Poll: Who has been injured by their tank?

[Krish]

I thought this might be really fun as well as eye opener for those that don't take very many pre-cautions when messing with their tanks. We've all had our horror stories so who has been injured in some way by their tank? If you'd like to share your experiences please feel free to do so as I think it would help others avoid the same thing in the future. I've also enabled multiple votes for those that have had it all happen to them

 

[Krish]

I voted other...My tanks have injured my wallet big time! :lol: Apart from that, I've only had bad experiences in the ocean (stung by a school of baby man-o-wars - bad allergic reation from vomiting to muscle spasms, rubbed against fire coral -bad allergic reaction as well including votimiting along with the itching burning from the fire coral, stung by sea-lice-itchy itchy, and stung by little jelly fish - not too bad). However, when it comes to my tanks, I have a pretty good success rate

 

[trido]

Sounds like you should stay out of the ocean to avoid puking.

I fit into a few of those categories. Ive had my skin melted off by MH bulbs, poked and scraped by LR (never causing any side effects), cut on hose clamps installing tanks, had salt rash in my arm pit from working on my 30" deep tank without wiping down the rim first, been mildly eletrocuted from my make up water bin, was bitten by my female maroon clown and have recently been stung from the water while cleaning out 100's of majano anemome'sin a 40 breeder.

Come to think of it, I fit into most of those categories.

 

[Krish]

Sounds like you should stay out of the ocean to avoid puking.

I fit into a few of those categories. Ive had my skin melted off by MH bulbs, poked and scraped by LR (never causing any side effects), cut on hose clamps installing tanks, had salt rash in my arm pit from working on my 30" deep tank without wiping down the rim first, been mildly eletrocuted from my make up water bin, was bitten by my female maroon clown and have recently been stung from the water while cleaning out 100's of majano anemome'sin a 40 breeder.

Come to think of it, I fit into most of those categories.

Sounds like you need to find another hobby :rofl:. You definately have had it all happen!! The salt rash in the arm pit is a new one! Never heard of that one before

 

[tat2z_21]

I reached in my tank to move a rock, not keeping an eye on my tank mates, and well who likes to sit on rock. My dwarf Lionfish I reached in wrapped my hand around the rock and the lion and WHAP he got me. Hand was red and burned for about 2 hours. Nothing worse then that. I also tried to manhandle an army of bristle worms. (OK there was only one or two, but an army sounded better)

 

[TJL]

Like Krish I voted other since there was not a All of the above button. In more than 30 years of keeping Saltwater Fish I have had more than my fair share of tank related injuries. From minor to major stings/reactions from corals & anemones, iritating bites from Clownfish to lacerated fingers from my Hawaiian Dragon Moray, to many times to count being stuck/stung by Lionfish (both my own & working LFS), small cuts by sharp rock/coral/glass from broken heater to needing stitches from a Mantis Shrimp, mild to severe shocks from broken heaters/powerheads and accidentily nocking light fixture into tank while in up to my elbos also from plugging/unplugging cords with wet hands and lastly burned by hot bulbs/lamps and ballasts. No wonder I've never won any Raffles or Lotteries, used up all my luck on this damn hobby/addiction !!!

We should be very careful not to allow this info out to the Insurance Companies...lol

Cheers, Todd

 

[ac7av]

I have been stung by the fire worms from time to time. I have also had a reaction to something in the tank when I was trying to move a rock something poked me that caused my finger to be numb for days. don’t know what it was and didn’t see anything on my skin or in the spot it happened.

 

[vetschroger]

I have also had a reaction to something in the tank when I was trying to move a rock something poked me that caused my finger to be numb for days. don’t know what it was and didn’t see anything on my skin or in the spot it happened.

It sounds like bristle worms to me. I have had the pleasure of running into them twice now. Their bristles break off easily and are nearly impossible to see unless you get several in one area. Lucky me I found out the hard way that after I bought my established tank from someone else that it was infested with both bristle worms and aiptasia!!! I have been working on the aiptasia for about a year now, but have had little success with the bristle worms=( Berghia's are slowly getting rid of aiptasia!!!! Anyone have a suggestion for bristle worms?

 

[returnofsid]

Cut!
A few years ago, I had some glass cut, to build a DIY Sump/refugium, out of a 29. Well, I asked them to sand all the cut edges, but it didn't happen. A few months later, while doing some maintenance, I sliced my hand open, fairly bad. I didn't even notice it, until I noticed that the water in the tank, was turning pink...lol.

Schocked!
Woke up one morning, to Angie yelling that the 75 was overflowing. Jumped outta bed, ran downstairs, to see water running out of the top of the tank!! Well, needless to say, the power strip was poppin' and sputterin'. I reached back to unplug it, which would turn off everything, and got NAILED!!! ZING!!

