Palytoxin

[WhiteAlba]

Good Afternoon All

I have always kept far away from zoas because off the risk of palytoxin, but am really wanting to change my thoughts about zoas. What is everyone's thoughts about the topic and what everyone does to protect themselves?

Thanks All

 

[pcon]

First, Welcome to R2R!

Second, Palytoxin fears are largely overblown. There are a few important factors worthy of discussion. The credible cases of human palytoxin damage are few and far between. Then these cases generally are the results of extraordinary circumstances, for instance a person who worked in commercial scale coral fragging and spent a day without gloves fragging palythoa, with open cuts on their hand, was hospitalized. Then the more common one is someone cleaning rocks of palythoa, either by boiling or vigorous scrubbing which is claimed to aresolize the toxin. to my knowledge, there is very little credibility to zoanthids and palythoa being dangerous under normal tank conditions. Some basic precautions should be taken when fragging, or when removing palythoa/zoanthids from the tank. Gloves should be used when fragging, (though I often don't when fragging them in tank) When removing them from tank it can be advisable to wear safety glasses or a face shield as they can sometimes squirt liquid from their body, and it is claimed that this can result in palytoxin in the eyes or mouth which may be dangerous. A basic awareness of palytoxin and a small amount of caution when handling zoanthids/palythoa and it is perfectly approachable family of corals and an excellent addition to most tanks. Thousands of reef keepers handle these corals every day without incident. I have decent sized colonies, of green palythoa and red zoanthids, in my tank, and almost every one of my reef keeping friends keep them in their tanks. Unless you are doing something unusual like boiling your rocks to get rid of them or fragging large quantities without proper PPE then there is little danger.

 

[WhiteAlba]

First, Welcome to R2R!

Second, Palytoxin fears are largely overblown. There are a few important factors worthy of discussion. The credible cases of human palytoxin damage are few and far between. Then these cases generally are the results of extraordinary circumstances, for instance a person who worked in commercial scale coral fragging and spent a day without gloves fragging palythoa, with open cuts on their hand, was hospitalized. Then the more common one is someone cleaning rocks of palythoa, either by boiling or vigorous scrubbing which is claimed to aresolize the toxin. to my knowledge, there is very little credibility to zoanthids and palythoa being dangerous under normal tank conditions. Some basic precautions should be taken when fragging, or when removing palythoa/zoanthids from the tank. Gloves should be used when fragging, (though I often don't when fragging them in tank) When removing them from tank it can be advisable to wear safety glasses or a face shield as they can sometimes squirt liquid from their body, and it is claimed that this can result in palytoxin in the eyes or mouth which may be dangerous. A basic awareness of palytoxin and a small amount of caution when handling zoanthids/palythoa and it is perfectly approachable family of corals and an excellent addition to most tanks. Thousands of reef keepers handle these corals every day without incident. I have decent sized colonies, of green palythoa and red zoanthids, in my tank, and almost every one of my reef keeping friends keep them in their tanks. Unless you are doing something unusual like boiling your rocks to get rid of them or fragging large quantities without proper PPE then there is little danger.

Thank you very much for your reply, I have had a tank now for 3 years and it has certainly always been a fear off mine to own zoas. I think its time to just take the dive an enjoy there beauty.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

I wouldn’t fear most zoas. I’ve heard mostly any palythoa and only a few zoas actually carry the toxin. Cheers happy reefing

 

[ahiggins]

First, Welcome to R2R!

Second, Palytoxin fears are largely overblown. There are a few important factors worthy of discussion. The credible cases of human palytoxin damage are few and far between. Then these cases generally are the results of extraordinary circumstances, for instance a person who worked in commercial scale coral fragging and spent a day without gloves fragging palythoa, with open cuts on their hand, was hospitalized. Then the more common one is someone cleaning rocks of palythoa, either by boiling or vigorous scrubbing which is claimed to aresolize the toxin. to my knowledge, there is very little credibility to zoanthids and palythoa being dangerous under normal tank conditions. Some basic precautions should be taken when fragging, or when removing palythoa/zoanthids from the tank. Gloves should be used when fragging, (though I often don't when fragging them in tank) When removing them from tank it can be advisable to wear safety glasses or a face shield as they can sometimes squirt liquid from their body, and it is claimed that this can result in palytoxin in the eyes or mouth which may be dangerous. A basic awareness of palytoxin and a small amount of caution when handling zoanthids/palythoa and it is perfectly approachable family of corals and an excellent addition to most tanks. Thousands of reef keepers handle these corals every day without incident. I have decent sized colonies, of green palythoa and red zoanthids, in my tank, and almost every one of my reef keeping friends keep them in their tanks. Unless you are doing something unusual like boiling your rocks to get rid of them or fragging large quantities without proper PPE then there is little danger.

