Tank made me very, very sick

**Phurst** · 08-01-2010, 07:10 PM

So, due to a double whammy of a massive kalk overdose and a 30 hour power outage, I ended up loosing all my corals and all but 2 of my fish. I'll start a new thread on that, it's a long story. So, I decided to take advantage of the situation and completely re-do my aquascape. I never liked it much, so this seems to be a good time to do it. I'm not very good at the whole aquascaping thing, so I invited a couple of friends over to lend a hand. We pulled all the rock out of the tank, and placed it in a 100g rubbermaid trough. We then proceeded to rebuild the aquascape. We built a column of rock on the right hand side, which necessitated drilling several pieces of rock with a masonry bit. We finished up, and everyone took off at about 6:00. By 8, I wasn't feeling so good. I was having an extremely hard time breathing. I decided to go to bed. I spent the night wheezing, short of breath, vomiting, shivvering, and I had a terrible salty/bitter taste in my mouth. At around 4:00 in the morning, I seriously considered going to the emergency room. I got out of bed about 9:30 this morning, and my chest is still tight, though I'm not vomiting and shaking any more. I checked in with the 5 people who were over here last night, and 4 of them reported the exact same symptoms. We didn't have any food, or anything else in common besides we were all working on the tank. The only thing I can think of is, when we were drilling some of the rock, the bit and rock were hot enough to steam, and that must have vaporized something. My wife, who was in the room with us, had similar, but less severe symptoms. My kids, who were upstairs playing, are absolutely fine. So, just a warning I guess. Please, PLEASE be very careful when working on your tank, and if you must drill rock, do it outside, and preferably, wear some kind of mask. I wouldn't wish that night on anyone. I haven't been that miserable in recent memory.

**CarmieJo** · 08-01-2010, 08:03 PM

Pearson, that is really frightening. Thanks for the warning. I'm glad you are feeling somewhat better.

**Lady elyria** · 08-01-2010, 10:30 PM

I actually ended up with a very similar exsperiance from putting the dry argonite sand into my 65gal. I ended up in the ER needed nebs and Lidocaine to numb my throat, so now I always wear a mask when I work with any dry goods in my tanks even the rock ...

glad you are a little better

Elyria

**SaltyDawg** · 08-01-2010, 10:38 PM

Scary stuff. Hope you feel better. Do you think it was from the rock or from the coral die off or something else?

**Phurst** · 08-01-2010, 11:14 PM

I don't really know. I think it was likely because a couple of the rocks we drilled were very hard, and the bit and rock got hard enough to create steam. I think we must have vaporized something in or on the rock and inhaled it. Whatever it was, it was extremely nasty.

**rayme07** · 08-01-2010, 11:56 PM

wow Pearson, that sucks. I am glad you are starting to feel better and hope you get well very soon. Thanks for warning us.

**Phurst** · 08-02-2010, 09:33 AM

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling fine today.

**Seahorsedreams** · 08-02-2010, 08:35 PM

It probably had nothing to do with the rock persa, but more along the lines of inhaling fine particles. Anyone especially prone to asthma or bronchiolitis need to be extra careful.

Glad to hear you are feeling ok.