe not I lean more towards not having people with weak immune system's like the elderly,kids,the sick or pet's eat/handle paly's

 

Unless you lack Na+/K+ ATP-ase pumps on your cell membranes you are not immune to palytoxin. If you do lack those pumps you are not alive anyway so it doesn't matter.

[nemmy]

Unless you lack Na+/K+ ATP-ase pumps on your cell membranes you are not immune to palytoxin. If you do lack those pumps you are not alive anyway so it doesn't matter.

 

I must be immune then.

<< Zombie

[Uhuru]

go eat some zoas

[nemmy]

go eat some zoas

 

 

Tastes like chicken with a surprise pop of juice in the middle.

 

I'm joking people, dont eat them.

[Nemo Niblets]

Unless you lack Na+/K+ ATP-ase pumps on your cell membranes you are not immune to palytoxin. If you do lack those pumps you are not alive anyway so it doesn't matter.

What do you do for a living? Haha.

[Phyto4life]

so serious question do the people use "X" amount of palythoa or zoanthids for their poison tip blow dart's?

 

does zoanthids have palythoa toxin or is paly toxin from paly's giving it it's name?

 

curious.

 

not trying to argue it's just this will really slow down my excitement toward having a marine salt water aquarium IMO

 

I will admit I do get the tingles when i was ingested with large amount's of toxin's

[Nemo Niblets]

Don't some zoas have more vicious palytoxin than others?

[peytonk]

is it safe to frag mushrooms without gloves?

[Nemo Niblets]

is it safe to frag mushrooms without gloves?

I would say so. But better safe than sorry? Hehe.

 

here's what I use guys:

http://www.enasco.com/action/ProductDetail...erZIPCODE=75081

[Phyto4life]

but in all seriousness I would suggest in wearing gloves because of the oil's,bacteria etc and soap residues that can effect your lovely reef aquarium

 

I would wear gloves in more concern over my reef then to concern myself over the infection's from the aquarium

 

please don't give the salt water hobby a bad name with 2 incident's over 100'S of thousands of success stories

of fragging with out gloves we already know with out a doubt that more people die walking accross the street randomly so please be realistic

 

 

U are 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 stories with no drastic result's

 

we are 100's of thousands of success stories with no gloves and healthy tanks

[nemmy]

I would say so. But better safe than sorry? Hehe.

 

here's what I use guys:

http://www.enasco.com/action/ProductDetail...erZIPCODE=75081

 

This is what i use.

 

[peytonk]

I would say so. But better safe than sorry? Hehe.

 

here's what I use guys:

http://www.enasco.com/action/ProductDetail...erZIPCODE=75081

 

 

my mushrooms slimed like crazy when i put them back in my tank, is that bad for my other corals and livestock?

[Walking_Target]

No kidding on this. It's rare, but epsecially problematic if you are already ill in any way.

 

Fish parasites to humans? not as common.

 

Bacterial infections? pretty damn common, actually.

 

When it comes right down to brass tacks, I don't wear gloves a lot of the time - not for the usual daily feedings. Any time I have to move rocks or handle corals or otherwise put myself in a position to get stung/scraped? hell yes.

 

Heck, wearing gloves *just* for the protection from bristle worm stings makes sense. I made the mistake a few days back of moving a pump after dark. I got nailed pretty damn good by a bristle worm - something a latex glove would have at least partially protected me from.

[OClownsandNanos]

To some of the responses above: If you don't wanna wear gloves knowing the risks, fine. That's your business. It's not very responsible, however, IMO, to advocate or imply that others should follow your example. And it seems pretty callous to me to talk about it so flippantly when the OP could've died from what happened. But I guess being a reefer doesn't necessarily mean being a sensitive or thoughtful human being, does it?

[nemmy]

my mushrooms slimed like crazy when i put them back in my tank, is that bad for my other corals and livestock?

 

Shouldnt be a problem, but always rinse frags off in tank water in a bowl before adding back to the tank.

 

If you are running carbon it should help clean it out of the water.

[Banjo]

I honestly don't wear gloves. I find it to be too much of a hassle and whether that ends up hurting me in the future, so be it.

 

Not coincidentally, I don't wear a seatbelt either.

 

But like another poster said, if I were to start wearing gloves it would be more for the protection of my reef from my own oils, bacteria, soap, etc. I do believe this to be a great reason to wear them.

[Walking_Target]

flippitant? I wouldn't say so. Getting an infection from your tank is pretty damn common. It's just that they're not usually life threatening.

 

Most of us here have been lucky so far, that we haven't contracted something as serious as the OP, and it's a good thing that they took the time to tell us about it.

 

Saying that I don't wear gloves for day-to-day activities such as feeding my brain and sun coral is honest - i don't. I probably should though. I'd advocate that even if you're like me and too lazy to pull on gloves just to feed, that you at least wear them for ANY time you move rocks or corals.

