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Josh Roberts (decadence) palytoxin


jjenkins211

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Hey just wanted to let everyone know that Josh Roberts aka decadence and his family and dog were poisoned by palytoxin. He was putting some live rock he recently got into a tank. Palys had died off and released the toxins into the air. Josh and his family were exposed to it for 6 hours without them knowing. In the morning his wife and baby went to the hospital and have since been discharged for symptoms. Josh went later and is currently on oxygen among other things and will be staying overnight in the hospital at the moment. Please keep him in your prayers.

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Woah. Big deal. Got them covered, let us know if tegu need anything, thanks for keeping us appraised.

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Thoughts and Prayers for him and his family. I have had the pleasure of meeting Josh a couple of times. Great guy.

Get well soon.

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So sorry. Hope everything will be ok. My tank is in the living room with a bunch of palys, and I have a 1 yr old. How does paly toxin go airborne? I never knew that was even possible. How does one avoid this?

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He had placed a rock in a holding tank and was blasting it with a power head and was causing a lot of water agitation. He had no idea that there were palys on the rock that had started to die and decay and when he placed it in the water the toxins were released and became airborne from the water agitation as a vapor. He was in a building with poor ventilation and had no clue that the palys were disinigrating and releasing the toxins at a high level. Right now he is stable and staying the night in the hospital. I went over and took car of his tank after I left the hospital. Thanks for the prayers.

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He had placed a rock in a holding tank and was blasting it with a power head and was causing a lot of water agitation. He had no idea that there were palys on the rock that had started to die and decay and when he placed it in the water the toxins were released and became airborne from the water agitation as a vapor. He was in a building with poor ventilation and had no clue that the palys were disinigrating and releasing the toxins at a high level. Right now he is stable and staying the night in the hospital. I went over and took car of his tank after I left the hospital. Thanks for the prayers.

Sorry to hear this.

 

But are you sure this is what happened? I cant see a powerhead on palys releasing dying polyps poison into the air for some reason. Doesnt mean it cant though. I just want to understand this. How does a toxin thats not a gas get released in the air for moving water? Wouldnt it have to boil for the poison to release into the air with vapor? Like steves situation.

Also how did the palys start to decay and die at a rapid rate? I have left the poisonus kind of palys out for a LONG time and in tanks with no light for months on end. How many were on the rock?

I think normally people have reactions to this stuff fairly quick, not the next mourning. Especially if it went airborne and straight into their lungs. (This is from what i remember reading and doesnt make it true.)

Can you tell us what type of symptoms his family and dog were experiencing?

I am just trying to figure this out so others will not do the same thing, so please dont think i am trying to be rude.

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Hope and pray that everyone gets to come back home today. It really makes one think twice when going into the tank to wear the proper protective equipment. How can something so pretty be so deadly?

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josh would probably be able to tell you better. From my understanding he had gotten some rock from someone and had left it sitting in a cooler with no circulation or heater since the person said there was nothing on it he didn't think it would be a big deal. When he took it out of the container and put it into the tank he had powerheads blasting on it and water was splashing and as the water evaporates it released the toxins. They had fallen asleep and woke up with muscle stiffness, it was hard to breathe and coughing, his oxygen was low, bp was through the roof, shakes, delirious.

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Those are the same symptoms that I've experienced in my own exposure to palytoxin. It's hard to breathe because your chest is so tight feeling. Your muscles hurt like you've got the flu. You shiver uncontrollably, feeling like you're freezing. Your heart pounds. It hits hard and fast. I suspect that of the power heads were producing microbubbles or the agitation was extreme, he could have aerosolized some water and palytoxin.

 

Palytoxin is present in varying amounts in plays and zoanthids. It's just one of the reasons that you should wear gloves and eye protection when handling or fragging them.

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It was producing micro bubbles and really agitating the water. He is staying one more night in the hospital. He could barely walk and had to be pretty much carried into the hospital yesterday

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The dog and his son were the least exposed including his wife. After staying the night at the vets and being hydrated and treated his dog was able to come home tonight.

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I was trying to look into what palys were more poisonous than others and haven't found much solid info.aybe I should start another thread. Is there a link that anyone has which talks about it?

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