I've had an RBTA in my system since Mother's Day and as often as I've had my hands in my tank, I've never gotten stung. The 'nem has never moved from its spot, but it's growing like crazy. Yesterday a.m. before leaving my house for work, I reached into the tank to move my starry night coral out of the way of the nem's spread; I got a nasty sting when my arm brushed against the anemone. By the time I was halfway to work, my lower arm was red, swollen and burning like crazy.
I'm wondering why I suddenly got stung? For some reason, I always thought anemones were covered in a substance that would cause a reaction (sting) when coming in contact with other objects, and that if you never felt anything you simply were immune or not allergic/sensitive to that substance. But do they in fact actively sting (like a bee) when something touches them or when they touch something else?
Also, one of my clownfish finally adopted the nem in a host relationship this past week. Could that have activated its stinging defense mechanism which may have been dormant until then?
After holding a cold can of Diet Coke against my arm for awhile, the sting effect pretty much went away and the swelling is gone, but I'm sure going to be careful when working in the tank around the RBTA's rock from now on.
That smarts!
I'm wondering why I suddenly got stung? For some reason, I always thought anemones were covered in a substance that would cause a reaction (sting) when coming in contact with other objects, and that if you never felt anything you simply were immune or not allergic/sensitive to that substance. But do they in fact actively sting (like a bee) when something touches them or when they touch something else?
Also, one of my clownfish finally adopted the nem in a host relationship this past week. Could that have activated its stinging defense mechanism which may have been dormant until then?
After holding a cold can of Diet Coke against my arm for awhile, the sting effect pretty much went away and the swelling is gone, but I'm sure going to be careful when working in the tank around the RBTA's rock from now on.
That smarts!
