Safely breaking down dead tank with zoas

[BigJohnny]

Hey Randy,

I have a neglected frag tank where all the corals are dead. A few of the frags were zoanthids, I would say about 5-10 polyps in general in a 20g tank. When zoanthids die due they release all of their palytoxin into the water? Do I need to take any special precautions besides gloves and glasses when I drain the tank and throw away the dead corals?

Heard so many horror stories lately I'm nervous about it all of a sudden. None were big paly grandis or green death palys or anything like that, just small ornamental zoas like bowser or fruit loops.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[ludnix]

Gloves and glasses sounds appropriate. If you have any dogs or cats be mindful of any buckets of water or rocks that they might lick and get sick from, but otherwise I think you're good with gloves and eye protection.

 

[BigJohnny]

Gloves and glasses sounds appropriate. If you have any dogs or cats be mindful of any buckets of water or rocks that they might lick and get sick from, but otherwise I think you're good with gloves and eye protection.

Ok, thanks for your input. I read one story about these guys in a trailer park who simply put a bunch of zoanthids in a tank and then all woke up the next morning with palytoxin symptoms. I think I remember reading it was a massive rock covered in button polyps or green death palys but still. One of the guys didn't even come into contact with anything and they assumed it aersoled or something. Claimed they noticed a significant increase of humidity in their trailer as well, creepy.

 

[ludnix]

Yeah, I'm not sure what the details of their situation were, but I am skeptical that the zoanthids or palys themselves are aerosolizing the toxin, but rather equipment like a skimmer or air stone doing it. I definitely advocate taking any precautions you can you minimize risk, but I don't think a biohazard suit will be necessary.

 

[BigJohnny]

Yeah, I'm not sure what the details of their situation were, but I am skeptical that the zoanthids or palys themselves are aerosolizing the toxin, but rather equipment like a skimmer or air stone doing it. I definitely advocate taking any precautions you can you minimize risk, but I don't think a biohazard suit will be necessary.

Yeah I agree, unfortunately the article I read was pretty vague but crazy none the less. Thanks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm not really sure of the best way to deal with these, but in addition to gloves and glasses, avoid anything that damages them and might splatter the contents around.