Is anything in a Saltwater tank dangerous?

[I Am Drunk]

Hey everyone, I've always been a freshwater guy just because of how easy they are to take care of, and because I've only been fishkeeping for about a year.

However, saltwater has always amazed me. The fish and creatures and reef "plants" are all so beautiful it just boggles my mind as to how nature could create something that (at least in human perception) is so aesthetically pleasing yet functional.

With that being said, I almost know nothing about the intricate details of SW. Is anything in these tanks dangerous?

Like all these crazy intense blue-green-orange-yellow coral reef living wormplant anemone things...are any of these dangerous? Can't they sting and stuff? At my LFS they had some kind of spikey zebra looking "venomous fish," what's that?

If I was walk up to a 150 gallon reef tank with all kinds of exotic saltwater stuff in it, and I stuck my hand inside and just touched everything what would happen?



Like seriously... I mean look at this. Reef tank beauty never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Ace25]

Well.. if you walked up to a 150G and stuck your hand in it I would expect a severe beat down by the owner of said tank. Random people just putting their hands in a high end salt water tank is a bad idea.. stuff that is on your hands can really harm the tank, so you always have to wash your hands first.. without perfume type soap.

That said.. just about everything in saltwater is hazardous to some degree. In nature, corals fight, sting, kill each other just for space on the reef. Most corals will not harm a person though. Anemones will itch a little, bristleworms sting, longspine urchins hurt.. then there are real venemous fish like the Rabbitfish (Foxface is probably what you saw) you mentioned along with Lionfish (which is the most common fish to send people to the hospital). The fish I see in the picture you posted though, no problems with those fish other than getting scared if a clownfish takes a little nibble on you while your hands are in the tank, but that is more of a shock from it happening and not being ready for it than it is something that hurts.

BTW, saltwater "plants" are called Corals.

 

[Fishfriend1]

well, depends on whats in it. If it had any dangerus fish.snails/crabs you would be in deep doodoo. Cone snails can kill you and so can some kinds of rockfish, octopus, any kind of jellyfish will sting you in verying amounts. Most anenomes can sting you and some corals can hurt. Most things in a SW fish tank are less dargeruse then the owner finding you touching his/her stuff. You will generally do more damage to the tank then any fish/corals/snails/other will do to you.

 

[DoctaQ]

a real risk is infection from any cuts you might get, stuff doctors dont normally see are these exotic tropical bacterias. not to say that urchins and lionfish arent real risks either, they certianly are.

 

[Conski]

if you stuck your hand n the tank its a guaranteed death within the hour.

 

[I Am Drunk]

Thanks for the information guys.

And Conski I laughed pretty hard :rofl:

 

[Conski]

dead dead dead..

haha i have my hand is in the tank atleast 3 hours a day most of the time! just be observant!

that tank is glorious btw and those are some biggggg ol clams

 

[davocean]

Is that tank pic Melevs?
For the most part most stuff is pretty safe, but certain paly's, zoa's could harm you, especially if you have cuts as previously stated.
Some fish spines can be probs as well.
I've heard of weird stuff, people trying to steam/use boiling water for pests, breathe steam, get serious lung infections, stuff like that.
But hey, one of my worst injuries ever was just stepping/trying to balance on a basketball as a kid, so...
I wouldn't let it stop me, just research all before you buy.

 

[Conski]

my torch coral stung me once.. hurt like a like a SOB but o well my fault

 

[Amphiprion]

Most of the stuff is fairly benign, except for those that have a particular allergic sensitivity to various things. An allergic reaction can be pretty bad in any case. Beyond allergies and skin sensitivity, I'd say the worst things would be bacteria in terms of commonness and severity. Corals are virtual breeding grounds for bacteria, which really like the carbohydrate-rich mucus the corals secrete (compare that to proteinaceous mucus that everything else secretes). So wash your hands after mulling around in the tank, gloves or not (unless the gloves cover your entire arm). Gloves would be your number one defense in every case, though, which is why I recommend them whenever working in the tank.