Near disaster....

[MarkKlier]

Just getting the upper hand on some of my tanks, got some nice new lords from Randy and just before I put them in my prop system, I notice all the lords are closed. Lights just went off so they might do that for say a half hour before opening again for night time. BUT, my frogspawn frags are also closed, and their light is still on. Quickly start checking all my prop system, red serpent star has drop 4 legs...panic. Temp okay, sg 1025....multiple organisms crashing at the exact same time different tanks (that are connected) rules out viral, bacterial and most likely electrical. Gotta be a toxin. What is the most toxic thing in the tank.....palythoa. Sure enough one of my large paly colonies is crashing, with some root at their bases.

New charcoal
Crank up the skimmer, the palytoxin is a very large protein and should be easier to skim then most.
remove and bag the palys
All my most valuable lords into my sump of the sps 220 (gulp)
50% water change
3hrs later All the lords look good. Other palys never flinched. Frogspawn looks better, but really took a hit.
Red serpent star is as close to death as i have ever seen anything.
I have had him seven years...if he makes it he will jump right to the top of my list....
Will keep you posted...MK

[acdraindrps]

Sorry to hear Mark

[magdelan]

Mark, how can you tell if your zoo/palys are crashing? I have had what they call polyp bailout on a frogspawn, hammer, and a torch. Other lps are not fully extended and the few sps that I had have died.

I happy to hear that you pin-pointed the problem before it got out of control. And tel Mr. Serpent to hang in there!!!

[MarkKlier]

A thick colony of palys can harbor pathogens at their base. You may not realize it until some of the heads seem to come loose. When you dip and wash the colony you will find they come off way too easy, and then at the base it is whitish instead of flesh colored.
I would usually try to save the colony and might save 1/2 to a 1/4. In this case, not enough time, room to work on the palys.
MK

[acdraindrps]

Mark, would you say a good sized colony of zoos could cause similar problems?

[MarkKlier]

I'm not sure. I will need to do some research on that. Was just talking to Putter about which palys might or might not have a toxin. I'll let you know what I find...MK

[acdraindrps]

I have read that zoos can release a toxin that can cause blindness. I am just curious because I saw a tank go through a near crash that involved the loss of a euphyllia or two. The zoos looked like the first thing to close up also... New media and a couple BIG water changes and the tank came right back.

[jfl14609]

wow mark I hope everything is ok this am. let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

[KurtsReef]

Ouch, made for an interesting day. Another reason for me to buy a couple more trash cans to hold water in case of emergency...

Did the star get real 'stiff', had one do that last October as well as lose a few limbs and it is still alive and kicking with all limbs regrown.

[MarksReef]

Another late night at the office ah? I hope all is well this a.m.

[^CelticReefer^]

Originally posted by MarksReef
Another late night at the office ah? I hope all is well this a.m.

True that,
Hope everythings allright Mark, makes me glad I don't have any Paly's though.

Good Luck Brother,
Brian

[MarkKlier]

Okay am, UPDATE. Yes very late night at office, kinda like having a newborn
Everything is alive. The frogspawn is improved, but not too sure it wants to come out. All the lords, watermelon chalice and others look very good this AM. The star fish (who I tossed back in the LPS tank) moved!!! So we will see.
I was joking in the hospital this early AM, that my staff would probably come in and find me dead on the floor someday. They would think it was a heart attack...BUT WAIT...everyone on URS would know that it was the dreaded paly palytoxin that got him!!!
HMMM so good material for CSI>
MK

[puter]

Mark,

More info related to our conversation:

From a site dealing with chemical and biological warfare agents:

Palytoxin was first isolated from the soft coral Palythoa toxica. Several species of Palythoa are used in aquariums, but do not produce the toxin. Originally, it was only found in a single tidal pool on the island of Maui in Hawaii and native Hawaiians used to coat spear points with a red seaweed from the pool. Toxin-containing corals appear to be randomly and sparingly distributed throughout the South Pacific and there is now a school of thought that suggests that the coral is simply concentrating the toxin made by a dinoflagellate (a small single-celled organism) called Ostreopis siamensis.

(link to source)

and from a book cited by a professor at hawaii.edu:

"In Muolea, in the district of Hana, grew a poisonous moss in a certain pool or pond close to the ocean. It was used to smear on the spear points, to make them fatal. The moss is said to be of a reddish color and is still to be found. It grows nowhere else than at that one spot."

link to source

Even though it is unlikely the Palythoa in your tank are the ones that have the palytoxin which is extremely toxic to humans, it's certainly possible that whatever chemical defense they have could be sufficient to have a very deleterious affect on the other inhabitants in your tank.

Glad to hear that things are doing better....

Mark

[weaver5]

wow sorry to hear that. Hope they all pull through good.... Scott