GUY’S FISH TANK NEARLY KILLS ENTIRE FAMILY

Chris Matthews was cleaning out the aquarium inside his house in Steventon, England, a couple of weeks ago. He was transferring rocks and other items from the fish tank into another container, so he could clean each item individually. When he was finished, Matthews shut the door and went to bed. The next day, Matthews and his family started developing symptoms. The had fevers, were struggling to breathe, and coughing. Initially, they thought it was the flu, but then when Chris’s dogs started acting sick, he realized what it probably was: poisonous coral from the fish tank. He had scrubbed a piece of coral, releasing palytoxin into the air. Palytoxin can poison you through touch, breathing or ingestion. Matthews called the local police – and received a massive emergency response from a hazmat team. Officials tented the house to rid it of the poison and the family was able to return.
* Ever thought about switching to a gerbil?
* Stuff they don’t tell you at the fish store.
* And during this whole time, Chris Matthews didn’t miss a day of work at “Hardball”.
* We’re fighting to keep this coral stuff – that can kill us – alive in the ocean, right? Boy, humans are stupid.
* I’d imagine the fumes and toxicity were almost as bad as when I clean out our cat’s litter box.