Little Confused - Coral Toxicity

[newreefguy]

Hi All,

 

I have been doing a ton of research on this board and others like it and have learned a great deal over the past couple weeks. I have a 10 gallon tank that is fully cycled with various small soft corals and I am trying to decide what direction I want to ultimately go with it.

 

I have read numerous articles and posts about soft corals (mostly Zoanthids) that carry various levels of palytoxin. The effects to humans can range from mildly irritating to the skin to outright deadly depending on coral species and the type of exposure.

 

All I want is a nice SAFE reef tank that I, and my family, can enjoy. I would prefer not to be required to use gloves and eye protection when I work on the tank and move things around.

 

Below are some questions that I have come up with. If I am way off base here please set me straight. I am just trying to fill in the holes in my somewhat limited knowledge.

 

1. Are all soft corals toxic to some degree? From what I have read it sounds like they all are.

 

2. Are all button/colony polyp corals (yellow polyps for example) considered Zoanthids?

 

3. Do stony corals have the same toxicity problems?

 

4. Would an SPS only tank be safer? I have seen some gorgeous SPS corals and I wouldn’t mind upgrading my lighting to MH and doing some target feeding to support them if this meant that my tank would be non-toxic.

 

Thanks for any info! Ryan

[Korbin]

I think most stoney corals, LPS and SPS are fairly safe. Some LPS can zap you with some strong stings, but don't leach toxins out into the water. I don't really know of any softies that just "aren't toxic". I think the safest bet is to assume they ALL are to some degree, and that you should never cut one up with your bare hands or touch them when you have a cut on your hand.

So I think any stoneys would probably be a safe bet if you're worried about kids drinking the water or something. A tank full of leathers and zoanthids = a little risky.

 

edit: whoops, I told myself I wasn't going to offer safety advice on this board anymore. Oh well. The above is just my opinion. If somebody wants to go eat a leather coral to prove me wrong, go ahead.

[onthefly]

If you're losing sleep over it.....get a copy of Eric Borneman's book. He goes over toxins, coral aggressiveness, and chemical warfare in pretty good detail.

[newreefguy]

Thanks for the advice/suggestions. I think I just might pick up a copy of that book.

 

So, are yellow polyps considered Zoanthids?

 

Ryan

[onthefly]

Well it depends on the structure and without a pic....there not much I'd guess about. It's kinda like someone saying "I have a yellow car.......is it a volkwagen?"