Someone please help me out here before I faint!

[Diva]

Sorry to be so dramatic..

But seriously..

I have a 2 month old cycled tank, freshwater, 63 gallons, planted, driftwood, 5 cory pandas, 8 redtailed rasboras and a bunch of snails. I added 4 little pandas last week and they all died withing a few days - im guessing because the LFS guy nearly smashed them all to pieces as he was getting them out if his tank.

I cant find 2 of them - and believe me I have looked. But I know they are dead somewhere..sigh.

I have a little hydra and a little planaria - but I have cut back on feedings so they are diminishing now.

Now for the problem.

As I was vacuuming the gravel, I was trying to get this pinkish area. Its where I feed the corys (i feed them the green tabimin tabs from tetra). It looked like just some gick spread out over maybe 5 inches under the gravel in the front of the tank. Its hard to describe. Some parts looked like fuzz but alot looked like strands of human hair, pink/red in color.

I saw this before and it never seemed to be moving so I thought it was just waste from fish flakes or something.

But when I was rinsing the gravel vac, some little strands seemed to be slightly wiggling. Slightly - it was so yuck! Aaahhh!!!

So my concerns are now - WHAT IS THIS? AND CAN I GET IT??

My fiance had sucked on the vac tubing to get it started and of course now I am worried about him as wel...

Does anyone know what this is and if its communicable to humans?

For that matter - are there any little worms or whatnot that could be in my tank that are communicable?

I havent found any solid info on this -

I live in a foreign country where it would be very very hard to explain this to a doctor or lfs. let alone ask questions -

Also - it may not be exactly pink - could be a little orangy. I have white gravel and yellow/brown water from the driftwood so its hard to tell sometimes..

Please someone who knows better slap me and tell me Im being hysterical and there is nothing to worry about. ... 8O

Thanks in advance for any help...!

 

[Fruitbat]

Diva...

Sounds like you've got an infestation of tubifex worms in your gravel. They're unsightly but essentially harmless. Unfortunately they're also difficult to get rid of. I'm sure your Corydoras are eating some of them but the little buggers are pretty efficient at ducking back into the gravel when fish are in the neighborhood. Keep vacuuming in the area where they are concentrated and you should be able to keep the population in check.

 

[Diva]

Yeah?? But how did they get there?? Are they in the pellets I feed the corys?? Or did they come from somewhere else...?

Harmless, eh? Well that is nice to hear.. thank you!

 

[tmurphy171]

My fiance had sucked on the vac tubing to get it started and of course now I am worried about him as wel...

Does anyone know what this is and if its communicable to humans?

You also should purchase a self syphoning vacuum. Its not a good idea to put tank water in your mouth.

 

[An t-iasg]

The tubifex worms could have come in with the water that the fish came in, if you got some of that in your tank. Usually, when I acclimate a fish, I will acclimate him in the bag he came in, then I'll pour the water off. When only a little water remains, I'll pour it and the fish into a net, then transfer the fish to the tank. This way avoids, as much as possible, getting the store tank water into your own tank.

When the tablets rest on the gravel, that's a good place for the tubifex worms to gather, as you've seen. Like Fruitbat said, they are harmless, (but creepy!) I agree with the gravel vac idea -- do lots of gravel vacs in that area and you'll eventually get them. A gravel vac will remove water, without you having to start the suction, and you can move it along the gravel to remove the worms.

Some people or lfs feed the fish with these worms. The fish like them, but they can get out of hand! I've seen an lfs with an automatic feeder, that dropped a tubifex worm out every few seconds. I wouldn't give them to my fish -- my tanks are too small, and I only have one betta in each tank. So the worms could get out of control in my tanks.

Sorry about the pandas

 

[Diva]

Thanks everyone..and yeah..I was letting all the tank water from the lfs into my tank with my fishies...

Im still at a loss for where the other 2 are..I know they died...I cant imagine why I cant find them...

I should say that he didnt get any tank water in his mouth - its a clear tube and you can see it coming. its a tetra gravel vac, and though it should self start - it doesnt really work out that way most of the time.

I was more concerned about eggs in the water that i cant see- i can see these worms, they werent in the tube when he first started the suction.

I was just thinking back to college micro - and how I stopped swimming in texas water after I realized how many parasites were rampant in the water. just wanted to make sure there werent any invisibles that could create a problem...

Thanks again, i will keep vacuuming...

I feel much better now...

 

[krap101]

i have the one where u fill the tube with water and then u pump it up and down btu i found another way and im sure most of you have too. you fill the tube with water and tilt it enough for water to go down. then you put it back into the water and fill it again. that should start ur siphon

 

[TankGirl]

You can also coil the entire syphon under the water and get the air out, put your thumb over the end and lower it into the bucket, but I am pretty sure you did not start this thread to find out ways to avoid a mouthful of tank water...

I agree that you have a relatively harmless infestation here and no matter how it happened the trick will be water changes and gravel vacs and strict attention to feeding the fish. I would also venture to suggest that you not feed for a week. The fish can tolerate this, no problem, but your wee wiggly friends might have trouble, come up for a peek around and the hungry, hungry fishies will get very good at rooting them out.