# What is digging up my dirt?



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I have noticed that something is digging up the substrate in my tank. Could it be the MTS?

I thought it was gas bubbles bringing it up but there appears to be stringy poo in it. Any guesses?


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)




----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

It's getting into the water and making a mess and really doing my nut in!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

what fish do you have it the tank if any? some of that looks definitely looks like poop lol also is there flow directed at that area?


----------



## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

One sick fish if he is eating the dirt that it looks like!!!!
Not near a volcano by chance? Looks somewhat like the pictures coming from Hawaii.
That's no help at all!! 
:tongue:

Sorry.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

My spray bar goes along the back so most of the tank gets pretty good flow. I have 
1 x powder blue gourami
7 x odessa barbs
4 x wcmm
1 x sae

And lots of MTS! 

I thought it might be bubbles so I gave the substrate a good poking yesterday but them it happened again. It seems to be in several places each time.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

The gravel is quite deep because I used to have goldfish in there. It must be something bringing it up!


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

PlantedRich said:


> One sick fish if he is eating the dirt that it looks like!!!!
> Not near a volcano by chance? Looks somewhat like the pictures coming from Hawaii.
> That's no help at all!!
> :tongue:
> ...


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm really getting fed up with the tank, there always seems to be something going wrong.


----------



## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

That could be gas pockets pushing the dirt to the surfice as they travel up. Try poking your substrate randomly to release these pockets


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Worms or snails, mts.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I really don't think it's bubbles. I didn't think mts are supposed to do that?

Worms would explain the poo. Can I get rid of them?


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

This really sucks. I wish I has never put dirt under the substrate


----------



## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I think it might be because the size of your gravel is relatively large for a proper cap


----------



## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

That's poop? Looks like dead worms to me.


----------



## klibs (May 1, 2014)

You capped dirt with gravel. You needed to use a much finer substrate or the dirt is not going to stay under your cap. It's too easy for the dirt to travel through the large gaps between gravel.


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Don't worry, the worm will die off. If had those worm mounds in the beginning too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

I'm kinda curious what this is.

it reminds me of how you can find little piles of earthworm castings outside near an earthworm hole, so I'd suspect it's something similar - you've got some critter (possibly a worm?) living in your substrate, and they are using that spot to surface/excrete. It would be hard to tell without witnessing it or catching it...


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

lochaber said:


> I'm kinda curious what this is.
> 
> it reminds me of how you can find little piles of earthworm castings outside near an earthworm hole, so I'd suspect it's something similar - you've got some critter (possibly a worm?) living in your substrate, and they are using that spot to surface/excrete. It would be hard to tell without witnessing it or catching it...


Earthworms can live underwater for a while. I find them in my pond filter sometimes.


----------



## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I found one like 3 months after setting up my 10 gallon once...so it's totally possible.


----------



## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

Those looks like earthworms to me.
Maybe add a thicker layer of substrate or a finer layer of substrate on top?


----------



## xjasminex (Jul 26, 2011)

I have the same problem but on a much larger scale. It has been happening every time I use dirt. I cap with pool filter sand and i always do a nice thick layer of about 2-3 inches. I keep goldfish, mts, ramshorns, pond snails and nerites in this tank. I also have the aquatic earthworms in the substrate too. 

My thought is that it's either the mts or the aquatic earthworms that are doing it, my goldfish are not the culprits because it's very fine silt with none of the sand disturbed. 

Id love to find a solution, so if any one has one I'd certainly be listening.


----------



## Riceman (Nov 17, 2014)

I've had an earthworm in my tank for over a year now,it's about 8"
long when stretched out,only see it once and a while.It will poke it's
head out and "look" around.I can't imagine anything better for aerating 
the substrate.lol

edit:it would leave castings similar to yours


----------



## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Looks like soil pushed up in spots but then the long threads might look like some really black roots???? Any more info?


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

HybridHerp said:


> I think it might be because the size of your gravel is relatively large for a proper cap


The gravel is a mix of 5mm & 3mm and is 1,1/2 inches deep which was recommended by a few different sources. Also this is a new problem and the tank has been dirted for nearly a year so it must be something else.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I did feed the fish live vbloodworms a few weeks ago. Maybe some of them have escaped into the soil!