 

The important messages that the OP sends (or at least what I think...)

 

1. An ounce of prevention is bloody well needed.

 

2. if you do notice something up; don't wait or dither over it, see a doctor ASAP (also.. further in, insist on a wound culture!)

[OClownsandNanos]

That wasn't addressed to you, Walking Target. Sorry if you thought it was.

[Dani3d]

The vibrio bacteria is very much present in every aquarium. I think it is the bacteria responsible for the brown slime disease, then the protozoares takes over the dammage caused by the bacteria.

 

When I have a wound I use liquid skin to sceal my wound and never had a problem. I let it day throughly as this is some strong stuff, but after that it is scealed.

 

I was once bitten by a cat on both hands and in less than a minutes both my hands were all swollen and despite quite a few antibiotics the infection was spreading and in 2 days I could not move my fingers because my hands and fingers were too swollen. I had to go to the emergency and they gave me 4 weeks of intraveinous antibiotics that I had to inject myself every 8 hours! I had to sleep with a needle kit in my arm for a month, had to wake up in middle of the night to inject myself my dose of antibiotics.. Bacteria infection is a serious thing for sure! First 2 antibiotics that they tried did not work...there was only one left and if that had not worked, I would have no more hands..both of them.

 

 

 

The owner of my LFS recieved a wound to his arm while cleaning tanks. Within a couple of hours, it became red and extremely painful to the touch. He called me and told me he had gone to a walkin clinic and they had given him a scrip for antibiotics, but he had developed a fever and the pain was becoming unbearable. I instructed him to go to the ER.

 

His condition continued to decline despite IV antibiotics. They cultured the wound and it was Vibro vulnificus, which is typically seen in seafood poisioning. Although unusual to have a wound infection it can happen when working with SW system. Most people who present to the ER with this infection DIE within 48 hours post admission.

 

He spent several days on a strong IV antibiotic therapy and nearly lost his arm and his life. Had he taken the advice of the walkin clinic he would have not survived.

 

This was three months ago, and he still has the wound to his forearm, and the disease took it's toll and he is still recovering even today.

 

If you even suspect you have an infection related to working with SW tanks, insist on a wound culture and be aggressive with regard to getting answers. Do not simply take the word of a one MD, you need to speak with a MD in Infectious Disease.

 

http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/V.vulnificus.html

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1055523-overview

 

 

I handle all my paly and zoanthids without glove. Yes they slime all over my hand sometimes and I never had a reaction from that. I wash my hands right after I finish with them.

 

I think the palythoas that we have in our aquarium are not as toxic as the variety that is very toxic and can be found in Hawaii.

 

Yea, when I volunteered at the Down Town Aquarium, you had to sit through a 2 hour lecture on diseases that can be communicated from salt water to humans, and sign a waiver maybe 12 times.

 

Palytoxin scares you? Bah hum bug. Theres some crap you can potentially get that I thought I'd have to be in South America to be at risk for. Flesh Eating viruses, a very nasty microscopic worm that attacks your heart, Legionares Disease, Salmonella (of course), and that is the tip of the ice berg.

 

I still don't wear gloves, all though I'll use some disinfectant on occasion when I get done. Its all a possibility, just like there is the potential to die every time you step foot outside. I'm not about to get paranoid about it.

[MikeW]

Yeesh somehow I missed this thread until now, medicine is my forte . Glad to see you got help early. Not going to jump into the debate going on but wanted to at least wish you well

[Walking_Target]

debate nothing. Sticking an open wound into a fish tank is dumb.

 

If I have a wound - even just for feedings - i make sure that I either have a glove on or that the wound has been sealed with liquid skin or superglue.

 

FYI - an easy way to keep water out of your glove is to use the 5/16" wide green elastic band at the wrist, stops 99% of water from getting in. It also helps to use REAL latex gloves in an appropriate size (tight fit). The less air space in the glove, the less water can get it.

 

EDIT: just to qualify the first statement. Yes, it's dumb. But a lot of us do it anyway and we shouldn't. Myself included. This is a good reminder to practice proper bio-sanitary procedures.

[neanderthalman]

so serious question do the people use "X" amount of palythoa or zoanthids for their poison tip blow dart's?

 

does zoanthids have palythoa toxin or is paly toxin from paly's giving it it's name?

 

curious.

 

not trying to argue it's just this will really slow down my excitement toward having a marine salt water aquarium IMO

 

I will admit I do get the tingles when i was ingested with large amount's of toxin's

 

The name comes from Palythoa, as the toxin was first identified in a species of Paly found in one specific tidepool and nowhere else - P. toxica.

 

The toxin has since been identified in a few other creatures, and I understand, a very limited number (ie: extremely rare) number of zoanthid colonies. The most interesting one that I heard was a predatory whelk that used it to stun and kill their prey. Crazy bastage.