Loading ...One on the first Newbie lessons in coral care is that your corals (and many other things in reef tanks) can sting you. Most know this and handle their corals with care or even better wear gloves; However what most don’t know (including myself before last week) is that even SPS corals can sting you. For those trying to picture how those little polyps could possibly get you, here is my story. One night I decided to move one of my SPS a little because it was agitated by the direct high flow from my vortech. Based on its reaction to this new location I decided to move it a little more the next night. Once I picked it up (from the top) it slimed up as usual, but what wasn’t usual was the pain that followed. It seems this slime was laced with some type of stinging chemical. I’m not sure if this was a fluke or because the coral was moved twice from an already agitated state, but the outcome and lesson is the same.
Immediately after, many painful hives formed on my hand.
After that, they got itchy for a few days and now remain visible after almost 2 weeks.
So newbies or not, be careful when you handle your corals, even the SPS.
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Hey,
Thanks for the writeup. I knew that some corals could/would sting you but never knew SPS to be among their ranks (but in retrospect it makes sense I suppose).
-Ian
Ho yes they do sting! I had to learn it the hard way with a torch coral. Samething happened to me with a rose anemone and also with a carpet anemone (that last one was a bad one).
I now use gloves lol
First time I’ve seen a reaction from SPS sting like that. You have very delicate hands…haha. Seriously do you hand model?
J/K Mike.