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

lochaber said:


> I'm kinda curious what this is.
> 
> it reminds me of how you can find little piles of earthworm castings outside near an earthworm hole, so I'd suspect it's something similar - you've got some critter (possibly a worm?) living in your substrate, and they are using that spot to surface/excrete. It would be hard to tell without witnessing it or catching it...


I think you may be right.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

If it is bloodworms then hopefully they should turn into flies soon and do one. :/


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

It's getting worse. All the plants are covered with dirt. Some of my fish are looking really unhappy. The soil gets dug up onto the gravel then my odessa barbs go rumaging around and the water gets filthy [emoji24] 

I dont know what to do!!


----------



## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Maybe the time has come to take it apart and find whatever is so large that it can make that much mess in the tank. 

Alternate idea:
Take a night or two and go look in the tank every hour or so, see if you can catch the 'thing' in action. 
Then scoop though gravel, dirt, everything and get rid of it. 
Sure that will make a mess, but that will end the problem (unless it has laid eggs :icon_eek: )


----------



## Mariostg (Sep 6, 2014)

This turning into an exciting thread. Sorry for the trouble though javajive.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Guck said:


> This turning into an exciting thread. Sorry for the trouble though javajive.


No worries. I've found a thread on another site and this person had exactly the same problem. I'm positive it's the same type of aquatic worm. It must have come in on some plants. That will teach me not to bleach dip them first.

I think I may have to tear the tank down and start again [emoji51]


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

My poor gourami looks really rough. Going to do a big water change a nd filter clean tonight. Trouble is it will be all messed up again in the morning.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

mistergreen said:


> Don't worry, the worm will die off. If had those worm mounds in the beginning too.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


How long did it take? This tank has been set up for nearly a year and this only happened recently.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Did a large water change and cleaned the filter and pipes. Oh man the filter was sooooo dirty.

My gourami looks really sad. He's just hanging around head up, tail down and he's not eating. I think I may do some smaller water changes every night for a while until I can sort this out. Hopefully that will help him recover. I love that little guy, he's my favorite. [emoji20]


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

This is what my water looks like this morning. I think I may have to siphon out all the dirt and start again. Maybe I should try putting some other plant substrate in instead of soil this time.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

What a mission! Took the dirt out found several worms. I think they are Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri. I didn't take pics because there was mud everywhere and a sense of urgency as my husband had to watch the kids. Hopefully that puts an end to the muddy water and poorly fish.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

The culprits. Very good for the soil but not very good for my tank and inhabitants.


----------



## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Glad you found them!


----------



## Mariostg (Sep 6, 2014)

Earth worms?


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Guck said:


> Earth worms?


Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, sort of an aquatic earth worm.


----------



## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

Sorry to hear about all the trouble this has caused, but thanks for letting us know what was going on and posting pics.

I imagine you might want to start over with different substrate, maybe no dirt, just to avoid any larvae/eggs that might cause problems further down the line.

How big are those in the pic? On a quick googling of _Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri_, it sounds to be about an inch or so long...


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I replaced the dirt and gravel with tetra active substrate and i've ordered some root tabs. I did reuse some of my plain gravel but I gave it a good rinsing with boiling water first.
The worms were about an inch and a half long.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I think my gourami might die. I gave him a salt dip yesterday but he's not eating or swimming. I think the poor water quality has made him really sick. My nitrates were sky high before and I imagine there may have been ammonia spikes when the system couldn't keep up with all the pollution in the water. I tested the water yesterday
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10-20
Ph 7.5
So thats really good because i was worried about a mini cycle. I'll check again today.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

RIP charlie.


----------



## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Diana said:


> Glad you found them!


Me too. Can't believe something so small could cause so much grief! I found five but I bet there were more in there. A lot of my plants have developed burn like spots. I think it may have been the soil on the leaves. I'm glad my odessa barbs are ok. apparently they can handle muddy water.


----------

