Corals can hurt?

Yes corals can sting humans. Some more than others but all sting at some level. Most of the time you will never notice or have a problem with it unless you have a cut or scrape that gets exposed to the coral tissue.

Palyotoxin is very bad stuff. Just moving Zoa's and Paly's isn't usually a problem. If you are fragging them then wear gloves and safety glasses. If that stuff gets in your eyes it can blind you. If it gets into your blood it can actually kill you. Nothing to freak out about. Just be safe.

Like I said it's not something you really need to worry about if all you are doing it buying corals and putting them in your tank. I have only known one person to ever have a reaction to corals while doing that. Most people will never feel a sting or even know that it's a possibility because it's not a problem.

It's the corals way of catching food and defending itself. I wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure you wash your hands well after handling any coral and don't touch your face after you have been touching coral.

Treat it the same as you would with cooking with hot peppers (jalapeno). It's really not a big problem and shouldn't keep you from enjoying a beautiful reef.

Wear shoulder lenght gloves whenputting hands in the tank. Problem solved.

Edited by builderofdreams - January 30 2014 at 10:02am

I don't want to die lol :p im still young 

Lol no seriously guys but i heard there was aquarist that died from a zoa i don't if this is true or not but that's what i heard

 lol alright :p

lion fish can sting you, so can most urchins.  Moray eels can remove fingers when they are bigger.  Triggers can take a chunk out of you.

Anemone's cause reactions in some people.  Some bristle worms can cause stings worse than a bee.  Cone snails can kill you--faster than most other animals even.

Corals can be toxic too.

But we still keep all of these in our tanks, and the incidents of issues are probably less than happens in their natural settings.

It's palyothoa (sp?) that can be very toxic, and usually only after cutting/fragging.  Simply use basic precautions if you are worried. 

IE gloves, safety glasses, wash hands, don't get in mouth/eyes etc.

wow :o is this is true ?

But i mean this is very rare to happen... all people sometimes use bare hands and move their corals 

There is no way to answer your question. Some have never had a problem and some not so lucky.there is no way to tell how theses chemicals will affect each individual. We know very little of about the chemicals ALL these animals are capable of producing let alone the affects on the human body.