This. Lol
Wear gloves and safety glasses while fragging and you’ll be fine. Don’t go around licking them lol

 

[MichaelReefer]

This. Lol
Wear gloves and safety glasses while fragging and you’ll be fine. Don’t go around licking them lol

+1

 

[Pickwun]

This. Lol
Wear gloves and safety glasses while fragging and you’ll be fine. Don’t go around licking them lol

Uh oh.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Uh oh.
View attachment 1465086

lol!

 

[W1ngz]

I'll jump on the +1 bandwagon that basic precautions and some common sense are all you need.

I just removed a few palys from a rock on the weekend, and I'm still alive to talk about it. I carefully scraped them off the rock with a scalpel while wearing long sleeves, some nitrile gloves, safety glasses and a bandana over my nose and mouth. When I was done, I soaked the tools in a cup with weak cold water and bleach solution. The leftover paly bits got washed down the kitchen sink with cold water and I wiped down the sink and the plastic mat I was working on with the same bleach solution.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Palytoxin is definitely over exaggerated and not all zoas even contain it. Just stay away from the green palythoas. They for sure have the toxin and spread like crazy

 

[Mr Fishface]

This. Lol
Wear gloves and safety glasses while fragging and you’ll be fine. Don’t go around licking them lol

Came here to say this. Just a few easy and simple precautions can go a really long ways in protecting yourself. I never frag zoas or palys without eye wear and gloves, no issues ever.

 

[pcon]

Keep the juices out of your eyes, mouth and cuts is probably good advice for any coral.

 

[sde1500]

If palytoxin was nearly as prevalent and dangerous as some make it out to be, zoas wouldn't be in the trade. All the people fragging and selling tons of zoas would have all already died horrible deaths and we'd have purged them from our tanks mostly.

 

[OKCorals]

Good Afternoon All

I have always kept far away from zoas because off the risk of palytoxin, but am really wanting to change my thoughts about zoas. What is everyone's thoughts about the topic and what everyone does to protect themselves?

Thanks All

From what I've seen it's the ugly greenish-brown palys that are the worst offenders when it comes to palytoxin. I'm not sure why anyone would want those in their tank in the first place. I will second what others have said and avoid scrubbing rocks that zoas are attached to and definitely don't give them an acid bath or anything. I tend to wear gloves and safety goggles when handling the zoas, just out of caution, but I don't always do that. In fact, there's been a few times where I have removed algae with a toothbrush from frag plugs zoas were on and definitely got some of the liquid from the plug on my face and eyes and nothing bad happened. Maybe I just got lucky, or maybe palytoxin fears are overblown. I don't know, but I don't normally like to risk it, so just handle them with care and you'll be fine.

 

[Pickwun]

If palytoxin was nearly as prevalent and dangerous as some make it out to be, zoas wouldn't be in the trade. All the people fragging and selling tons of zoas would have all already died horrible deaths and we'd have purged them from our tanks mostly.

How many fraggers do you have living in your tank?

 

[littlefishy]

Got back into sw tanks and like the OP just had to get some zoa in spite of everything I read. Years ago I was very sensitive to stimulants and chemicals that affect the cns, from caffeine to even latex paint. Not so sensitive now While fragging last wknd I wore powder free nitrile gloves, my paint respirator, fragged outside, and opened windows. Probably laughable, but I can keep zoa! I probably will skip the respirator next time and just open windows.

 

[sfin52]

From what I've seen it's the ugly greenish-brown palys that are the worst offenders when it comes to palytoxin. I'm not sure why anyone would want those in their tank in the first place. I will second what others have said and avoid scrubbing rocks that zoas are attached to and definitely don't give them an acid bath or anything. I tend to wear gloves and safety goggles when handling the zoas, just out of caution, but I don't always do that. In fact, there's been a few times where I have removed algae with a toothbrush from frag plugs zoas were on and definitely got some of the liquid from the plug on my face and eyes and nothing bad happened. Maybe I just got lucky, or maybe palytoxin fears are overblown. I don't know, but I don't normally like to risk it, so just handle them with care and you'll be fine.

Nasty green and brown. I think they are beautiful.

Said to have some of the highest amount of palytoxin.

 

[OKCorals]

Nasty green and brown. I think they are beautiful. View attachment 1465335View attachment 1465336
Said to have some of the highest amount of palytoxin.

Usually the ones I see labeled as toxic look like this:

The ones you posted look much better, and are the exact reason why you should take precautions when handling all zoas/palys.

 

[sfin52]

Usually the ones I see labeled as toxic look like this:

The ones you posted look much better, and are the exact reason why you should take precautions when handling all zoas/palys.

Exactly

 

[NanoSteam]

Also on the over exaggerated boat here. I've been handling paly's and zoas for at least 15 years with bare hands and never had any issue. To be fair I didn't know about paly toxins until just recently.