Purchasing first fish this weekend....really nervous....

[scrmom]

We are taking the plunge. I do have a few questions. 1) Late at night I see a lot of worms comings out rocks. (brisstleworms?) are they ok to be there? 2) Late at night there are little bugs crawling all over the place and they havd made little tunnels through sand, you can see them bylooking from the outside looking in. Are these ok? 3)There is another bug that looks like a snail/slug without shell, but it has a small hardsurface on his back? I have 3 or 5 of these. Are these ok?

I am worried about these odd things being in the tank and could cause my fish to develop some infection?

Will my skunk cleaner and peppermint shrimp prevent disease?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Just a newbie here myself, but in my opinion none of those things you mentioned will cause any disease in your fish. The little "bugs" will probably end up being fish food! Whether or not bristleworms are desirable seems debatable by folks, but they do clean up stuff and keep the sand moving. The small sluglike things are probably nudibranches, from your description - but they don't have any "hard" surfaces. Just a snail without a shell.

My first fish came home with a bacterial infection from day one. But I didn't realize it at the time. Seemed healthy to me at the time. Only after I got the second one (after the first one decided to move on to the big fish tank in the sky) did I realize how the fish should be acting to start with! It was then that I realized the fish was sick before it even got to me, but not noticeable to untrained eyes. My point isn't to make you more nervous, but just to point out a couple things: 1 - The biggest disease your new fish needs to be concerned about is the one they possibly already have that you can't do anything about but treat once you realize it, and 2 - relax, breathe deep, and remember that this is fun and don't overstress on the little things.

Oh... I wouldn't really say the shrimp will prevent disease outright. But they do stack the odds in your favor. My peppermint is pretty shy, but since I've gotten it, my little aptasias (bad anenomes) have pretty much disappeared. Can't say he'll be of much use as a cleaner though.

 

[Jarred Darque]

I got my first little guy today, a yellow clown goby, he is temporary, may have him a few months, but he is so small less than 3/4 of an inch.

Good luck with it man, hope it all oes well, just go slowly.

 

[lando]

The worms and "bugs" should not be a problem (most likely pods).

Will my skunk cleaner and peppermint shrimp prevent disease?

These will do nothing in the way od disease prevention. However, they can help assist in parasitic control.

 

[melosu58]

They will not hurt your fish but if they bother you there are certain fish that will take care of the problem. I`ve heard others talk about a sixline Wrasse. There are others also. I cant wait to see the pics of the new additions

 

[roka64]

You think you see a lot now, wait another month or so, get a red lense for your flashlight, you will be amazed! I like my bristleworms, they haven't caused any problems. The thing on the glass are probably beneficial "pods". The slug things, we will need a pic to correctly ID them and let you know what they are.