Can saltwater aquarium make you sick?

[Rockyreef]

Ok I'm freaking out a little. I was aquascaping for the first time yesterday and now all night I've had fever, chills, aches. Could it be caused by something in my tank? I'm never paranoid but this was weird and hit me fast. Hoping someone has some knowledge to calm me.
- I drilled a deep hole in a rock and lots of fine dust. I wasn't wearing a mask...dumb I know but didn't seem to bother me at the time.
- I sprayed off several pieces of rock to clean some organic matter (algae and some half-dead coral I think)
- I handled quite a bit of rock with bare hands.
- I washed a bunch of sand by swirling with my hand.
- I used two sticks of JB waterweld.

Anything concerning???
My kids were nearby but they don't seem to be affected. Maybe I'm just coming down with a virus...
Or maybe I'm just a wuss and tired from the work...
Here's a pic of my progress to keep this thread interesting. If it's not dangerous, ha ha, I'm going to move a couple pieces tomorrow

 

[reef lover]

Dont think its tank related...scapes looking nice!

 

[Monkeytank]

It absolutely could be related to this. You could have some palytoxin exposure. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/criem/2015/621815/

Hopefully it isn't that, but don't mess around with it if you feel worse. I have a friend who spent three days in the hospital after inhaling some toxins released after washing off a rock. His wife and daughter were both also admitted, but released the next day. Be sure to watch your symptoms and go see your doc if they get worse. Make sure you tell them about your exposure, particularly to the potential of inhaled particles.

 

[Rockyreef]

What??? So maybe something off the rock?
Wow. I don't understand all the symptoms in that article but I think the only one I have in common is the fever. I'll do some more research.
Wouldn't a fish store have to remove anything dangerous before they sell the rock? That's where I got the dry rock

 

[reef lover]

As stated rock was dry...really dont think its the tank...family and animals would be affected as well...

 

[Rockyreef]

Well that was really weird. I'm feeling better today. Just hit me for about 12 hours. Family never had any symptoms.
I did some more research, had difficulty finding pictures or descriptions of the corals that have palytoxin. Anyone know what to look for?

 

[ksfulk]

Zoanthids and similar shaped and sized corals contain this toxin.

 

[reef lover]

The zoa levles are minuscule its the palys you need to be careful of...

 

[BedrockIOMC]

If you didn't use gloves and mixed that much JB putty it can cause you to be sick. through your skin. and you using that much of it I would bet that is it more then any thing. If you are just doing one ball it isn't that bad but 2 sticks...……. that's a lot. Im also a mechanic and never use it without gloves.

 

[Timfish1]

I'm with RockyReef and BedrockIOMC. But do be aware palytoxin is heat stable so never heat up a rock that has polyps on it to minimize the risk of aerosolizing the toxin. It can also be absorbed through cuts so gloves may be a good idea. (Near as I can tell from the papers I've read human fatalities have come from eating contaminated seafood in resturants, if that helps put our risk in perspective.) When drilling dry rock the fine dust is should not be inhaled so a mask is recommended. Keep in mind when drilling liverock or rock covered with polyps the drill bit and rock will get hot and the mucus from polyps can be aerosolized.