bugs?

[King Cobra]

I just turned on my light to see what my fish were doing at night. Well of course they are all asleep, except the inverts, theyare cleaning and feeding. I noticed what looked like bugs on the sand floor. They looked grey maybe black stripes, they are really small (maybe a quarter of an inch) I'm sorry I can't be more specific but they are real small and didn't photgraph well. Can anyone tell me what they might be?

 

[OrionGirl]

Did you check the hitch hikers thread? Were any of them on the fish?

There are a number of microfauna in healthy tanks that are called 'bugs'. Most are beneficial types of micro crustaceans, lumped together as pods. They are detrivores, harmless little cleaners that are alos awesome food sources for a number of fish. They tend to be more active at night, when the fish are sleeping.

However--and this is important--some types of pods can be parasites that will feed on your fish. They can be challenging to remove from a tank, and they can kill fish. So, if you see them on any of the fish, you'll need to take steps to remove them. Otherwise, enjoy the free cleaners and food!

 

[vaderbanger]

perfectly safe
i have them too. they actually sneak out at feeding time and try and grab bits of food floating by
there pods of some kind, i wish i had a name. im still trying to ID them myself
thats the best time to peek when the lights go out. sometimes it gets scary i never know what im gonna find hehe

 

[King Cobra]

This was a helpful site I found that gives examples of the weird things you might find in your tank. www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_sand.htm