Mysterious illness
There's been a few times, after spending all day in the tank, either re-arranging rock, doing a major fragging day, or moving tanks, when I've felt very ill, for a day or two, immediately afterwards. The most recent time, was just a week ago. This most recent occasion got me thinking about all the times in the past. For some reason, anytime I spent A LOT of time (all day event) in the tank, I feel very ill afterwards. It consists of general nausea, a sudden, high fever, and achy muscles. Very similar to a flu, but it comes on much quicker! I'm beginning to think that it's NOT a coincidence. I've read about it, several times in the past. Maybe it's time to stop holding my fragging tools, in my teeth, when my hands are busy...lol.

 

[Krish]

It sounds like bristle worms to me. I have had the pleasure of running into them twice now. Their bristles break off easily and are nearly impossible to see unless you get several in one area. Lucky me I found out the hard way that after I bought my established tank from someone else that it was infested with both bristle worms and aiptasia!!! I have been working on the aiptasia for about a year now, but have had little success with the bristle worms=( Berghia's are slowly getting rid of aiptasia!!!! Anyone have a suggestion for bristle worms?

Welcome to RF!! :welcome:. On the bristle worms, not sure what methods people use to rid their tanks of them, but other than the occasional "run in's" people have with them and their hands, they are quite beneficial to the tank being good janitors. They get a bad rap, but really aren't too bad. We have a section here dedicated to inverts where Leslie (who specialty is worms) head's up. Maybe she might have some answers for you. Here is a link to her section.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f224/

 

[vetschroger]

Krish

Thank you for the link I will check it out tonight when I get off work. Looks like there is a wealth of information there. Also thank you for the welcome. I have been a member/lurker here for about a year since I got my first tank. When I got the tank I was a novice and thought this wont be too hard to figure out!!! Little did I know that there is way more to learn than I thought. I am glad that there is a site like this for the inexperienced to get pointers from veteran reef keepers. As soon as I finish getting my aiptasia problem under control I am starting on corals and a tank upgrade.

 

[07FocusST]

Skimmer just cut me last night. I have been stung twice by my old Show Size Volitan Lionfish. Although it was completely my fault it still sucked!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

In over 4 decades, only problem has been little burns from brushing arm or hand against halide lamps

 

[returnofsid]

Oh, I forgot BIT!

We have a pair of B/W Occellaris, that are much less aggressive, now that they're in a 200. However, when they were in a 46 bowfront, protecting a RBTA, they were VERY Aggressive. If your hand was in the water, they'd attack it. They've drawn blood, once with me and several times, with Angie.

 

[dtd87]

Burned by the MH, shocked from a powerstrip. A few run ins with some bristleworms. That sums it up though.

 

[Krish]

Krish

Thank you for the link I will check it out tonight when I get off work. Looks like there is a wealth of information there. Also thank you for the welcome. I have been a member/lurker here for about a year since I got my first tank. When I got the tank I was a novice and thought this wont be too hard to figure out!!! Little did I know that there is way more to learn than I thought. I am glad that there is a site like this for the inexperienced to get pointers from veteran reef keepers. As soon as I finish getting my aiptasia problem under control I am starting on corals and a tank upgrade.

Yea, this place is awesome!! When I first came here I didn't know a thing and was doing everything wrong. These guys took care of me real well and have taught me a lot over the years. Also, this forum is unlike alot of the others where we don't turn away people with repeat questions. As many times as the same thing is asked, it is answered with the same enthusiasm as the first time so if you have any questions at all please just ask away!!

 

[Faciosity]

I've been stung many times by bristleworms, anemones, and even corals. I have also been cut trying to move large sharp rocks.

At least I'm not the only one, I see that so far 50% of voters have been stung, and almost 43% have been cut!

 

[Krish]

I've been stung many times by bristleworms, anemones, and even corals. I have also been cut trying to move large sharp rocks.

At least I'm not the only one, I see that so far 50% of voters have been stung, and almost 43% have been cut!

Solution to the problem...Wear gloves!! :caked:

 

[NaTe R]

i built my stand so i can stand on it and reach down in to the tank. It was a friday afternoon and i cant remember what i was doing in there but i stepped back to the chair i was using to get up there and missed, fell backwards and hit my head on the floor. I woke up 4 hours later but it felt like i blinked my eyes, it was night time and i had no sense of the time that had passed or what was going on. i was home alone, girlfriend at work and had missed like 6 phone calls.

other than that the standard clown fish bites, fiber glass like stuff embedded in my fore arms, hell i got the crap shocked out of me this morning plugging in a pump.

 

[nata]

My hubby always says that my tank will kill me one day...Heard pump acting up, ran barefoot to unplug it and got zapped nicely, allergic reaction to zoas when I was new to the hobby ..allergic reactions to hammers and some sps ...stung by hammers, torches, anemones..when messing in tank, rash on arms on regular basis, swollen fingers and arms, injured wallet and psychological damage due to this addiction and everyday headaches this hobby brings ...but you still have to love it !!!!